CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

04/28/04

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, April 28, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.

American Idol is certainly taking its punches this week with the most recent voting off of popular African American singer Jennifer Hudson.  Hudson has appeared on numerous celebrity chats, and entertainment news mags, been interviewed everywhere, following her rejection from the show. Considered to be one of the front runners, her ejection came as quite a surprise to many.  Even Sir Elton John who says “The three people I was really impressed with, and they just happened to be black, young female singers, and they all seem to be landing in the bottom three … The fact that they’re constantly in the bottom three — and I don’t want to set myself up here — but I find it incredibly racist.”  Star Jones on ABC’s The View, a long standing fan of A.I., says she’s no longer interested in watching as she doesn’t want to watch a ‘popularity contest.’  There was talk the voting was skewed as a result of an area outside of Chicago being knocked out of the voting due to a violent twister in the area that evening (Hudson is from the Chicago area).  Another school of thought was since Hudson and the other two African American female singers received the least amount of votes last week, that splitting these three’s fan base caused the ‘irregularity’ in voting.  Whatever the cause (or non-cause), it certainly has become fodder for the water cooler, and after all, that isn’t that the idea?

Friday night’s ABC News Nightline will be fully dedicated to those who were killed in action while fighting in Iraq.  Ted Koppel will read each of the 500+ names, while their photographs and military information (age, rank, military branch) are shown on the screen.  The show will also be simulcast on the jumbotron in Times Square.

The Antiques Roadshow is heading north.  Well, no, not really.  In fact, Canada is creating their own – the Canadian Antiques Roadshow is expected to make its network debut on CBS during the upcoming season. 13 one hour eps have been ordered, and have been scheduled beginning in Saint John N.B. on May 5 and ending in Vancouver at the end of the month. Set to host Valerie Pringle (Canada AM, Midday).

WWE and Spike TV are combining forces to air The WWE Experience on Sunday mornings.  The show will premiere on May 2, 10a.  The 1 hour show will be a follow-up to the Monday Night RAW and WWE SmackDown (UPN) with a weekly story and synopsis of the action.  This is the first move in a collaboration between WWE and Spike to attract younger viewers to wrestling.  They also announced WWE Velocity move from 10p. to 7p on Saturdays beginning May 1st.  WWE Confidential is ending its run with the last show on Spike on April 24th.

According to Hollywood Reporter, the Reverend Al Sharpton is currently in negotiations with CNBC to host a series of primetime specials that could ultimately land him a regular gig.  And apparently CNBC isn’t the only suitor interested – also courting the candidate turned William Morris Agency client is radio shops Westwood One and Premiere Radio Networks.

Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among Total Viewers for the month of April 2004
Primetime        (000)     Total Day            (000)
NICK*           2613    NICK*           2051
TNT             2297    NAN**           1381
USA             2153    TNT             1242
NAN**           1931    CARTOON 1137
TBS             1707    USA             977
CARTOON 1614    LIFETIME        941
LIFETIME        1543    TBS             896
ESPN            1526    FOXNEWS 884
FOXNEWS 1497    ESPN            771
HISTORY 1421    MTV             648
Source  Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 108,400,000 homes
*Nickelodeon: M-Th 6:30a-9p; Fri 6:30a-10p; Sat 6a-10p; Sun 6a-9p
**Nick at Nite (NAN): S-Th 9p-6a; Fri-Sat 10p-6a

Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among A18-49 for the month of April 2004
Primetime        (000)     Total Day           (000)
TNT             1099    TNT             656
USA             912     NAN**           656
TBS             865     TBS             516
MTV             769     USA             473
ESPN            724     ESPN            469
COMEDY  649     NICK*           466
TLC             643     LIFETIME        458
FX              641     MTV             356
LIFETIME        638     FX              355
DISCOVERY       620     COMEDY  336
Source  Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 108,400,000 homes.
*Nickelodeon: M-Th 6:30a-9p; Fri 6:30a-10p; Sat 6a-10p; Sun 6a-9p
**Nick at Nite (NAN): S-Th 9p-6a; Fri-Sat 10p-6a

News Viewer Index for the week of April 19-25, 2004 in Total Viewers
Total Day Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers  1.665(000) Total Viewers. (-11% vs. previous week). Of the cable news viewership, Fox News had 48% of the viewing, CNN 28%, MSNBC 12%; and Headline News 12%.
Primetime Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers  2.693 (0000) Total Viewers (-13% vs. previous week). Of the primetime cable news viewership, Fox News had 49%, CNN 31%, MSNBC 11% and Headline News 9%.
Source Nielsen Media Research

News Viewer Index for the month of April 2004 in Total Viewers
Total Day Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers  1.791(000) Total Viewers. (-64% vs. April 2003). Of the cable news viewership, Fox News had 49% of the viewing, CNN 27%, MSNBC 13%; and Headline News 11%.
Primetime Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers  2.872 (0000) Total Viewers (-60% vs. April 2003). Of the primetime cable news viewership, Fox News had 52%, CNN 29%, MSNBC 11% and Headline News 8%.
Source Nielsen Media Research

ESPN‘s coverage of the 2004 NFL Draft drew them some sizeable numbers — together with ESPN2 the sports nets cumed 31.4 million viewers over the weekend.  For just ESPN’s coverage on Saturday, the net averaged 3.4 million HH, up 11% vs. a year ago.

In the wake of David Grant’s departure as President of Fox TV Studios after 7 years, comes the perhaps not-so-idle chatter that former Disney ABC Family prez Angela Shapiro will be stepping up.  According to Hollywood Reporter, an announcement is expected today.

The Australian Premium Movie Partnership is signing a licensing agreement with Playboy TV International for 50 Playboy-produced movies. One movie will be featured every week starting in June. They will be shown on the Showtime and Showtime Greats movie channels through FOXTEL and Austar.

TLC‘s finale of Trading Spaces Home Free on Sunday night 8-9pm drew an average of nearly 4.1 million among Total Viewer, posting a 2.6 A25-54, 3.6 W25-54 and a 1.5 M25-54. According to TLC, it ranked as the highest ad supported cable network for the 8pm hour on Sunday night among HH, A25-54, A18-49 (2.3) and W18-49 (3.1).

Brown V. Board Of Education 50th Anniversary: Past, Present And Future will be webcast live by Court TV on May 17 beginning at 1pm. The 50th anniversary celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court school desegregation decision will include the official dedication of the Brown v. Board of Education Historic Site in Topeka as well as President Bush’s opening remarks, a panel discussion, live interviews and student dialogues.  The webcast will be promoted to schools and communities with the help of several cable/online companies including Cablevision Systems Corporation, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable Communications, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable.  Other commemorative programs will include 30-sec shorts to be aired on Court TV with well known African Americans.

NBC won Monday night by just two share points among A18-49 in a highly competitive night according to data from Nielsen Media Research.  NBC delivered an overall 4.5/12, followed in quick succession by CBS 3.7/10, ABC 3.4/9, FOX 3.2/9, WB 2.1/6, UPN 1.4/4.  At 8pm NBC’s Fear Factor led with a 5.0/13, ahead of its nearest competitor by nine share points: Fox’s Bernie Mac (x2) 2.3/7; CBS’ Yes Dear/Still Standing 2.7/7, and the first hour of ABC’s movie Sixth Sense 2.5/7. Among W18-34 the leader was still NBC (5.6/17), but ranking second at 8pm was WB’s 7th Heaven posting a 2.9/9.  At 9pm NBC still held the lead position with a 4.7/12 for Las Vegas, though only two share points ahead of CBS (4.1/10) and Fox (4.1/10). At 10p CBS moved in front with CSI Miami delivering a 4.6/12.  ABC was a close #2 with 4.1/11 and NBC’s The Restaurant pulled a 3.6/10.

Sam Ewing was named Head of Distribution for Cookie Jar Entertainment, The Cookie Jar Group’s programming and licensing company.   He will be responsible for international sales and collaborate in programming acquisitions and co-productions.

Laverne McKinnon has been upped to SVP/Drama Development at CBS.  She will report to Nina Tassler, EVP/Drama Series.  Laverne has been with CBS since 1996 and VP/Drama Development since 2001.

Monday, April 26, 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     8.0/13  Yes Dear [r] 5.5/9, Still Standing [r] 6.3/10, Everybody Loves Raymond [r] 9.2/14, Two and a Half Men [r] 8.4/13, CSI: Miami [r] 9.3/15

NBC     6.8/11  Fear Factor 7.7/13, Las Vegas 7.6/12, The Restaurant 5.3/9

ABC     5.7/9   ABC Monday Movie of the Week: The Sixth Sense 5.7/9

FOX     4.6/7   Bernie Mac Show 3.3/6, Bernie Mac Show 3.5/6, The Swan 5.8/9

UPN     2.4/4   The Parkers 2.3/4, Eve [r] 2.4/4, Girlfriends 2.5/4, Half & Half 2.3/4

WB      3.9/6   7th Heaven 4.1/7, Everwood 3.8/6

A18-49  NBC 4.5/12, CBS 3.7/10, ABC 3.4/9, FOX 3.2/9, WB 2.1/6, UPN 1.4/4

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source: NTI Explorer, 4/21/04 or as noted. TP: Wed 9-10pm.  New drama rank based on 18-34 demos. US Rating.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1969 – Charles De Gaulle resigns as president of France. He died from a heart attack nineteen months later, in November 1970.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:    California registered landmark #367, The Queen Anne Cottage, formerly owned and partially built by Elias “Lucky” Jackson Baldwin.  This Victorian styled house and its 127-acre tropical jungle style setting has been used through the decades as a favorite Hollywood backdrop – Tarzan swung through the arboretum, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby  traveled on the Road to Singapore through the grounds; and James Earl Jones in search of Kunte traveled its waterways.  Less historic, but significant nonetheless, this tropical setting house was also the main office/house on what mystical/magical primetime drama series?  Mr. Roark’s house/office on FANTASY ISLAND.  Kudos to everybody and their brother.  Holy cow! Who knew you all knew??

A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST SPOTLIGHT

Comcast Spotlight now has the ability to segment markets both geographically and demographically. Adtag and Adcopy enable advertisers to be more targeted than they could ever be with broadcast. Comcast Spotlight – Spot cable finally delivers. For more information click here.

Today’s Trivia Question:   Of this character’s Top Ten Rules, the top three were: Be neat; Be courteous and polite; and Always obey your parents.  Who is this guy?  The top three ‘rules’ for this character were:   (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.)

THIS MESSAGE FROM OXYGEN

Source: Oxygen Media’s analysis of Nielsen Media Research data. NPower March 2004 (3/1/04-3/28/04); Primetime: M-Su 8p-11p; 6 minute qualifier used in analysis.

Later — Cyn

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis
04/28/04  4:02am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2004

COURT TV:       The I-Zone, Forensic Files, I, Detective, The Investigators
ABC             My Wife and Kids, My Wife and Kids [r], The Bachelor, Extreme Makeover
CBS             60 Minutes II, The King of Queens [r], Still Standing [r], 48 Hours
FOX             That 70’s Show, American Idol, O.C.
NBC             NBC Special: Life’s Funniest Moments, The West Wing, Law & Order
PAX             AFV, AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             Star Trek: Enterprise, I’m Still Alive
WB              Smallville, Angel
TELE            Prisonera, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Don Francisco Presenta