CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, August 10, 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing. Remember, if you’d rather listen than read, you can sign up for the Cynopsis: In Your Ear podcast available for download each morning by 630a at www.cynopsis.com or via iTunes 4.9, listed in the podcast directory under “News.” If you’ve got to get the old heave ho, who wouldn’t want to go with the kind of exit package received by Michael Ovitz? He was given a severance deal of $140 million, and that’s after having having been President of Disney for just about a year. And yet, some Disney shareholders disagreed with the deal enough to file a lawsuit against Disney and its Board of Directors in 1997. Yesterday it all came down to this – Chancellor William B. Chandler III of the Delaware Chancery Court ruled against the shareholders, deciding Disney Board was not “derelict in its responsibilities” for giving Michael Eisner, CEO/Disney, the thumbs up first for hiring Ovitz in 1995, and secondly for the subsequent firing and buh-bye package. The shareholders say they plan to appeal the decision. Hockey on OLN? That’s the pitch from Comcast who has offered the National Hockey League $100 million for a two year deal for up to two games a week airing on its cable net OLN, per Daily Variety. ESPN now has the right to match the Comcast offer, or pass. Under consideration for ESPN is the potential viewer appeal for the games, particularly after a couple of rule changes that the NHL hopes will add more scoring to the game. It’s anybody’s guess if that strategy will work, or even if hockey fans will return to watch games on television after a year out in the cold. Hockey has always been a tough TV sport since the puck can be tough to follow and so many of the players have names that are hard to pronounce. Remember when Fox made the puck blue with trailing marks to help viewers follow? Even that didn’t seem to help. The other consideration for ESPN, according to Variety, is that OLN seems to be positioning itself to become more of a broad-based sports network, and thereby competing directly with ESPN for other sports packages – including perhaps NFL games. At this point, the puck is in ESPN’s end zone and it’s a waiting game to see if ESPN decides to take the shot. Programming Note: ABC will air a two-hour special tonight at 8p called Peter Jennings: Reporter. * MORE GOOD STUFF *
If you think you may be in a position to make an Emmy acceptance speech this year, and who among us aren’t?, then you’ll be glad to know the folks at ATAS have decided to do away with the pre-taped thank-yous. Last April, ATAS announced that in an effort to move the Emmy broadcast along in a more timely fashion (and hoping to hang on to as many viewers as possible for the lengthy show), acceptance speeches would be done away with for everyone except actors, and replaced instead by pre-taped “timed remarks”. Other big ideas from Academy officials included moving some of the televised categories over to the un-televised Creative Arts ceremony which occurs a week before the Emmy event. Both ideas have been scrapped, and we’re back to the bulk of the morning-after comments being the length of so-and-so’s acceptance speech. FX‘s new comedies, Starved and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia debuted on Sunday night. Starved at 10p delivered 1.5 million total viewers; while Always Sunny at 1030p delivered 1.4 million. ABC Family‘s new original drama Beautiful People delivered 1.6 million total viewers, and 0.7 A18-34 and a 1.0 W18-34 rating for its debut Monday evening from 9-10p. Those averages gave the net an uptick in time period ratings versus the previous four weeks of 133% among A18-34 and 233% among W18-34. Weeds debuted on Showtime Monday night with 488,000 total viewers in attendance at 10p. If you missed it, it will be replayed three more times this week – tonight, Friday and Sunday, all in primetime. E!‘s two new series on Sunday night both delivered strong cume numbers. At 9p, The Girls Next Door averaged 1.66 million total viewers; and Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive at 10p averaged 1.3 million total viewers. The night began with an E! True Hollywood Story about Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, averaging 1.6 million total viewers. Fastlane premieres on Court TV on August 13, and on G4, the videogame channel, on August 14. G4 announced yesterday it has picked up the non-exclusive syndication rights from Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution for all 22 episodes of the off-net series. Fastlane originally aired on Fox during the 2002-03 season. A collaboration between Abandon Entertainment and GF Capital Management & Advisors’ joint venture, AEGF Mobile Games, and NBC Sports is being formed to bring NBC Sports branded games to mobile gaming. AEGF Mobile Games has signed an exclusive global mobile gaming license to develop the video games for NBC Sports with interactive features to connect to NBC Sports broadcasts. In a move to target the A18-34 male age group, the first NBC Sports mobile games to be launched will be on the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, and thereafter themed on poker, horse racing, golf, hockey, and skiing. The mobile games are expected to launch just prior to the real Olympic Games which begin on February 10, 2006. Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among Total Viewers for the week of 8/1-8/7, 2005: Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among A18-49 for the week of 8/1-8/7, 2005: Top 10 Cable Programs among A18-49 (000) for the week of 8/1-8/7, 2005: Top 10 Broadcast Programs among A18-49 (000) for the week of 8/1-8/7, 2005: * NEW ORDERS / CASTING / DEVELOPMENT / PRODUCTION *
CBS:
UPN:
Q Television Network:
Showtime:
20th has signed a two-year first look deal with feature film producers Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo and their Roundtable Entertainment. Matthews and Scharbo are not new to television having produced several projects, either collectively or individually, in the last couple of years including the WB’s Jake 2.0, and Darkside for Fox last year and currently Mr. and Mrs. Doe for ABC, per Variety. On the film side, the duo were behind 13 Going on 30 and Urban Legend, among others. * NEW CABLE CARRIAGE DEALS *
DirectTV, Inc. is partnering with Castalia Communications and Cablecom to bring the new Mexicanal channel to its DirectTV PARA TODOS service. Featuring television programs from outside of Mexico City, the channel includes regional and original programming from public broadcasters, indie producers and local stations originating from several Mexican regions. * EXECUTIVE MOVES *
Charter Communications has named Neil Smit as its new President/CEO. Neil makes the move to Charter from Time Warner’s America Online Access Business, overseeing AOL, Netscape ISP and CompuServe. Based in St. Louis, Neil begins his new job for Charter on August 22. Ken Lawson has been promoted to the newly created position of SVP/Broadcast Sales, Central Regional Manager, of Twentieth Television. The announcement, effective immediately, was made by Paul Franklin, Twentieth Television’s EVP/GSM, broadcast. In this Chicago-based role, Ken, will continue to spearhead Twentieth Television’s aggressive sales of first-run and off-net syndication programming throughout the country’s central territory, while also dealing with such major station groups as Tribune, Clear Channel, Post-Newsweek, Scripps-Howard and ACME. Banyan Prods. has upped Jeanne McHale Waite from COO to CEO, replacing Jan Dickler who is also a co-founder of Banyan. Also promoted are Tom Farrell to COO; Dave Bowers to VP/CFO and Linda Calabrese Kane to VP/Director of Operations. OLN announced that Mandy Orzo has joined the network as the Director/ Acquisitions & Scheduling. As such, she is responsible for overseeing the scheduling of all network commitments, acquisitions, submissions and action sports programming. Jaime Saberito has been named Director/Corporate Communications for both Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel, reporting to Nancy Carr, VP/Corporate Communications, and based in the New York office. Jaime will work to develop and implement trade and business press plans for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel across all divisions of the businesses. She will also be responsible for promoting the network’s national distribution and sales agreements, affiliate promotions, national and local ad sales partnerships, and public affairs initiatives. Pie Town Prods has upped Greg Spring to VP/Development, overseeing all of the company’s developing slate as well as packaging its reality projects and overseeing on-air casting. Pie Town has also opened a new Chicago production house, the new home to several of its big projects including Designed to Sell and Design on a Dime. * RATINGS *
Monday — A18-49 Analysis: Are you ready for some football? Apparently you are. ABC led the field on Monday night with a 3.5/10 A18-49, according to final numbers from Nielsen Media Research. CBS was a cool second with a 3.3/9, followed by NBC 2.1/6, Fox 1.7/5, WB and UPN .8/2. CBS’s combo of comedies was #2 for the 8p hour with a 2.5/8; and back-to-back 2-1/2 Men from 9-10p scored a 3.6/10, tied with the football game. At 10p CSI Miami earned a 3.7/10. The Miss Teen USA special on NBC delivered a soft 2.2/6. FINAL HOUSEHOLD RATINGS: Monday, August 10, 2005, for all Networks – program averages. Source: Nielsen Media Research. CBS 6.7/11 King of Queens [r] 4.8/9, Raymond [r] 5.8/10, 2-1/2 Men [r] 6.9/11, 2-1/2 Men 7.0/11, CSI: Miami [r] 7.9/13 ABC 6.2/11 Monday Night ABC Football Preseason Special: Hall of Fame Game 6.2/11 NBC 3.7/6 Fear Factor [r] 3.3/6, Miss Teen USA 3.9/6 FOX 2.8/5 Renovate My Family 2.6/5; Renovate My Family 2.9/5 WB 1.5/3 7th Heaven [r] 1.8/3, Summerland [r] 1.3/2 UPN 1.5/2 One on One [r] 1.4/3, All of Us [r] 1.5/2, Girlfriends [r] 1.5/2, Half & Half [r] 1.4/2 A18-49 ABC 3.5/10, CBS 3.3/9, NBC 2.1/6, Fox 1.7/5, WB and UPN .8/2
Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: U.S. Vice President Al Gore and this Oscar-winning actor were roommates at Harvard. Who is this actor? A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM COURT TV Question:
What are young viewers talking about on Wednesday mornings? Answer: New season of The Smoking Gun airs Tuesdays at 11PM ET. For more information, visit www.courttvmediakit.com .
Later — Cyn >> Cyn opsis: In Your Ear – Podcast subscriptions: www.cynopsis.com Subscribe, unsubscribe, or change a subscription for any Cynopsis edition: www.cynopsis.com Cyn opsis CLASSIFIEDS — JOB OPENING: COPYWRITER/LIFETIME TV,NY. Seeking an exp’d writer to assist in the planning, development and execution of copy in support of promotional and mktg. efforts. Apply at http://www.lifetimetv.com/about/jobs.html (8/17) JOB OPENING: MGR, AFFIL MKTG/LIFETIME TV, NY. Seeking a detailed-orientated, creative thinker with a min. of 5 yrs exp. at a cable network. TV/Ent. industry exp. pref’d. Apply at http://www.lifetimetv.com/about/jobs.html (8/17) JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, DISTRIBUTION/HALLMARK CHANNEL LA: Increase distribution for channels, 7 yrs exp. See full posting and apply www.hallmarkchannel.com . (8/17) JOB OPENING: MARKETING MANAGER-HALLMARK CHANNEL Studio City. Provides support for affiliate marketing initiatives. Must have min. 3 yrs. exp. See full posting and apply at www.hallmarkchannel.com (8/17) JOB OPENING: PROD & SERIES PROD– NY prod co sks series prod w/ extens exp mnging teams & wrter/prod w/ dramatc promo-style wrtng skls + exp hist/sci progrmg: JOB OPENING: Showtime seeks NY-based MGR, PROG SCHED to create/exec scheds for all SNI services & SVOD. 3-5 yrs exp in TV prog, film eval or research. Strong writing skills req’d. All resumes to JOB OPENING: MARKETING MGR: Stop working for ‘ The Man’! Execute mktg strategies for consumer & affiliates at growth NYC indie TV/online network.5 yrs relevant exp.Energy, creativity, independence a must.Resume: JOB OPENING: : DIR OF RESEARCH /WGBH Boston, PBS: Leadership in qualitative & quantitative research. Masters deg + 5-8 years exp. broadcast, comm, & or mrkt research. Ability to write for non-technical reader. apply www.wgbh.org/jobs (8/16) JOB OPENING: RESEARCH MANAGER (QUALITATIVE)/WGBH Boston, PBS: Organize, supervise & conduct focus groups, & other qualitative research projects. Prepare executive research reports (PowerPoint). apply at www.wgbh.org/jobs (8/16) JOB OPENING: RESEARCH ANALYST /WGBH Boston PBS: 2+ yrs. exp w/ quantitative studies, focus groups, interviews, survey writing & presentation skills. Familiarity w/ Nat’l & local Nielsen/ Media mark Res. a +. Apply www.wgbh.org/jobs (8/16) JOB OPENING: DIR TALENT RELATIONS/Sesame Workshop/Dev & implement overall celebrity talent strategy to build needs of prod, marketing, press, corp & prod licensing. Strong network contacts a + Res: JOB OPENING: RESEARCH STRATEGIST, Discovery Health Channel, Silver Spring, MD. 3+ yrs mrktng research exp, project mgmt exp, strong analytical skills. Nielsen knowledge & media exp req’d. Apply at www.discovery.com . Job req#2743 (8/13) JOB OPENING: SR. ACCT EXEC/WWE, Inc./West Coast/ CA-LA Professional w/ proven sales record! 3+yrs Internet Sales/ 5+yrs Gen. Sales exp. required. Product knowledge a must. Travel required. BA/BS, Apply: www.wwe-careers.com (8/13) JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, AD SALES RESEARCH E!& Style/NY. Min 10 yrs exp with national research software and applications. www.eentertainment.com/careers (8/13) JOB OPENING: EVENT PLANNER/PR SPECIALIST CONTRACTOR/FREELANCER/Boston: Seeks individual/agency to mng events for women’s social exchange group. Strong Venue/Night Life Contacts, Outgoing & social a must. Res: JOB OPENING: SR SALES ASST- Petry TV/NY: Assist Acct Execs in generating & maintaining sales orders utilizing DDS DARE. Media sales exp req’d. Exc written & comm skills. College deg pref’d. Res: JOB OPENING: CREATIVE DIR/FOX SPORTS/LOS ANGELES, CA. Strong creative 5-7 yrs production house or ad agency preferred. Apply: www.foxcareers.com (8/12) JOB OPENING: SR. RESEARCH ANALYST/AUDIENCE RSCH/FOX BROADCASTING, NY. 1-2 yrs w/broadcast, cable, agency, rep firm, knowledge of Nielsen, Galaxy, etc.; strong analytical & strategic thinking skills. Apply: www.foxcareers.com (8/12) JOB OPENING: SALES ASST, TEC/NY. Traffic/Asst to support SVP & Traffic dept. Data entry, create pod formats & sched commercials or prgrms. Undergrad deg w/ knwldg of MS Office/P.Point. Res: JOB OPENING: MTV Networks – COORDINATOR, Nick Digital Brands – help develop & execute plans to support/promote the Nick Digi Brands & MTVN in the cable & Satellite communities. Apply: www.mtvncareers.com EOE (8/11) JOB OPENING: ASSOC DIRECTOR, AFI Digital Content Lab/LA: Oversee day to day operations & staff. Recruit media properties & tech companies. Strong digital prod exp, broad ent & digital contacts. Fax resumes: 323.957.1420 (8/11) JOB OPENING: SALES ASSISTANT, INVISION/NY. College degree, 2+ yrs exp. media sales. Knowledge: Ad Sales process. MUST HAVE Deal Maker sales system. Prepare & attend sales presentations, demos & trade shows. JOB OPENING: DEKOCAST DESIGNER – Scripps Networks/Knoxville: 3yrs + exp broadcast graphics. Adobe After Effects, Photoshop/Adobe Illust. 1yr exp Pinnacle Dekocast/Chyron. Resumes: JOB OPENING: TRAFFIC MGR/NY: Responsible for supervision of all traffic ops. Maintain and operate multi-zone, multi-state and regional traffic ops. with a 99% or better-run rate for all Zones http://careers.comcast.com Req#22219BR (8/11) JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE /NY: Position involves the sales/distribution of off-ntwrk & first-run programming to local TV mrkts throughout NE Region. 2+ yrs media-related sales exp req’d. Resumes: JOB OPENING: EXEC ASST-Showtime/LA. Reports to EVP Corp Comm. Prev agency exp & interest in PR preferred. Strong admin & org skills, pro-active, confidential, fast-paced network environment. Apply: JOB OPENING: JR RESEARCH ANALYST – Sony International TV/LA. Support & produce research for Intl Distrib, Prodctn, Ntwks. Strong PC skills, Familiar w/Nielsen sftwr a+ www.sonypicturesjobs.com (8/23) JOB OPENING: TECH QA/INVISION INC: 2-4yrs in Media QA testing environment. Expw/automated test tools e.g. Silk & Mercury. Exp w/ OO methodologies pref’d. Familiar w/Windows, Linux & Solaris. Apply to: FALL SEMESTER INTERNSHIP POSITIONS are all non paying jobs (unless otherwise noted), available for school credit only. Nobody here gets paid – not even Cynopsis for the listing. To learn more about posting your Internship position here, email Cynopsis . FALL INTERNSHIP: MOTIVATED SELF STARTER/ THE VIEW/ABC/NY: Earn Col Credits & Hourly wage: Work w/ various dept’s incl audience, research, etc. Shadow producers, observe control room operations & work w/PA’s. Res: SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED — SITUATION WANTED: FREELANCE EDITOR. Amateur Editor looking for Freelance gigs using Final Cut Pro. I have my own system, and exp in Broadcast Television editing. Degree in TV Editing from Cal State Northridge. SITUATION WANTED: Talented MBA with International, Entertainment, Market Research, and Product Management experience seeks ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING POSITION in LA. Great at strategy planning! Fluent in Spanish. SITUATION WANTED: EXPERIENCED PRODUCER/EDITOR: Seeks position in NYC/North Jersey in Ad Agency-AVID, After Effects ,& more. Able to handle productions-concept-delivery.7years experience, reel available. SITUATION WANTED: SALES, MARKETING and/or BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, NYC. BA, 2 years of solid experience and very successful track record seeking position in an international media company. 100% fluent in 4 languages. SITUATION WANTED: EXPERIENCED PROMOTIONS/MARKETING/AD SALES Support from FL seeks a network ad sales/marketing position in NYC…willing to move. 2 years cable ad sales experience/5 plus years promotions experience RyanCFaria SITUATION WANTED: ORGANIZED ASSISTANT. BS from Northwestern University in Communication and Spanish. Entertainment experience. Computer-literate and personable. E-mail Are you looking for a job? Post your Situation Wanted Ad here — Email WHAT’S ON TONIGHT: Wednesday, August 10, 2005 ABC Peter Jennings: Reporter (OTO), Lost |
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