CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

06/02/04

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, June 2, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.

Mel’s official statement: “After more than 20 years with the Company, for personal and professional reasons, I have decided to leave Viacom and pursue other challenges.  Viacom is performing exceptionally well with leadership positions in all of its businesses.  The Company’s very talented management team will ensure its continued success.”  Mel’s golden parachute exit package includes his $1 million salary and benefits as well as an annual bonus based on company performance for the next two years, according to his contract which allows him to resign for ‘good reason’, which according to filings at the SEC was the reason given for his sudden departure.  Mel did leave stock options given to him mid-May on the table, more than a half million shares of company stock.  Mel also sticks around as a consult for the next 60 days, maintaining an office and a secretary in the Viacom building.

In the wake of Mel Karmazin’s resignation from Viacom, comes the appointments of Tom Freston and Leslie Moonves as Co-Presidents and Co-COOs, effective immediately, both stepping in where Mel got out.  Tom is upped from Chairman/CEO of Viacom’s MTV Networks unit; and Leslie upped from Chairman/CEO of CBS. It should also be noted that with these appointments comes also the formal formulation of a succession plan when Sumner Redstone steps down as CEO, a move he plans to make within three years.  Sumner plans to work with the Board of Directors to identify his successor and to further identify candidates for other senior positions within Viacom.  While he has not said that either Freston or Moonves will be his successor, he has said that the appointment of one of these two men to that position is ‘extremely likely.’ The succession plan has been approved by the Viacom Board.

Nielsen Media Research will move forward with the Local People Meter service in New York City beginning tomorrow  in additional to continuing with the meter/diary service for a brief period.  In an advisory sent to all clients within the DMA, Nielsen says “Reports based on each service will be delivered concurrently, and clients will be able to utilize either service for commercial purposes.  The two services will run concurrently until September 2, at which time the Meter/Diary service will be discontinued in New York.”  Nielsen’s communique goes on to say: “People Meters are considered the standard for audience measurement in the U.S. and around the world.  However, throughout the process of developing People Meter service in New York, there continues to be diverging opinions in the marketplace.  This includes support for our scheduled launch as well as on-going questions regarding the specifics of the New York implementation.  As a consequence, we have decided to continue to maintain the current Meter/Diary system for an additional three months.”  Nielsen finishes up by advising their clients that revised plans for LA, Chicago and San Francisco will be forthcoming.

Within a couple hours of the Nielsen advisory to clients, came the following statement from Univision:  “We are astounded that Nielsen has decided to proceed with implementation of its LPM service in New York despite overwhelming evidence that the sample is fundamentally flawed and in the face of the Media Ratings Council’s (MRC) recent decision to withhold accreditation for the LPM service citing ‘noncompliance’ with MRC standards and other ‘performance issues.’  During the two-month period that Nielsen delayed the launch of its LPM service in New York, it did nothing to address sample issues and failed to establish a Task Force to review the situation as it had promised.  Instead, Nielsen wasted time by engaging in an image campaign to shield itself from public criticism.  [Tuesday’s] announcement by Nielsen stating it will launch the LPM system while maintaining the existing meter diary system for an additional three months will confuse advertisers and the public, waste time and money with duplicative and conflicting data, and debase the value of Nielsen research.”  Univision finishes with this statement:  “As the nation’s sole television monitoring service, Nielsen has a duty to viewers, advertisers, stations and networks to ensure the fairness and accuracy of its methodologies before implementation.  A rollout of the LPM service in New York City at this time is a serious breach of that duty.”

Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 will be released through Bob & Harvey Weinstein’s new company, Fellowship Adventure Group and distributed by Lions Gate Films and IFC Films to theatres in the US. Pay TV rights will go to Showtime via its output deal with Lions Gate.  The film will be released in theatres across the US on June 25.

David E. Kelley will develop his own reality show, this one will include real lawyers.  In creating a real firm, the lawyers/players will handle civil cases with binding arbitration presided over by sitting or former judges (the same type of binding arbitration as used in various syndicated court shows), and at the same time be vying for a partnership position within the lawfirm. NBC has ordered up 8 episodes which will be produced by Kelley and Renegade 83.

Meanwhile back in the agency offices, the broadcast upfront is underway with estimates of a little more than a third of the business finished by end of the day yesterday, with all bcst networks in the fray. According to a variety of sources, the average prices are about 5% above last year’s numbers.  The majority of the business is expected to be done by week’s end.  On the table is more than $9 billion in ad revenue commitments.

Intermedia Advertising Group’s Top Ten Most Effective New Ads for new campaigns airing the weeks of May 10 to May 23, 2004. The list is ranked by viewer’s ability to recall the new ads and their associated products and brands. The Recall Score is the percentage of TV viewers who within 24 hours are able to remember the brand of the ad they saw during normal TV viewing. The scores are then indexed against the mean score for all ads during the time period to create the Recall Index; 100 is Average. For example, with a Recall Index of 242, the top-ranked Propel spot was recalled nearly two and a half times more than the average new ad during the period. Source Intermedia Advertising Group Inc.’s 2004 Ad Performance Data Series (www.iagr.net)
– 242   PROPEL: Fitness Water–water drops turn into athletes
– 202   KFC: Oven Roasted–close-up of food, women walk on beach, Chicken Capital USA
– 198   SIX FLAGS: Girl and father try to schedule fun, older man dances in front of bus
– 186   ALL:  Butler removes stain from employer’s pink top
– 176   VERIZON:  “Can You Hear…?” man waits for woman in ladies’ room with cell phone
– 169   COPPERTONE:  Ultrasheer Sunscreen–woman talks about sister getting skin cancer
– 166   EDY’S: Grand Light–man in back seat tries to get driver to admit it’s not light ice cream
– 166   UNCLE BEN’S: Ready Rice–chef works at busy restaurant, at home microwaves rice
– 162   1-800-MEDICARE: Choose the drug discount card that’s right for you
– 161   ARBOR MIST: Island Fruits–men try to impress women with dog jumping through hoop

Bill Goodwyn has been upped to President/Affiliate Sales & Marketing, Discovery Networks, U.S. The announcement was made by Billy Campbell, President/Discovery Networks, U.S.  Bill will continue to oversee all affiliate sales, marketing and promotion efforts for Discovery’s 13 U.S. networks, for TLC in Canada, for BBC AMERICA in the U.S., and all sales and marketing efforts for Discovery Networks’ On Demand and high-definition programming services.

Chelsea International has named Dick Ross to the newly created position of Chief Executive Officer.  In his new role Dick will be responsible for the overall operations of the company with a focus on entertainment programming and production. Dick makes the move to Chelsea from Universal Television Networks where he was SVP/Production & Operations.

Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. announced it has upped Ryan O’Hara to President/TVG (TV Games) Network.  Ryan will will continue to report to Jeff Shell, Gemstar-TV Guide’s chief executive officer, and is based in TVG’s Los Angeles office.  He will oversee the network’s programming, wagering, financial, legal and advertising sales, manage TVG’s content relationships with track partners, and coordinate with TV Guide’s Affiliate Sales group to secure long-term carriage deals.

Friday, May 28, 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

NBC     5.4/11  Dateline NBC 5.7/11, Las Vegas 4.8/9

ABC     4.1/8   George Lopez 4.0/8, Married to the Kellys [r] 3.4/7, Hope & Faith [r] 3.5/7, Life with Bonnie [r] 3.0/6, 20/20 5.4/10

CBS     3.9/8   Joan of Arcadia 3.9/8, JAG 4.0/8, 48 Hours 3.9/7

FOX     3.0/6   Movie: Someone Like You 3.0/6

WB      1.8/4   MLB Baseball: New York Mets at Florida Marlins (Live) 1.8/4

UPN     1.2/2   Movie: Repli-Kate 1.2/2

A18-49  NBC 2.4/9, ABC 2.0/7, FOX 1.7/7, CBS 1.5/5, WB 1.0/4, UPN 0.7/3

Saturday, May 29, 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

FOX     4.4/9   Cops 3.5/8, Cops 4.5/10, America’s Most Wanted 4.8/10

NBC     3.4/7   The Restaurant 2.6/6, The Restaurant 2.9/6, L&O  4.7/10

CBS     3.1/6   Movie: Ali  3.1/6

ABC     1.8/4   NHL Playoffs: Stanley Cup Finals – Game 3 , Movie: Babe: Pig in the City (WEST COAST ONLY)  1.8/4

A18-49  Fox 2.6/10, NBC 2.0/8, CBS 1.6/8, ABC 1.0/4

Sunday, May 30, 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     5.3/11  60 Minutes 6.3/14, Cold Case 6.4/13, Movie: Tomorrow Never Dies 4.3/9

FOX     5.2/10  NASCAR 2004 – Coca Cola 600  5.2/10

NBC     5.2/10  Dateline NBC 4.2/0, L&O: Criminal Intent 6.5/12, Crossing Jordan 6.1/11

ABC     3.5/7   America’s Funniest Home Videos 3.2/7, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 3.4/7, ABC Premiere Event: Line of Fire 3.6/7

WB      1.3/2   Superstar USA 1.1/3, Movie: Object of Affection 1.4/3

A18-49  Fox 3.6/13, NBC 2.2/8, ABC 1.9/7, CBS 1.8/6, WB 0.7/3

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source: NHI Explorer, 5/17/04-5/23/04.  HH Cvg Rtg.  Pelican ties Gone In 60 Secs. Osmosis ties Pwrpuff Girls, Code Name, Teen Titans.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1953 – Some 20 million people watch the BBC’s television coverage of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London’s Westminster Abbey. With many people crowded around the television sets of their neighbors, it was the first television broadcast that many of them had ever seen. The coverage was broadcast in 44 languages.

Answer to Friday’s Trivia Question:   The color of bag carrying a Barrister’s wig and robes to court was significant as it was awarded by the Queen’s Counsel to lawyer’s who had performed exceptionally well as a junior barrister. What color was Rumpole’s bag?  RED.  Barrister’s usually carry a blue bag for their robes and wig.  Kudos to:  Gloria Price-BMG/NJ; Lisa Knapp-Rainbow Ad Sales/NY; Kevin Day-Mindshare/NY; John Swenson-WJRT; Tim Rank-KDNL/St. Louis; Malachy Wienges-Sedona Bcsting/Sedona Arizona; Kathy Alexander-SpotPlus y Mas; Lorrie Shilling-Centennial CO; Sharon Levi-Anaheim Hills; Susan Goldberg-Beverly Park Prods/LA.

A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST SPOTLIGHT:

Comcast Spotlight works with our cable network partners to develop unique promotions for advertisers that leverage cable’s powerful brands. Through network associations or tune-in sponsorships, advertisers get customized, branded promotions that build upon viewer affinity for their favorite cable networks. Comcast Spotlight – Spot cable finally delivers. For more information click here.

Today’s Trivia Question:  Paul Newman played Judge Roy Bean in the movies.  Who played him on television?   (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.)

Later — Cyn

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis
06/02/04  5:31AM
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CYNOPSIS CLASSIFIEDS

JOB OPENING:  Director, Revenue Planning-ABC/NY. Manage comm’l inventory, develop rate cards, report rev. for ad sales group, negotiate scatter deals; Work w/sales, research, mktg; manage team of 13. Email:
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JOB OPENING:  NAT’L ACCT MANAGER, Affiliate Sales-Oxygen/NY: Incr. distrib. & sell-in Nat’l /local mkting campaigns. Comm. & org. skills with mkting, sales and event planning exp. Min. 80% travel. Fax resume to (212) 651-2093  (6/4)

JOB OPENING:  SR. PROJECT MGR/CNN Ad Sales Research NY.5+ yrs media research exp (bcst, cable, or agency) req. Working knwldg of media math, strong analytical skills, mktplc knwldge, leadership.Apply: www.turnerjobs.com, #25742    (6/4)

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JOB OPENING:  MTV Networks: DIRECTOR/AFF. MKTG. Develop/oversee channel/CMT strategies supporting network to cable/satellite communities. Deg. Req + min of 5-7 yrs relevant exp in Mktg/ Sales. MBA a +. Apply: www.mtvncareers.com
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JOB OPENING:  SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST, MTVN Int’l/NY. 2-3 yrs media/mkt research exp; Nielsen software or equiv. a plus; create presentations, reports, analysis. Int’l exp strongly pref.EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply: www.mtvncareers.com
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JOB OPENING:  NBC NY, AD SALES RESEARCH MANAGER: Interpret and highlight MSNBC daypart/program performance. 3+ years TV research experience with strong oral/written skills required. Apply online at www.gecareers.com, Job #360666   (6/3)

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

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2004

COURT TV:       The I-Zone, Forensic Files
ABC             My Wife and Kids [r], My Wife and Kids [r], The Drew Carey Show, The Drew Carey Show, The Ultimate Love Test [season premiere]
CBS             60 Minutes II, The King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, 48 Hours
FOX             That 70s Show, That 70s Show, That 70s Show, That 70s Show
NBC             NBC Special: The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments 5, L&O, L&O
PAX             AFV, AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Enterprise
WB              Movie: The Brothers
TELE            Prisonera, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Don Francisco Presenta