CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

03/17/04

Top of the mornin’ to ye. It’s Wednesday, March 17, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

20th Television has solidified a clearance deal with TBS for the off-net cable syndication rights to Yes Dear.  The deal calls for TBS to begin airing the show in August 2004, a full month prior to the local broadcast station syndication launch.  Yes Dear will join TBS growing list of off-nets, including S#x and the City which kicks off this June along with Everybody Loves Raymond.  King of Queens joins the lineup in 2005.

Premiering tonight:  The Stones on CBS at 930p

Oxygen has revealed their slate of programming for the upcoming season and it includes a handful of new original series, a newly acquired off-net series, as well as the return of several Oxygen staples.  New to the net are:

• Good Girls Don’t (Carsey Werner Mandabach) kicks off on June  4. This buddy comedy features two young women from Minnesota who move to LA in hopes of hitting the big time.  Guess what? They don’t. At least not right away as they had hoped.
• Snapped (Jupiter Entertainment) launches this summer and is a half hour chronicle of female criminals and just what was it that made them ‘snap.’
• Nice Package (Banyan Prods) mentioned a few days ago here, launches this summer.
• Off net series Living Single joins the lineup this fall.
• Returning series for the new season include Oprah After the Show, Talk S#x with Sue Johnson, Girls Behaving Badly and Conversations from the Edge with Carrie Fisher.

Comedy Central has picked up the television rights to the Dimension Pictures Billy Bob Thornton film, Bad Santa, according to Variety.  The price tag was $4.5 million, representing approx 7% of the total domestic box office to date ($60m).  It’s a three year deal which begins in April 2006, which follows Showtime’s pay TV window.

New in Development/Casting/Production:

• Fox pilot project Lucky Us (Original/Fox Studio) has cast Ethan Embry and John Ross Bowie, opposite Chyler Leigh.
• CBS‘s drama pilot Sudbury (Fortis/Warner Bros.) has added Jeri Ryan to the lineup, starring opposite Kim Delaney. And CSI: New York has expanded its cast to include Carmine Giovinazzo, joining Vanessa Ferlito; negotiations with Gary Sinise continue.  CBS’s untitled Andrew Kennedy Project (Sony/CBS Prods) has added John Ratzenberger to the cast.
• NBC‘s comedy pilot Beverly Hill SUV  (NBC Studios) about the folks who work in a car dealership in Beverly Hills, has cast Henry Winkler, Jeffrey Nordling and Darryl Bell, all salesmen.  The sitcom pilot The Friendlys (NBC Studios) has added Owain Yeoman.
• UPN‘s Kevin Hill (Icon/Touchstone) about a young 30-something guy who suddenly has to care for an infant niece, has added Michael Michele opposite Taye Diggs, Jon Seda, Patrick Breen, Kate Levering, and Christina Hendricks.
• ABC‘s comedy project from Mel Gibson called The Savages (Icon/Universal) about a single dad raising five boys, has added Andrew Eiden, Shaun Sipos, Erik Von Detten, and Mitchel Musso as four of the five teen boys.  Plan B, a sitcom pilot from Universal, has added Millicent Martin to the cast as Caroline Rhea’s mother.   Additionally, ABC is reportedly looking at a pilot for a new show in development, from DDJ (aka Don Reo, Damon Wayans and Jeff Sagansky) starring Univision headliner, Sofia Vergera.  In the sitcom Sofia plays a stockbroker to marry her so she can remain in the United States, only to find out Immigration requires the married couple have to stay together for a period fo time before she qualifies for her green card.  This is a new shingle for Sagansky, and a newly formed production company, DDJ.
• WB‘s Marriage 101 (Brad Grey/20th) a sitcom pilot featuring a newlywed couple living with the groom’s friends, has added Brooke D’Orsay as the bride.
• Source: BaselineFT.com, Variety, Hollywood Reporter

Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among Total Viewers for the week of March 8-14, 2004:
Primetime        (000)     Total Day            (000)
TNT             2645    NICK/NAN        1821
USA             2387    TNT             1363
TBS             2121    CARTOON 1121
NICK/NAN        2049    TBS             1058
CARTOON 1549    LIFETIME        991
LIFETIME        1506    USA             954
FOXNEWS 1472    FOXNEWS 886
DISCOVERY       1307    ESPN            775
SCIFI           1286    A&E             650
ESPN            1256    FAMILY          647
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 8-14, 2004:
Primetime        (000)     Total Day           (000)
TNT             1309    TNT             712
TBS             1106    TBS             626
USA             1014    NICK/NAN        522
DISCOVERY       746     LIFETIME        462
TLC             725     ESPN            443
SPIKE           715     USA             437
FX              633     TLC             351
MTV             611     DISCOVERY       345
LIFETIME        599     FX              344
SCIFI           599     CARTOON 323
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 8-14, 2004 in Total Viewers
Total Day Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers  1.756 (000) Total Viewers. (+2% vs. previous week). Of the cable news viewership, Fox News had 50% of the viewing, CNN 26%, MSNBC 14%; and Headline News 10%.
Primetime Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers  2.788 (0000) Total Viewers (+1% vs. previous week). Of the primetime cable news viewership, Fox News had 53%, CNN 28%, MSNBC 12% and Headline News 7%.
Source Nielsen Media Research

U.S. Digital Television, Inc. (USDTV), a digital terrestrial “over-the-air” television service provider available in Salt Lake City, and launching in Las Vegas and Albuquerque within the next 30 days, has announced its Best of TV lineup of cable networks that will include 24/7 Fox News, Starz Encore, Disney Channel, Toon Disney, ESPN, ESPN 2, Discovery Channel, TLC, Food Network, Home & Garden Television, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network.  Starz! is available as a premium channel. USDTV provides an alternative to cable and satellite through its subscription television service. In partnership with local broadcast entities, USDTV service provides customers with local, national and popular cable channels “over-the-air” in digital quality-picture and theater-quality sound in digital and high-definition formats.

Lifetime‘s original movie Deceit (Marlo Thomas) aired Monday night at 8pm and delivered 2.5 million homes with 3.1 million viewers.  According to information provided by Lifetime, the movie was #1 in its time period among W18-49 (tied with ABC Family), and #1 among W25-54.

NBC takes the win on Monday night among A18-49 with a 5.8/15 demo rating according to Nielsen Media Research.  CBS was #2 overall with a 4.4/12, followed by ABC 3.7/10, FOX 2.4/6, UPN 1.3/3, WB 1.3/3.  At 8pm NBC led by a significant margin for Fear Factor with a 6.4/18, twice the share as the closest competitor, CBS sitcoms posting a 3.3/9.  Fox’s second installment of Cracking Up at 830p earned a 2.5/7, 4th in the time period.  NBC continued to hold its lead at 9pm though by a considerably less margin:  NBC’s Las Vegas 5.7/14 vs. CBS’ Raymond/Two & A Half Men 5.0/13 and hovering nearby was ABC’s second hour of its movie Green Mile (3.9/10). Fox’s Forever Eden was a distant fourth (2.1/5).  NBC continued its stronghold at 10p with the premiere of Average Joe: Adam Returns delivering a 5.3/14 (7.1/17 among W18-49), and once again CBS was hot on NBC’s heels with a 5.0/13 for a repeat of CSI Miami (5.0/13) and the final hour of The Green Mile on ABC delivered a 4.4/11.

Casting Call: 

• INHD is looking for freelance On-Air Talent (men and women, all ethnicities) who can write, produce and host their own shows (sports, lifestyle, outdoor etc) starting in April.  INHD is owned and operated by iN Demand and distributed nationally by Comcast, Cablevision, Cox Communications and Time Warner (for more info go to www.inhd.com).  Fit the bill?  Send your on-air and producing reels (VHS only) to:  Barbara Barna Casting, 335 Court St., #195, Brooklyn, NY  11231.   Good luck!
• So, you’d like to be an Apprentice, eh?  Then you need to be among first 500 to be at the Trump Building, 40 Wall Street, Pine St. Entrance, tomorrow morning.  The doors open at 9am, but you’ll want to get there early because you’re not the only one. At 10am they will conduct intvs with prospective Apprentices and Trump’s hench people – George & Carolyn.  At 11am, enter Trump himself.  If you don’t get into this party, you may want to head to one of the other markets where casting will also be conducted:  Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Austin, Omaha, Little Rock, Portland, Cleveland and New Orleans. Check out  http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Apprentice/apprentice_2_open_call.shtml for full details.

Lee Rudnick, VP/Station Relations for TelAmerica Media/AdMax, died on Sunday morning March 14th.  As so many of you know, Lee had been in this business for more than 30 years, and called on many of you.  Personally, Lee called on me for many years, and never showed up without a tape and a bag of bagels. Funeral services are scheduled for this morning, March 17 at Mt St. Lebanon Cemetery in Queens NY (718 456-2784).  And donations can be made in Lee’s name to Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, 367 East Street Road, Trevose, PA 19053 (888-340-4744).  A website has also been set up for friends to post their thoughts:  http://www.legacy.com/Philly/Guestbook.asp?Page=GuestBook&PersonId=2031093&GuestPage=1

Vinnie Malcolm has been named VP/GM of Tribune owned KTLA/Los Angeles.  He succeeds John Reardon who has been upped to Group VP at Tribune where he will have responsibility for more than a dozen stations. Additionally, John Vitanovec has been named Group VP overseeing the group’s east coast stations and Superstation WGN.

Ronnie Gunnerson was named Senior Advisor/Foundation Relations for The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).  Ronnie first began working with PBS as a consultant in October 2003.  She will based in Alexandria, Virginia and report to Judy L. Harris, EVP/PBS Businesses.

Doug Herzog will rejoin Comedy Central as President.  He initially worked at the company in 1995-1998.  Doug will be based in LA.  He will replace Larry Divney, who will retire.

Joe Lyons has joined Goodman Media International, Inc. as Account Director.  He reports to Tom Goodman, President/CEO and is based in New York.  Joe will direct publicity initiatives for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and work on the publicity efforts for Court TV and other media accounts.

Ian V. Rowe has been named as MTV‘s new VP/Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships.  He replaces Stephen Friedman, who has been upped to General Manager of mtvU, MTV’s new college-based network. Ian will report to Van Toffler, President of MTV: Music Television and Jeannie Kedas, SVP/Communications, and will be based in New York.

MGM Home Entertainment Group, a division of MGM Studios Inc., has upped Ron Sufrin to EVP/Business and Legal Affairs.  Ron reports to David Bishop, President/COO and to Jay Rakow, MGM Studios’ Senior EVP,General Counsel and is based in LA.

Monday, March 15, 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     8.5/13  Yes Dear [r] 6.4/10, Still Standing [r] 7.0/11, Everybody Loves Raymond [r] 9.6/15, Two and a Half Men [r] 8.8/13, CSI: Miami [r] 9.6/16

NBC     8.1/13  Fear Factor 8.6/14, Las Vegas 8.7/13, Average Joe: Adam Returns [p] 7.1/12

ABC     7.4/12  ABC Monday Movie of the Week: The Green Mile 7.4/12

FOX     3.3/5   That 70s Show [r] 3.8/6, Cracking Up 3.4/5, Forever Eden 3.0/5

WB      2.4/4   7th Heaven [r] 3.0/5, Everwood [r] 1.8/3

UPN     2.2/3   The Parkers [r] 2.2/4, Eve [r] 2.3/4, Girlfriends [r] 2.1/3, Half & Half [r] 2.0/3

A18-49  NBC 5.8/15, CBS 4.4/12, ABC 3.7/10, FOX 2.4/6, UPN 1.3/3, WB 1.3/3

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source: NTI Explorer, 3/15/04 or as noted.  Sunday 8-9p.  US Rating.  Ranks based on HH.  

The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
Louis I. Kahn, one of the world’s lead postwar architects, dies at 73 of a heart attack in a bathroom in New York’s Penn Station.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:  Perhaps you remember the incredibly lousy show with a great tune, It’s About Time from Sherwood Schwartz and starring Imogene Coca (1966-67 on CBS). (Sherwood’s shows always had great tunes.) The question here is, do you also remember the name of their space ship? The Scorpio. Kudos to:  Evan Kutner-WNBC/NY; Steve Woodward-UPN Atlanta; Terry Austin-Starz Encore/Englewood; Sharon Levi-Anaheim Hills; Frank Hagan-Termite Art Prods/LA; Cary Miller-Verance Inc./LA; Dave Harding-Termite Art Prods/LA.

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:  Jamie Rose played a red-haired Irish police officer working in Chicago, carrying .357 magnum a la Dirty Harry.  Also in this series was Danny Aiello as her boss; Nan Woods, Bruce Young and Ralph Foody.  The show was rated that season’s most violent program.  It was 1985.  What was the name of this show?   (
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.)

A MESSAGE FROM FINE LIVING NETWORK

• Inspiring and empowering over 20 million subscribers (and counting) to “live like they mean it!”
• Named “Best New Company in America” by the 2003 American Business Awards.
• Proud to have the support of top advertisers, distributors and passionate FINE LIVING fans!

Later — Cyn

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis
03/17/04
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2004

COURT TV:       I Detective [r], I Detective [r], Forensic Files, Psychic Detectives, Dominick Dunne
ABC             My Wife and Kids [r], My Wife and Kids [r], Extreme Makeover, Kingdom Hospital
CBS             Survivor: All Stars (OTO), The King of Queens [r], The Stones [p], 48 Hours Investigates
FOX             That 70s Show, American Idol, Arrested Development
NBC             The Apprentice [r], Law & Order [r], Law & Order [r]
PAX             AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             Game Over, The Mullets, Enterprise [r]
WB              Smallville, Smallville [r]
TELE            Amor Descardo, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Don Francisco Presenta