CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis

06/29/05

Good morning.  It’s Wednesday, June 29, 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing.

PAX will undergo a re-branding of its network, changing the name from PAX, to simply “i”.  According to the network, a lower case “i” reflects the net’s new programming strategy – that of an independent broadcast platform for producers and syndicators who desire to reach a national audience. The new brand goes into effect July 1. After the switch, Paxson will continue to air programming under its PAX TV brand on one of its digital channels over the air and in select cable homes.  NBC, a 33% owner of the network, responded with this statement:  NBC Universal was not informed in advance of today’s programming announcement issued by Paxson,” said the company in a statement. “While we have no direct input regarding Paxson programming, we continue to disagree with the direction Paxson management is taking the company.  … Our concern is Paxson’s strategy will erode our financial investment and, in our opinion, is not in the best interest of any Paxson stakeholder.”

The Task Force on Television Measurement deemed Nielsen Media Research “commendable” in implementing a number of the Task Force’s recommendations (fault rates, corporate diversity, community communications) over the past three months.  That descriptor was used by the Task Force Chairman, The Hon. Cardiss Collins in a progress report released yesterday.  Areas of progress include:  Fault Rates – areas of concern were addressed by personal coaching, performance based incentives, proactive phone line installation and field staffing increases; Field Operations – translating various materials into preferred languages and providing cultural training for field staf; and as for Corporate Diversity, Nielsen created a Diversity Council of Nielsen employees from varied backgrounds and chaired by CEO Susan Whiting, which will draft a diversity mission statement, goals and metrics and a number of initiatives.  More details available at: http://www.everyonecounts.tv/news/documents/0628_progressreport.pdf

NBC in development: 

• Untitled drama from Paul Haggis (film: Crash) about two brothers living in NY’s Hell’s Kitchen area.  Paul Haggis and fellow Crash writer Bobby Moresco will exec prod; Haggis to direct.
• Windfall (Regency TV) was originally on the Fox development slate last season, and the pilot starred Luke Perry and Jason Gedrick.  No info yet if the same actors will return to the project. The story revolves around a group of people sitting on a huge winning lottery ticket.

Note: Title Change – NBC’s fall drama series Fathom has changed its title to Surface. Airs Mondays at 8p this fall.

SciFi Channel in production:

• Amazing Screw-On Head (Kickstart Prods): An animated project starring Paul Giamatti, David Hyde Pierce and Molly Shannon, is scheduled to premiere next year.  From the book of the same name by Mike Mignola, the 30m comedy is about a US Govt secret agent robot named Screw-On Head (Giamatti), who can screw his head onto a variety of bodies – mostly those from history’s great unsung heroes – and then does battle against those who threaten our civilization. Hyde Pierce plays Screw-On Head’s arch nemesis, and Shannon is the love interest.

Bravo in production:

• It’s My Party (World of Wonder):  A six part series which in each episode will focus on two sets of parents, each celebrating the same event for their children, in their own unique ways. We’re not talking pin the tail on the donkey in the back yard – these are more lavish affairs, with great attention paid to every detail and every detail getting paid. Scheduled to air in 2006.

20th has signed a two-year 7-figure production/development deal with Glen Mazzara, the writer/producer of FX’s The Shield.

NBC Universal Television Studio has signed Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins to a one year deal to develop TV programming for the studio under the Tollin-Robbins shingle, per Variety.  Tollin-Robbins had been at the Touchstone studio where they had a 2-year deal. The film production of Tollin-Robbins will remain at Touchstone.

MTV Networks will launch its newest cable network tomorrow called LOGO, a 24/7 gay-themed network.  Filling the scheduling will be a multitude of movies including The Birdcage, Philadelphia and Kissing Jessica Stein, as well as the miniseries Angels in America which originally aired on HBO and the GLAAD Media Awards on July 24. Tomorrow night the first program to air on LOGO will be a documentary called The Evolution Will Be Televised, beginning at 9pm.  Original series for LOGO will include: Open Bar, set to debut in September, is a reality series about a man coming out during the time he is also opening a gay bar; travel series Round Trip Ticket airs on Friday nights at 11p; Monday nights at 10p is First Comes Love where Scott Thompson helps to play gay weddings; and the October debut of Noah’s Arc about a young screenwriter and his three friends.  Theme nights are Wednesdays music; Thursdays comedy and Friday travel.

Food Network‘s finale of The Next Food Network Star on Sunday night at 9p (9-1030p) drew a 1.4 HH rtg and a 1.0 rtg among A25-54, ranking 6th in the demo for the time period. Prior to the finale, the series had averaged a 1.1 HH rtg and a .8 A25-54 rtg.  The winners, the team of Dan and Steve, will be seen on their own 6-episode series, set to premiere September 28 at 930am.

SCIFI.COM, the official Web site of the SCI FI Channel, will begin offering an exclusive video blog for one of its original series – Battlestar Galactica.  The show’s exec prod David Eick will offer behind-the-scenes looks in 3-5 minute video blogs, with new v-blogs posted every few weeks.  As the show prepares for its 2nd season’s finale, SciFi.com will stream the finale from Season #1, Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part II.  Previously, SciFi.com had streamed the series premiere episode, 33, and it was watched more than 100,000 times on the website.

ImaginAsian Entertainment, Inc.‘s ImaginAsian TV (iaTV) will debut in two additional areas as of July.  Starting July 1, the Asian American TV network will be added to Patriot Media‘s digital service in the Princeton, NJ area.  The LA metro region will be able to reach the channel through Champion Broadband‘s digital package from July 18.

MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting Inc. has inked a multi-year exclusive deal with SIRIUS Satellite Radio to build and launch Asian-language channels (rumored to be the first Asian programming on satellite radio).  The opening business line between the Sirius and MRB will focus on creating a Korean-language channel – Radio Korea USA.  Expected to launch in the autumn, the channel will center on entertainment, music and news programming.  The next launch to follow will be a Chinese language channel – as yet unnamed.  It will air Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese music, news updates and other information of interest to its Chinese audience.

Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among Total Viewers for the month of June 2005:
Primetime      (000)    Total Pgm Day   (000)
TNT              3317     NICK              2068
USA              2307     NAN*              1572
NAN              1823     TNT               1463
TBS              1752     CARTOON 1356
FOXNEWS 1723     ADULT SWIM*     1314
LIFETIME         1670    USA               1043
CARTOON 1610     LIFETIME         1038
SPIKE TV         1537    TBS               951
MTV              1259     FOX NEWS        896
ESPN             1219     MTV               747
 Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 109,600,000 homes
* = Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24 hour day. Primetime listing only includes those networks broadcasting more than 51% of the primetime hours (M-Su 8p-11p)

Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among A18-49 for the month of June 2005:
Primetime     (000)     Total Pgm Day   (000)
TNT              1420     TNT               712
USA              1130     NAN*              649
TBS              1007     TBS               566
SPIKE TV         811     ADULT SWIM*     564
MTV              751      USA               534
LFIETIME         684     LIFETIME         458
FX               629      NICK              439
COMEDY  594      MTV               400
DISCOVERY        583     FX                379
SCIFI            549      SPIKE TV        355
 Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 109,600,000 homes
* = Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24 hour day. Primetime listing only includes those networks broadcasting more than 51% of the primetime hours (M-Su 8p-11p)

Top 10 Cable Programs among A18-49 (000) for the week of 6/13-6/19: :
TNT      Pistons/Heat                            9149   6/6/05
TNT     The Closer                                 7027   6/13/05
TNT     Into the West                              6474  6/10/05
TNT      Heat/Pistons                               6072  5/31/05
FX      Nextel Cup Race                        6058   6/5/05
TNT      Pistons/Heat                               5640   6/20/05
TNT     The Closer                                  5569   6/20/05
ESPN    Spurs / Suns                               5285   6/1/05
USA     The 4400                                     5251   6/5/05
SPK     WWE Entertainment                   5216   6/20/05
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.

Top 10 Broadcast Programs among A18-49 Rtg for the week of 6/20-26, 2005:
ABC:    NBA GAME FINALS #7                   7.6/23
ABC:   NBA GAME FINALS #6                   5.3/15
ABC:     DANCING/STARS                          4.4/13
FOX:    FAMILY GUY                                  3.8/11
CBS:     CSI                                                 3.6/11
ABC:    EXTREME MAKEOVER 6/26   3.5/10
FOX:    SIMPSONS (830P)                        3.5/11
CBS:    TWO & A HALF MEN                     3.3/9
CBS:     CSI:MIAMI                                       3.2/9
FOX:     HOUSE                                          3.2/9
FOX:    HELL’S KITCHEN                          3.2/9
FOX:    AMERICAN DAD                            3.2/8
Source:  Nielsen Media Research, Galaxy Explorer

Cynopsis has launched a new edition: Cynopsis: In Your Ear – the podcast version.  Not familiar with podcasting?  Think of it as an audio file, or even a poor man’s radio broadcast.  Cyn opsis: In Your Ear is an audio mp3 file of this daily email – read by yours truly, not a professional by any means at this announcing stuff, but a happy participant. It is available for downloading right into your iPod or mp3 player every morning by 630a (okay, maybe 645a). The new  podcast certainly won’t replace the email version as there are many components to this written version you won’t get in the podcast (ratings charts, classifieds, primetime listings, among others). To subscribe to Cyn opsis: In Your Ear – the podcast version, learn more about how to download and what you’ll need (it’s ridiculously easy!), go to the Cynopsis website at www.cynopsis.com. And if you’re one of those folks that say, I’d never download this every morning, it’s too much trouble – know that the download and copying into your mp3 player can be done completely automatically. You don’t need to do a thing except listen.  It’s just that easy. And this is just the beginning – by this fall look for Cyn: Kids, Cyn: MCE and interviews “live to tape” for Cyn:Weekender, all in podcast form. 

Gospel Music Channel has named Jeff Brown as Director/Affiliate Sales, Central Region. He is based in Denver and will report to Genia Edelman, VP/Affiliate Sales and Marketing.  Jeff will be responsible for negotiating with cable operators in 15 states to secure carriage for Gospel Music Channel.  He will work directly with the programming and marketing departments at various MSOs to promote Gospel Music Channel and the cable affiliate. 

Mark Miller, EVP/National Sales for the NBC Universal Television Stations, has been upped to SVP/NBC Universal Cable Entertainment Sales, effective July 18. The announcement was made by Keith Turner, President/NBC Universal Sales and Marketing. Mark will report to Marianne Gambelli, EVP/NBC Universal Sales and Marketing.
 
Concrete Pictures has enlisted Keith Johnston for the role of Creative Director. In this position, Keith will identify and lead new business efforts, maintain agency relationships, improve overall creative quality and efficiency, and design and produce animation for broadcast brands and commercial visual effects projects.

Media General’s Florida Communications Group named Orlando Nieves as General Manager of Hispanic Initiatives. He will manage several of the company’s News Center’s newest Spanish-language print, broadcast and internet-based media products development projects.

Monday A18-49 Analysis:  CBS won Monday night by a single tenth of a rating point with an overall 2.9/8 A18-49 rating over Fox’s 2.8/8, according to fast affiliate numbers from Nielsen Media Research.  At 8p CBS, NBC and Fox were all tied at a 7 share.  At 9p Fox broke out in front with Hell’s Kitchen earning a 3.4/9.  CBS was hot on its heels tho with a 3.1/9 for Raymond/2-1/2 Men.  CBS held at 10p with a 3.4/9 for a repeat of CSI: Miami. NBC was its closest competitor with a 2.5/7 for a repeat of Medium.

Fast Affiliate Ratings: Monday, June 27, 2005, for all Networks – time period averages.  Source: Nielsen Media Research. 

CBS     6.3/11   Still Standing [r] 4.7/9, Still Standing [r] 4.7/8, Raymond [r] 6.6/11, Two and a Half Men [r] 7.1/11, CSI: Miami [r] 7.3/12

NBC     4.2/7    Fear Factor [r] 3.8/7, Las Vegas [r] 3.9/6, Medium [r] 4.9/8

FOX     4.1/7    Nanny 911 [r] 3.8/7, Hell’s Kitchen 4.3/7

ABC     3.4/6    The Scholar 2.8/5, Movie:  Air Force One 3.7/6

UPN     1.7/3    One on One [r] 1.5/3, All of Us [r] 1.6/3, Girlfriends [r] 1.8/3, Half and Half [r] 1.7/3

WB      1.6/3    7th Heaven [r] 1.5/3, Summerland 1.7/3

A18-49            CBS 2.9/8, Fox 2.8/8, NBC 2.3/7, ABC 1.7/5, UPN 0.9/3, WB 0.8/2

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1971-On this day in 1971, the city of Memphis honored Elvis Presley by renaming the street that ran in front of his Graceland mansion Elvis Presley Boulevard

Answer to Yesterday’s trivia question courtesy of Eugene Costello-DDB Entertainment:  Who was the first rap act to perform on Saturday Night Live?  THE FUNKY FOUR PLUS ONE MORE      Kudos to:  Matt Goldich-Valley Crest Productions/NY; Ed Jones-Millennium Sales & Marketing/NY; Tara J. Garcia-Arnold/NY; Brian Schroeder-Nat’l Cable Communications/NY; Sally Jade-GSP/Pacific Palisades; Micki Sackler-Fox Movie Channel/LA; Randy Warner-Special Looks Entertainment/LA; Robert Campbell-Quick Nickel/Valley Village.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Today’s Trivia Question:  What “tough guy” actor has the middle name of DeForest?   (click here 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
06.29.05  – 5:14am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT: Wednesday, June 29, 2005

ABC              Dancing With the Stars [r], Dancing With the Stars, Lost [r]
CBS              60 Minutes, The King of Queens [r], Yes Dear [r], CSI: NY [r]
FOX              That 70’s Show [r], Stacked [r], The Inside
NBC              Psychic Detectives, Law & Order [r], Law & Order [r]
PAX              Doc, Sue Thomas F B Eye, Diagnosis Murder
UPN              Eve[r], Eve [r], Veronica Mars [r]
WB               Beauty and the Geek , Smallville [r]
TELE             La Mujer en el Espejo, Los Plateados,  Decisiones,
UNIV                   Apuesta por un Amor, La Madrastra, Don Francisco Presenta