CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

03/10/04

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, March 10, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

The Sunday night fifth season 9p return of the The Sopranos delivered 12.1 million viewers for the premium channel, earning a 6.2/15 A18-49 rating within the HBO universe.  Compared to broadcast television for the same hour, Law & Order: CI was the only bcst net to out-deliver The Sopranos with 15 million viewers (and a 5.1/12 A18-49 national demo rating).

Premiering Tonight:  Game Over at 8pm on UPN, followed by the return of The Mullets.

Despite Viacom’s decision to pull Martha Stewart Living off its CBS and UPN affiliates, King World is stepping up.  A brief, but important statement from King World yesterday:  “King World Productions will continue to distribute Martha Stewart Living to local stations that want to continue to broadcast the program.” 

New in Development/Production/Casting:

• CBS is in final negotiations with Peter MacNicol to join the cast of Numbers (Scott Free/Paramount) about an MIT math whiz and the FBI, working together on various cases, from Ridley Scott.  The cast also includes David Krumholtz and  Michael Rooker.
• NBC‘s The Men’s Room (NBC Studios) with John Cho has added Scott Cohen to the cast. And in the network’s untitled Heisler and Heline project (NBC Studios), Jennifer Finnegan will join Josh Cooke.
• ABC‘s romantic drama project DeMarco Affairs (David E. Kelley/20th) starring Selma Blair has added Sabrina Lloyd and Lindsey Sloane to the lineup. Elsewhere, in the drama project Surgeons (Touchstone) Patrick Dempsey joins the growing lineup of TR Knight, Ellen Pompeo, Paul Adelstein and Chandra Wilson.  In the untitled Joel Stein project (Acme Prods/Warner Bros. TV), Sheryl Lee Ralph has been cast.  And in the net’s drama project Lost (Bad Robot/Touchstone) about a group stuck on a deserted island, Matthew Fox, Harold Perrineau, Malcolm David Kelley, Naveen Andrews and Josh Halloway have been added. For the net’s historic drama series Empire (Storyline/Touchstone) set in 44 B.C., Vince Regan has been cast as Marc Antony.  Brad Rowe has been cast in the untitled Jessica Simpson project (Ted Harbert/Touchstone).
• Fox‘s comedy pilot The Robinson Brothers (Original/20th) has cast Jay Baruchel. The pilot centers around three brothers living in an apartment building that feels much more like a college dorm.
• Christina Hendricks has been added to the cast of UPN‘s Kevin Hill (Icon/Touchstone)
• Source: Variety, BaselineFT.com, Hollywood Reporter

J Lo has signed a development deal with Fox whereby the network gets first look at any new production coming out of Nuyorican Prods, Jennifer Lopez’ production company.  That includes series, specials, TV movies, scripted or unscripted, bcst or cable. Working with Fox on this particular deal is Regency TV.  The deal does not include feature films or current projects.

GSN (fka Game Show Network) has acquired the cable rights to off net series Average Joe and Average Joe Hawaii (plus  a third if a third is produced) and Dog Eat Dog.  Each of the series is likely to show up on GSN this spring, according to Hollywood Reporter.

The Senate Commerce Committee has voted to approve the bill that would increase fines on indecency violations on television and radio, though not to the extent the House Energy and Commerce Committee bill.  The Senate approved fines that would start with $275,000 for the first violation, which then escalates with each succeeding violation: $375,000 for the second, $500,000 for the third, with a limit set at $3 million for violations in a single day.  Another addition to the Senate bill which may make it tougher to get through, is a provision blocks the FCC media ownership deregulation for 12 months, rolling back the  regulations to the June 1, 2003 when the ownership cap was still at 35%, and there was a limit to the number of stations a single owner could have in a single market.  The differences between the two proposals will need to be negotiated out before the bill goes to the President.

Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among Total Viewers for the week of March 1-7, 2004:
Primetime        (000)     Total Day            (000)
USA             2472    NICK/NAN        1875
NICK/NAN        2456    TNT             1252
TBS             2231    CARTOON 1117
TNT             2095    TBS             1089
LIFETIME        1567    USA             1064
CARTOON 1535    LIFETIME        954
ESPN            1504    FOXNEWS 802
DISCOVERY       1435    ESPN            653
FOXNEWS 1320    HISTORY 646
HISTORY 1164    DISCOVERY       640
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 March 1-7, 2004:
Primetime        (000)     Total Day           (000)
TBS             1200    TBS             643
USA             1039    TNT             626
TNT             966     NICK/NAN        535
DISCOVERY       848     USA             482
ESPN            722     LIFETIME        456                                     
TLC             665     ESPN            388
LIFETIME        642     DISCOVERY       378
MTV             584     TLC             376                             
NICK/NAN        582     CARTOON 311
SCIFI           540     FX              294     
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 March 1-7, 2004 in Total Viewers
Total Day Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers  1.716 (000) Total Viewers. (+3% vs. previous week). Of the cable news viewership, Fox News had 47% of the viewing, CNN 29%, MSNBC 13%; and Headline News 11%.
Primetime Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers  2.760 (0000) Total Viewers (+3% vs. previous week). Of the primetime cable news viewership, Fox News had 48%, CNN 32%, MSNBC 12% and Headline News 8%.
Source Nielsen Media Research

Joan Van Ark will join the cat of CBS’ daytime serial The Young and the Restless beginning April 6. She will play Gloria Fisher, mother of Michael Baldwin.

NBA TV has signed a carriage deal with Comcast on the digital tier, and NBA TV will provide Comcast subscribers with VOD programming.  The total subscriber base wtih the Comcast carriage brings NBA TV up to approx 10 million homes.

CBS takes Monday night among A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research with a 4.9/13, ahead of NBC 4.6/12, ABC 2.6/7, Fox 3.0/8, UPN 1.6/4, WB 1.4/4.  At 8pm NBC’s Fear Factor was the big winner with a 6.5/18 with CBS ranking #2 for the hour with just 50% of the demo share of Fox earning a 3.2/9.  ABC’s OTO airing of 20/20 with Elizabeth Vargas at 8pm delivered a 2.6/7, behind Fox’s double run of That 70’s Show. At 9pm CBS jumped out in front with a 5.8/15 for Raymond/Two & A Half Men, both reruns.  The first hour of the NBC movie Behind the Camera: Charlie’s Angels found 3.9/10 rating, following with a 3.3/9 at 10p.  CBS’ CSI Miami led the 10p hour with a 5.5/14.  ABC’s movie Judas delivered a 2.6/7 from 9-11p.

Robert Pastorelli, perhaps best known as Eldin Bernecky, Housepainter on Murphy Brown, has died at the age of 49.  The cause of death has not yet been determined.  Pastorelli was found at his home Monday afternoon by his personal assistant. Pastorelli was also seen in Sister Act 2, and Michael (1996), and he filled the role of Luther Billis in the miniseries remake of South Pacific in 2001 with Glenn Close.  Pastorelli was currently working on Be Cool, the sequel to Get Shorty, currently in production.

Gary Cozen, VP/GM of KDKA/Pittsburgh resigned yesterday.  Gary has been with the station for the past 11 years, according to TV Week.  Station department heads will now report to Viacom TV Station Group President Fred Reynolds and EVP/COO Dennis Swanson.

Discovery Communications, Inc.’s Founder John S. Hendricks recommended to the Discovery’s shareholders at their meeting on March 8 that they separate the twin position of Chairman/CEO as of June 17, 2004, the 20th anniversary of the network.  On that date, Hendricks will remain as Chairman, and Judith A. McHale, current President/COO, will become CEO.

HBO has announced two uppings – Jennifer Bowen to VP/Sales and Heather McVicar to VP/Marketing. Jennifer and Heather have been involved every step of the way in this expansion.  Jennifer joined HBO as a sales associate in 1995, was promoted to sales manager in 1997, and has served as director of sales since 2000.  Heather also joined HBO in 1995, as an executive assistant, was promoted to manager of marketing in 1998, and has served as director of marketing since 2001. 

Derek Medina has been upped to VP/News Planning and Business Affairs/ABC News.  Derek is responsible for negotiating talent, production and acquisition agreements for ABC News and managing the business affairs budget. In addition to his business affairs responsibilities, he will also oversee staffing, operations and finance initiatives throughout the division. He reports to Amy Entelis, SVP/Business Affairs and Talent & Recruitment, and Dan Renaldo, SVP/Finance, Operations and Business Development.

Monday, March 8, 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     9.2/15  Yes, Dear [r] 7.0/11, Still Standing [r] 7.2/11, Raymond [r] 10.8/17, Two and a Half Men [r] 9.9/15,
                CSI: Miami [r] 10.2/17

NBC     6.5/10  Fear Factor 8.5/13, NBC Movie: Behind the Camera: Charlie’s Angels 5.4/9

ABC     6.5/10  20/20 7.0/11,  ABC Premiere Event: Judas 6.2/10

FOX     4.0/6   That 70s Show [r] 4.0/6, That 70s Show [r] 4.2/6, Forever Eden 3.9/6

WB      2.6/4   7th Heaven [r] 2.8/4, Everwood [r] 2.3/4

UPN     2.5/4   The Parkers [r] 2.5/4, Eve [r] 2.8/4, Girlfriends [r] 2.6/4, Half & Half [r] 2.3/4

A18-49  CBS 4.9/13, NBC 4.6/12, ABC 2.6/7, Fox 3.0/8, UPN 1.6/4, WB 1.4/4

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source: NTI Explorer, 3/7/04 or as noted.  Sunday 8-9p.  US Rating.  Ranks based on HH. 

The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
1969 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassin, James Earl Ray is convicted of King’s murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. Ray’s well-known hatred of black people notwithstanding, he recanted his guilty plea three days later, claiming he had been set up by a gun dealer in Montreal.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:  Where will you find Damon Stern’s House?  On Discovery Channel’s the DaMON STERn’s HOUSE (must-see TV in the Turner house), next door to SiMON STERn’s GARAGE.  Kudos to:  Amy Roth-TEG Standards Practices/Atlanta; Alex Clift-Fox News Channel/NY; Richard Zartarian-US News & World Report/NY; Dana Stein-OMD/NY; Adam Leston-Petry/Chicago; Jennifer Pollard-Warner Bros./Chicago; Amanda Kilman-Oklahoma City; David McDermott/Venice CA.

A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST SPOTLIGHT

Comcast Spotlight makes spot cable as easy to buy as broadcast. With 55 markets already interconnected, and more on the way, buying individual or multiple markets is a breeze. It’s as easy as one phone call, one tape and one invoice. Comcast Spotlight – Spot cable finally delivers. For more information click here.

Today’s Trivia Question:  On what former primetime drama series will you find a pigeon named Luther the Bird?  (
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
03/10/04    5:31AM
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2004

COURT TV:       The Take, Forensic Files, Psychic Detectives, Special: Adults Only (part 3)
ABC             My Wife and Kids, My Wife and Kids [r], Extreme Makeover, Kingdom Hospital
CBS             60 Minutes II, The King of Queens [r], Yes Dear [r], 48 Hours Investigates
FOX             That 70s Show, American Idol, Cracking Up
NBC             The Apprentice [r], Law & Order [r], Law & Order [r]
PAX             AFV,  Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             Game Over [p], The Mullets, Enterprise [r]
WB              Smallville [r], Smallville [r]
TELE            Amor Descardo, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Don Francisco Presenta