CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

02/11/04

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

With nearly 17 million viewers on average for the night on Monday, CBS owned that category, while NBC takes home the A18-49 demo category, according to Nielsen Media Research.  Overall for the night, NBC averaged a 6.4/17, followed by CBS 5.7/14,  Fox 4.8/12, ABC 2.3/6, WB 2.1/5, UPN 1.5/4.  At 8pm NBC more than doubled CBS’ A18-49 share, 8.0/21 vs. 3.9/10. Fox’s double bill of That 70’s Show drew a 3.2/8, while WB’s 7th Heaven and ABC’s first hour of The Mummy Returns movie tied at 2.1/6. (Among teens, 7th Heaven was third in the time period behind NBC and Fox, posting a 3.6/11.)   At 9pm, it was Fox’s Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance who stole the show with a 6.4/15, beating CBS’ Raymond/Two & A Half Men by just a half of a rating point and a single share point. NBC’s Las Vegas was third in the time period.  WB’s Everwood managed a 2.2/5 A18-49, but was second only to Fox among Teens with a 4.2/11, holding its 7th Heaven lead-in. At 10p CSI: Miami on CBS bested NBC’s Average Joe, 7.4/18 v. 6.1/15.

The current tally on Twentieth Television’s Yes Dear is up to 67% of the country cleared for syndication, including NY, LA and Chicago.  In addition to the nine Fox O&O stations (NY, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Washington DC, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando), Yes Dear has been cleared on KTVU KICU/San Francisco, KASY-KWBQ/Albuquerque, WSPA-WASV/Greensville Spartanburg, WDRB-WFTE/Louisville, XETV/San Diego, KTVD/Denver and KQCA/Sacramento, as well as the WB 100+ Station Group.

Currently facing the brass at cable network Showtime is a new reality show called Make Me Cool. Stylizing on the Queer Eye format, this show uses a team of African Americans whose help is enlisted in making the uncool, cool. From Jay Blumenfield and Anthony Marsh, if approved the show could find its way to the air by 4th qtr 2004.

Sci Fi Channel begins production next month on the new Battlestar Galactica, with an order for 13 episodes starring Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer reprising their roles from the miniseries. 

Development and Casting News:

• Fox has ordered a pilot for The Robinson Brothers (Original/20th) about three brothers who share an apartment in Los Angeles, in a sort of college dorm atmosphere, says Variety. If you liked the original, Fox is hoping your kids will like the remake and has ordered a pilot for Mister Ed.  Cast in the role of Wilbur Post is David Allen Basche, and Sherilyn Fenn as his wife.  No news yet on who will play Mr. Ed.
• UPN‘s pilot drama Veronica Mars has cast Kristen Bell as Veronica Mars, a young and decidedly hip woman who helps her father out in his PI Agency.  And from

Variety, UPN has ordered a pilot for a sitcom starring Dane Cook from Sony Pictures Television and written/exec prod by Michael Curtis.

• ABC‘s pilot The Secret Service has cast Sarah Wayne Callies as the woman who is the agent at the center of this drama, and newly cast as her husband is Shane Brolly.

As the FCC and the Senate prepare for today’s hearings on the proposed Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004  (C-Span3 and www.c-span.org), FCC Chairman Michael Powell turns his attention to cable.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Powell sent a letter to Robert Sachs, NCTA, which read in part that cable “has given rise to more opportunities for the worst programming to invade our living rooms” and while the focus of recent events “has been on broadcast programming, I believe the cable industry cannot completely ignore the discontent.” Sachs responded with his own letter outlining the efforts cable has put into informing consumers of family friendly programming, while also stating the NCTA recognizes there is still work to be done.  At the moment, the FCC has no jurisdiction over content on cable, since it is a paid medium, brought into the home by paying consumers.  However, Congress could chose to change that, particularly given the heat since the Super Bowl.

You know Regis and Millionaire is returning to primetime, albeit briefly.  The game has been changed slightly.  The money begins at $1000 instead of $100; the final pot is $10 million (up from the original $1 million) and two additional lifelines have been added.  You’ll recall the phone a friend, poll the audience, and 50/50.  The two new ones are Three Wise Men – literally three people sequestered back stage who are particularly brilliant in three different fields, have 30 seconds to talk among themselves before provided their best guess answer to the contestant.  The second new lifeline is called Double Dip wherein the contestant is given two shots at a single question,and when used in conjunction with 50/50 is a guarantee correct answer. Super Millionaire begins 2/22 at 9p.

Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among Total Viewers for the week of Feb 2-8, 2004:
Primetime        (000)     Total Day            (000)
TNT                   2832      NICK/NAN            1862
USA                   2330      TNT                     1438
NICK/NAN          2193     CARTOON          1129
ESPN                1993      USA                     1021
TBS                   1878      TBS                     1001
CARTOON        1604      LIFETIME               981
DISCOVERY     1402      FOXNEWS            817
LIFETIME          1314       ESPN                    765
FOXNEWS         1301      TLC                        727
SCIFI                 1250      A&E                        695
Source  Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 108,400,000 homes

Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among A18-49 for the week of Feb 2-8, 2004:
Primetime        (000)     Total Day           (000)
TNT                   1298     TNT                     735
ESPN                  978     TBS                     598
TBS                     977     NICK/NAN           562
USA                     951     LIFETIME            472
DISCOVERY       785     USA                    457
TLC                      742     ESPN                 434
SPIKE                  638     TLC                     431
MTV                     592      DISCOVERY      392
SCIFI                    571     FX                       318
NICK/NAN            556      MTV                    312
Source  Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 108,400,000 homes.

News Viewer Index for the week of Feb 2-8, 2004 in Total Viewers
Total Day Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers  1.751 (000) Total Viewers. (+5% vs. previous week). Of the cable news viewership, Fox News had 47% of the viewing, CNN 28%, MSNBC 14%; and Headline News 12%
Primetime Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers  2.780 (0000) Total Viewers (+8 vs. previous week). Of the primetime cable news viewership, Fox News had 47%, CNN 31%, MSNBC 14% and Headline News 8%.
Source Nielsen Media Research

Remember ABC’s reality series with George Hamilton called the Family wherein one family member is a large extended family ends up winning the family inheritance by competing against other family members?  Well, this isn’t it.  This show is on CBS, it’s called The Will (from Mike Fleiss, The Bachelor/The Bachelorette, Next Entertainment, Telepictures) wherein family members compete to win the family fortune. Each week one family member is eliminated until one remains. CBS is looking for a large family with substantial wealth who is interested in participating.  Those interested should go to www.cbs.com to download an application which then has to be submitted by Feb 27.

Four uppings at HBO:  Merav Brooks is upped to VP/Talent Relations, reporting to Quentin Schaffer. Cindy Tenner is promoted to Director/Talent Relations, reporting to Eileen Rivard.  Anne Reilly is promoted to VP/Media Relations, West Coast, reporting to Nancy Lesser; and Katherine Pongracz is upped to Director/Media Relations, reporting to Angela Tarantino.

Monday, February 9, 2004. Fast Affiliate 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     11.2/17 Yes Dear 7.9/12, Still Standing 8.2/12, Raymond 11.7/17, Two and a Half Men 11.1/16, CSI: Miami 14.0/22

NBC     8.5/13  Fear Factor 10.0/15, Las Vegas 7.7/11, Average Joe Hawaii 8.9/13

FOX     6.4/10  That 70’s Show 4.4/7, That 70’s Show [r] 4.4/7, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance 8.4/12

ABC     4.5/7   ABC Monday Night Movie: The Mummy Returns  4.5/7

WB      4.0/6   7th Heaven 4.0/6, Everwood 3.9/6

UPN     2.5/4   The Parkers 2.3/4, Eve 2.6/4, Girlfriends 2.7/4, Half & Half 2.4/3

A18-49  NBC 6.4/17, CBS 5.7/14,  Fox 4.8/12, ABC 2.3/6, WB 2.1/5, UPN 1.5/4

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
1990 – Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela freed from prison after 27 years.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question: What was the name of the magazine where Mr. Eddie’s Father worked on the Courtship of Eddie’s Father?  Tom Corbett worked at TOMORROW Magazine.  Kudos to:  Tim Jones-Empower MediaMarketing/Cincinnati; Ed Goode-Connelly Partners/Boston; Josh Goldman-Horizon Media/NY; Diane Brody-PHD/Detroit; Les Stipp-GSD&M/Chicago; Tiffany Clark-KHOU/Houston; Marion Hartley-Woodhart Adv/Mobile; Chip White-White Media/LA; Coleen Raymann-DirecTV/LA; Alan Perris-Perris Hubert Prods/LA.

Today’s Trivia Question:  This guy’s home address was 2354 Pacific Coast Highway, an address referred to as a ‘colony’, not a neighborhood, and where his house cost just $7k.  Who lives there and what’s with the colony thing?    (
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
02/11/04  5:21am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2004

COURT TV INVESTIGATES…

COURT TV:       The Take: Casino Capers, Forensic Files, North Mission Road, Dominick Dunne
ABC             My Wife & Kids, It’s All Relative, The Bachelorette, Celebrity Mole: Yucatan
CBS             60 Minutes II, King of Queens, King of Queens, 48 Hours Investigates
FOX             That 70’s Show, American Idol, The O.C.
NBC             The Apprentice [r], West Wing, Law & Order
PAX             AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             Enterprise, Top Model [r]
WB              Smallville, Angel
TELE            Amor Descardo, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Velo de Novia, Te Amare en Silencio, Don Francisco Presenta