Good morning. It’s Wednesday, March 3, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.
February Sweeps through and including Monday, March 1, 26 out of 28 days, according to Nielsen Media Research: A18-49: NBC 4.8/13 (-2% vs. Feb 2003), CBS 4.2/11 (flat), Fox 4.0/11 (-29%), ABC 3.6/10 (-8%), WB and UPN tied at 1.6/4 (-16% and +7% respectively). A25-54: NBC 5.5/13 (-2%), CBS 5.3/13 (+2%), ABC 4.2/10 (-7%), Fox 4.0/9 (-26%), UPN 1.7/4 (+13%) and WB 1.6/4 (-11%) Total Viewers: CBS 14.12m (+1%), NBC 12.11m (-3%), ABC 10.33m (flat), Fox 9.31m (-23%), UPN 3.91m (+7%), WB 3.90m (-10%)
Premiering Tonight: ABC: Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital 2-hr premiere at 9P
It’s statements like this that get everyone talking — “We are in active discussions with David E. Kelley about another show that will share some of the same blood with ‘The Practice.” So spoken by Lloyd Braun, Chairman/ABC Entertainment Television Group, during the ABC Sweeps Conference call yesterday morning, who then would not provide any further information. Also look for the inclusion of sitcom Big House in the Friday night lineup this spring, as well as a few big movie events including A Wrinkle in Time (set for a Saturday in May) and The 5 People You Want to Meet in Heaven.
During the Fox Sweep Conference Call, Gail Berman announced the start date for its new Mark Burnett unscripted drama series Casino – June 8 at 8pm though was reticent in talking about the deal with Burnett except to say it was not of the same “territory as NBC[‘sThe Contender] as far as product placement and ad revenue.” Fox’s other unscripted drama, Playing It Straight, will launch on Friday, March 12 at 8pm, followed by the premiere of the net’s newest drama Wunderfalls. Fox also said its pilot project The Jury from Barry Levinson/Tom Fontana has now moved into the production stage. And Arrested Development will get a shot in the arm as it’s scheduled after American Idol on March 17. Arrested’s long term future? Still in the air, as is Boston Public.
During the NBC Conference Call, Jeff Zucker allowed Ed would not likely return next season, and Miss Match is looking doubtful though the jury has returned a firm verdict on the latter. What you can expect to see next season is plenty of Th Apprentice, as well a another Law & Order spinoff to launch some time next season.
During the CBS’ Conference Call, Leslie Moonves announced the finale date for the net’s two hour Survivor All Stars as May 9, live from Madison Square Garden, with the reunion show to follow, hosted by Jeff Probst. Moonves also said the net has won the sweep among Total Viewers and in households ratings, and said this has been the network’s best sweep in a decade (excluding the Olympic sweeps in 1994 and 1998), and they are the closest in A25-54 to NBC than they’ve been since 1993. As far as Everybody Loves Raymond – Moonves says they are ‘guardedly optimistic” about the show returning, perhaps with fewer eps than the average season, and that this season’s finale has also been written as a potential series finale. He said he expects a decision in the next 2-3 weeks.
UPN’s Amish unscripted drama project was the biggest question posed to Dawn Ostroff during the UPN Sweep Conference Call, who would only say the project is still in the development stages, casting has begun, and the show will use utmost care in protecting and respecting the Amish heritage. Pressed for more information whether the network would actually go forward with the show after receiving a letter from 51 Congressmen, Ostroff reiterated it is too early to say if the project will indeed go into production.
TBS and TNT announced their original programming slate for 2004-05, chock full of reality and drama and the next edition of the Johnson & Johnson Spotlight Presentation. Beginning first with TBS:
Lloyd and Sherwood Schwartz, creator of Gilligan’s Island, will team up TBS to produce an unscripted comedy show using the same premise as the original show – 7 castaways and each fulfilling the professions of the original passengers on the USS Minnow. Look for this one in 4th qtr 2004.
Another unscripted drama comes from Bruce Nash and Nash Entertainment (Meet My Folk, For Love or Money) about 10 women trying to gain the attention and affection of one man. Chock full of twists and turns, this show debuts this summer.
TBS will also present a couple of hidden camera/practical joke style programs, and another unscripted series where cameras follow single women in NYC as they go about their dating business looking for Mr. Right or as TBS says, Mr. Right Now.
Over on TNT, it’s all about drama, but you knew that.
A six ep limited series starring Julianna Margulies and Dylan McDermott called The Grid (Carnival Films/Fox Television Studios) that looks at both side of the war on terror.
Steven Spielberg’s exec prod a 12-hour epic called Into the West (working title) which is the true to history account of the opening of the American West, through the eyes of an American and a Native American family. Production begins this summer.
And a host of original films including the next installment of the Johnson & Johnson Spotlight Presentation called The Wool Cap (Rosemont Prods), starring again William H. Macy, along with Don Rickles, Ned Beatty, and Catherine O’Hara.
When you’re looking for the pre-Summer Olympic events (Aug13-29), namely the U.S. Olympic Trials, look no further than USA Network for 24 of the 51 hours of Olympic Trial coverage, that is assuming the acquisition of the Vivendi assets by General Electric will happen by early summer. NBC announced yesterday a portion of the Team Trials will be moved to USA this time around, beginning May 22 and fully for future Olympics in 2008, 2010 and 2012, . Last time around for the 2000 Games, the Team Trials aired on PAX. Other NBC owned assets airing Olympic events include Bravo, Telemundo, CNBC and MSNBC.
With the slightly warmer weather here in the east, a person’s mind turns to thoughts of Opening Day. Yes, baseball season is just around the corner and with that comes news Fox will air in primetime the first matchup of the season between the Yankees vs. Red Sox on Friday, April 16, from Fenway Park.
New in Casting and Development:
Fox has ordered up two more pilots – one an as yet untitled Chris Rock project (20th/3 Arts Ent) with Rock as exec prod; and another from exec prod Steve Martin (Carsey-Werner-Mandabach/Martin-Stein Co) about a multi-generational Cuban family in Miami through a 16 year old character. Also, Fox has cast Andy Richter in The Quints (Imagine/20th) as the father of quintuplets.
ABC has given the go ahead for a pilot all 64 Grand Slam, a game from noted game producer Michael Davies (Millionaire/Super Millionaire), and based on the UK’s popular series Grand Slam on Channel 4. ABC has cast is drama series Lost (Bad Robot/Touchstone) with Dominic Monaghan, Ian Somerhalder, Jorge Garcia and Evangeline Lilly as some of the castaways stuck on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Mykelti Williamson joins the cast of The Secret Service (Touchstone) which stars Sarah Wayne Callies, along with Shane Brolly, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Justin Chambers. Marisa Coughlin is the first cast member to be announced for ABC’s Kat Plus One (Berlanti-Liddell Prods/Warner Bros. TV) a thirty-something’s coming of age dramedy. And joining the cast of Desperate Housewives (Touchstone) are Mark Moses, Cody Kasch and Sheryl Lee. Paul Adelstein has been tapped for ABC’s Untitled Shonda Rhimes (Touchstone) project about surgical residents in a San Francisco hospital.
NBC‘s untitled Marsh McCall Project (Warner Bros. TV) has added Mitch Rouse to the cast which stars Tim Conti, about a divorced father/college professor and his son.
CBS has ordered a pilot for Taste (Regency/CBS Prods) about a graduate from cooking school in her first big job.
Oxygen‘s US television premiere of Whale Rider, the film in which 13 year old Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated in the Best Actress category for the Oscars, aired on Monday, March 1 at 8:00p. The film earned the highest rating in the network’s history, with a 1.23 HH rtg, and 690,000 viewers. Oxygen’s target audience, W18-49, drew a 0.89 rating.
Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among Total Viewers for the month of February 2004: Primetime (000) Total Day (000) TNT 2527 NICK/NAN 1874 USA 2451 TNT 1371 NICK/NAN 2324 CARTOON 1125 TBS 1734 USA 1042 CARTOON 1596 LIFETIME 1011 LIFETIME 1550 TBS 981 DISCOVERY 1349 FOXNEWS 792 FOXNEWS 1328 A&E 669 ESPN 1307 DISCOVERY 663 SCIFI 1199 HISTORY 661 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 month of February 2004: Primetime (000) Total Day (000) TNT 1176 TNT 695 USA 1038 TBS 584 TBS 898 NICK/NAN 559 DISCOVERY 764 USA 486 TLC 660 LIFETIME 473 MTV 639 TLC 382 LIFETIME 624 DISCOVERY 378 SPIKE 612 ESPN 367 ESPN 600 FX 322 NICK/NAN 581 COMEDY 307 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 23-29, 2004 in Total Viewers Total Day Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers 1.663 (000) Total Viewers. (-2% vs. previous week). Of the cable news viewership, Fox News had 48% of the viewing, CNN 28%, MSNBC 13%; and Headline News 11% Primetime Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers 2.667 (0000) Total Viewers (-1% vs. previous week). Of the primetime cable news viewership, Fox News had 52%, CNN 30%, MSNBC 11% and Headline News 7%. Source Nielsen Media Research
The ten cable networks showing the most growth February 2003 to February 2004 among A18-49 in Primetime are in rank order: SoapNet +118%, Bravo +103%, Fuse +63%, Toon Disney +59%, Discovery +52%, ABC Family +47%, A&E +41%, Discovery Health +37%, CNBC +30%, and Hallmark +29%. The five cable networks to loose the most ground Feb 03 to Feb 04 in primetime among A18-49 are Headline News -47%, Fox News -38%, CNN -35%, MSNBC -34%, TV Land -29%.
The ten cable networks showing the most growth February 2003 to February 2004 among A18-49 for Total Day are in rank order: ABC Family +98%, Bravo +95%, SoapNet +51%, Discovery Health +50%, Fuse +43%, Hallmark +42%, Outdoor Life Network +35%, Discovery +31%, Toon Disney +27%,. Lifetime Movie Network +26%. The five cable networks to loose the most ground Feb 03 to Feb 04 for Total Day among A18-49 are CNN -45%, Headline News -39%, MSNBC -37%, Fox News -36% and TV Guide Channel -16%.
Fox takes the night on Monday with an overall 6.7/17 A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research fast affiliate ratings. NBC was second with a 6.1/15, followed closely by CBS 5.8/14, ABC 2.4/6, WB 1.7/4 and UPN 1.5/4. At 8pm Fox dominated the hour with an 8.3/21 for American Idol: Uncut, Uncensored and Untalented (9.7/25 W18-34). NBC delivered a 5.5/14 for Fear Factor and CBS a 3.7/9 for its team of sitcoms Yes Der and Still Standing. WB’s 7th Heaven was third in the time period among W18-34 (3.5/9) behind Fox and NBC. At 9p CBS’ Raymond/Two and a Half Men earned a combined 6.3/15. NBC’s Las Vegas was a close second posting a 5.5/13, with Fox hot on its heels with a 5.1/12 for the premiere of Forever Eden. At 10p both NBC and CBS tied at 7.3/18 with CSI Miami and Average Joe: Hawaii [finale]. ABC’s Movie special: The Mystery of Natalie Wood delivered a disappointing 2.4/6 from 8-10p.
Sky has named Rebecca Segal as SVP/Sky Networks, a new LA based role providing US programming information to all Sky Networks’ channels. Rebecca reports to Sky’s Director of Film Channels and Acquisitions, Sophie Turner-Laing. She will provide this new function to all Sky Networks’ channels including Sky Movies, Sky One, Sky News, Sky Travel and Sky Music.
Lee Gaither has been named EVP/Programming and Production for TV One, the new cable network targeting African American adults. Lee will be responsible for TV One’s programming strategy and will oversee all program production, acquisition, scheduling and business development for the network. He will be based in both Washington DC at the network’s headquarters, and in LA.
Cynopsis will be contributing to The New York Times’ special pull out section Television Upfront which is included in the May 11, 2004 edition. Among other topics, one of them will be a look at the best of the best new series for the 2004-05 television season, be it broadcast or cable network or from the syndication side. If you have a show you would like to be considered, drop me a note at
and I’ll be happy to provide you with my mailing address so you can send along a description and/or tape. All information provided for this NYT piece will be embargoed (even from Cynopsis) until the 5/11 publication of the Times.
Monday, March 1, 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 10.2/16 Yes, Dear 6.8/10, Still Standing 6.9/10, Everybody Loves Raymond 11.1/16, Two and a Half Men 10.8/16, CSI: Miami 12.8/20
FOX 9.1/14 Fox Special: American Idol: Uncut , Uncensored & Untalented 11.2/17, Forever Eden [p] 6.9/10
NBC 8.3/13 Fear Factor: All Female 7.6/11, Las Vegas 8.1/12, Average Joe: Hawaii [finale] 9.3/15
ABC 6.9/10 ABC Premiere Event: The Mystery of Natalie Wood 6.9/10
WB 3.1/5 7th Heaven 3.7/6, 7th Heaven [r] 2.6/4
UPN 2.4/4 The Parkers 2.1/3, Eve 2.3/3, Girlfriends 2.7/4, Half & Half 2.6/4
A18-49 FOX 6.7/17, NBC 6.1/15, CBS 5.8/14, ABC 2.4/6, WB 1.7/4, UPN 1.5/4
A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION
TWO & A HALF MEN The Season’s #1 New Scripted Series!
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Source: NTI Explorer, 3/1/04 or as noted. TP=Monday 9:30pm. TP ranks ties Las Vegas with M25-54. STD rank based on HH. US Rating. Excludes specials.
The History Channelpresents This Day in History: 1975 – Charlie Chaplin, 85, is knighted by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. He dies two years later. In 2002, British government documents are released showing that Chaplin’s knighthood had been delayed by many years because of his perceived “communist” sympathies.
Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:What was the name of the bird of prey that appeared for 2 years on a primetime sitcom? Zelda the Vulture from the Addams Family in 1964-66. Kudos to: Sam Linsky-TBS/LA. oooo, tough one! Today’s will make you feel better.
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Comcast Spotlight now covers 72 DMAs, including 22 of the top 25, reaching over 30 million subscribers. And now, with a nationwide footprint of 55 interconnects, buying individual markets or multiple markets is a breeze. Comcast Spotlight – Spot cable finally delivers. For more information click here.
Today’s Trivia Question: On what series would you find the fraternal group called The Cobra Lodge? ( 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.)
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Later — Cyn
Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis 03/03/04 5:06am Free Subscriptions to Cynopsis: email
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2004
COURT TV’S ADVERTISING ENVIRONMENT SATISFIES YOUR NEEDS
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Source: 2003 Advertising Receptivity Index. A18+. Indexed to Total US. Nets with 50+MM subs included. Qual. Avail. upon request.
COURT TV: The Take: Fakers and Takers, Forensic Files, Psychic Detectives, Dominick Dunne ABC My Wife and Kids (60m), Kingdom Hospital [Premiere] CBS 60 Minutes II, The King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, CSI FOX That 70s Show, American Idol, The O.C. NBC The Apprentice, The West Wing, Law & Order PAX AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder UPN Enterprise, America’s Next Top Model [r] WB Smallville, Angel TELE Amor Descardo,El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas UNIV Velo de Novia, Bajo la Misma Piel, Don Francisco Presenta
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM GREAT AMERICAN FAMILY Great American Family Flips the Switch Tomorrow! Great American Christmas begins Year 4, cementing our place as the leader in quality content with the biggest stars. Starting tomorrow, 24/7 Christmas movies, including 17 originals added to our exceptional library. It’s not about quantity—it’s about quality. Stars Mario Lopez […]
SENIOR INTEGRATED MARKETING CAMPAIGN PROJECT MANAGER BEACON MEDIA GROUP NY/NJ Seeking a diligent, organized, and enthusiastic individual to join our team as we manage Integrated Marketing Campaigns for a candy manufacturer. Responsibilities include ensuring client satisfaction, managing project timelines, and optimizing campaign effectiveness. If you’re proactive and enjoy collaborating with teams, we want to hear […]
Wednesday October 9, 2024 IN THE NEWS Horizon Media announced a multi-year strategic partnership with AI marketing data analytics startup Akkio, aimed at streamlining the media campaign process. Horizon will integrate its data platform blu. with Akkio’s AI technology in a collaboration Bill Koenigsberg, Founder and CEO of Horizon, maintains will transform the business. […]
Tuesday October 8, 2024 IN THE NEWS The CW is making a switch. Starting tomorrow, October 9, “Inside the NFL” will air Wednesdays at 9p, swapping time slots with drama “Joan,” which will now air Fridays at 9p. “Joan” debuted on October 2 to 290,000 total viewers. NBCUniversal launched new content collection ExcellencE! on […]
Monday October 7, 2024 IN THE NEWS Meta introduced Meta Movie Gen, a set of AI tools to automatically generate videos, instantly edit them and synchronize them with AI-generated sound effects. Video clips are up to 16 seconds in length and 16 frames per second. As for sources of data, Meta said, “We’ve trained these […]
