Cynopsis

05.06.09

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, May 6, 2009, and this is your first early morning briefing.

Tonight’s Finale:
ABC: Scrubs at 8p

Spike TV picked up the comedy Entourage from HBO and starting January 2010 will be the exclusive basic cable home for the series. The off-net acquisition rights include all five seasons with 78 total episodes as well as the upcoming sixth run and rights to any future seasons not yet produced. Entourage centers on Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier), a young actor whose Hollywood career is taking off and is surrounded by his entourage of best buddies from Queens who are along for the fun. The series also stars Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Debi Mazar, Rex Lee, Perrey Reeves, Carla Gugino, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Beverly D’Angelo. Mark Wahlberg serves as executive producer along with Stephen Levinson, Rob Weiss, Denis Biggs and Doug Ellin who also created Entourage.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM TENNIS CHANNEL

#1 – Tennis is the fastest growing sport & more players are tuning into Tennis Channel than ever before
          *USTA/SGMA 2008 Sports & Fitness Participation Report vs. 2000
#1 – Our viewers are more engaged with Tennis Channel than any other sports network
          *OTX Research Survey of 750 Tennis Channel viewers
#1 – Tennis Channel has the most affluent audience in television
          *Based on Median HH Income Simmons NCS Fall 2007

FOX announced it will not continue with its half-hour Saturday late-night program Talk Show With Spike Feresten for a fourth season. The network previously announced it will also end its sketch comedy show MadTV which aired prior to Talk Show at 11p on Saturdays. These scheduling changes have cleared the way for FOX to introduce a new 60m Saturday night show at 11p with Wanda Sykes as host, though the midnight half-hour slot is still open, and could be filled with a comedy repeat.

CBS’ sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine will be back for a fifth season, though which network will carry the series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus is up in the air, reports THR. ABC made a back-up agreement with Warner Bros. TV, producer of the series, for a full-season order of 22 episodes if CBS opts to not pick up the show. CBS has not announced if it will renew the series or not, though industry speculation indicates Old Christine will stay on CBS.

Prior to the upfronts, The CW is talking with its top affiliates about becoming a Monday through Friday only network beginning this fall. In a statement released Monday evening, the network confirmed it is “now exploring the transition of Sunday night to our affiliates.” This move follows last fall’s failure of series produced by Media Rights Capital to make an impact on Sunday nights which resulted in The CW replacing MRC programming with MGM library movies and repeats of CBS’ Jericho. So far, The CW has original programming in development focused on Monday-Friday nights.

The CW has a slew of finale dates set for this month:
May 8: Everybody Hates Chris at 8p
May 13: America’s Next Top Model, Cycle 12 at 8p
May 14: Smallville at 8p; Supernatural at 9p
May 15: The Game special one-hour finale at 8p
May 18: Gossip Girl at 8p; One Tree Hill at 9p
May 19: 90210 at 9p
May 26: Reaper at 8p

In addition, The CW has two summer premiere dates:
May 26: Hitched or Ditched at 9p
July 7: Blonde Charity Mafia at 9p

TNT scored with its 2009 NBA Playoffs coverage, delivering the best first round ratings ever. TNT attracted 14% more total viewers than the previous year (nearly 3.4 million vs. almost 3.0 million). Furthermore, TNT’s broadcast of game #7 on May 2 was the most-watched Round One game in cable TV history at 5.0 million viewers with households as well as 7.0 million total viewers.

Long-time television industry veteran, Robert B. Hance III died May 2. Throughout his career, Robert worked in four major markets in sales and sales management at WBAL/Baltimore, WTTG/Washington, D.C. and WFTC/Washington, D.C., WDIV/Detroit and WNEW/New York. In addition, Robert was a sales representative for Metro TV Sales, an executive at Independent Television Network and was the founder of Television Direct Marketing Co. Robert retired to West Palm Beach, FL where his funeral service will be held today at 10a.

Funny man, Dom DeLuise died Monday night, passing away in his sleep after a long illness. He was 75. With a stage, film and television career spanning 50 years, Dom is remembered for his comedic film roles starring opposite his best friend Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and the Cannonball Run films from 1981 and 1984. Dom also starred in such hilarious Mel Brooks’ films as Blazing Saddles (1974), History of the World  Part I, Spaceballs (1987) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). On television, Dom appeared on The Dean Martin Show for eight years and did unforgettable stints on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Flip Wilson Show. He also was an occasional substitute stand-in for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and in 1991 was the host of The New Candid Camera. In addition to his prolific entertainment career, Dom was an accomplished chef, writing two cookbooks and appearing on morning TV programs preparing his favorite recipes. He also penned two children’s books and was a fan of opera. Dom is survived by three sons and his wife, Carol of 43 years.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM BRAVO MEDIA

BRAVO YOUR BRAND
AND GET IN ON THE AFFLUENCER REACTION!

CLICK HERE TO BRAVO YOUR BRAND

FX continues its acquisition of major blockbuster films as it picked up the rights to X-Men Origins: Wolverine for 2011, cites Variety. The package deal, valued at an estimated $80 million plus, includes seven other films: The Wrestler, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Bride Wars, Taken, Marley and Me and two action films 12 Rounds and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.

Former CNN News anchor, Daryn Kagan and Sewee Entertainment are in partnership with a new syndicated news service for local television stations called Good News with Daryn Kagan. The service offers five weekly, fully complete 1-2 minute video news reports featuring inspirational news stories from Daryn Kagan, creator and host of DarynKagan.com. Tim Voit, president of Sewee Entertainment and his company are in charge of distribution with terms of cash or barter.

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) made a deal with MultiChoice to expand its general entertainment network, Sony Entertainment Television (SET) across Africa starting today. SET will be available in the Sub-Saharan Africa region via DStv’s Premium and Compact bouquets, taking SET’s subscriber household base in Africa to more than two million. Additionally, SET in South Africa, available since November 2007, is now carried via Compact and Premium bouquets through DStv. SET are now available in more than 90 countries worldwide, reaching 90+ million households.

HISTORY HD is now available to Korean audiences through a new outlet, SkyLife per an agreement between AETN International and SkyLife. HISTORY HD is already available in Korea via Korea Telecom’s IPTV platform, MegaTV. HISTORY HD offers all programming in hi-def including such series as Cities of the Underworld, The Universe, Ax Men, Dog fights among others.

BBC Worldwide Channels inked a deal with NBC Universal International Television Distribution, acquiring the basic cable rights in Poland to a number of popular British films. The film package, airing on BBC Entertainment which launched in Poland in December 2007, includes several favorites starring Hugh Grant such as Love Actually, Notting Hill, About a Boy as well as Billy Elliot.

Bravo strengthened its working relationship with Picture This Television, producer of Bravo’s Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, offering the production company a blind multi-project development deal involving unscripted series and specials.  Previously, Picture This Television produced Celebrity Poker Showdown for Bravo over six seasons.

CYNOPSIS DIGITAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  Stars of the digital media space were anointed yesterday when the annual Webby Awards were announced – the closest thing the industry has to The Oscars. And while the complete list of winners is far to vast to recap here, the group singled out the best of the best this year in a new category dubbed “Special Achievement Awards.” Person of the Year goes to Late Night host, Twitterer extraordinaire and gadget aficionado Jimmy Fallon. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, whose iPhone app was just rejected by Apple for being too crass, wins Artist of the Year for his innovative distribution techniques. Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy creator (and Hulu pitchman) Seth McFarlane was named Film and Video Person of the Year. Matt Damon fling and political commentator Sarah Silverman took Best Actress. Web Therapist Lisa Kudrow won for Outstanding Comedic Performance. And the Webby for Breakout of the Year goes to, who else, Twitter. It’s interesting that all the personalities here were successes in mainstream media first. At least this will make for a more glamorous Webby ceremony, slated for June 8 during Internet Week of New York.  Full edition: CYN DIGITAL. 

CYNOPSIS KIDS – TODAY’S TOP STORY: DQ Entertainment (DQE) inks a co-production deal with Paris-based Moonscoop to complete the US$12 million production budget for the new original 3D HD animated TV series (52×11) and TV movie (1×60), The Jungle Book.   Based on Rudyard Kipling’s eponymous book, The Jungle Book being developed and produced by DQE.  The other major co-production partners on-board for the project are Germany’s ZDF Enterprises (ZDE) and ZDF Broadcasting (ZDF), as well as France’s broadcasting and licensing company TF1 Group.  DQE holds majority global rights including TV and all platforms of distribution, home video, VOD, publishing, merchandising and all form of licensing.  ZDF/ZDF-E holds distribution rights for Europe (excluding French, English and Irish territories), Middle East and Latin America for the series and movie.  MoonScoop will work in tandem with TF1 broadcasting and other French funding agencies on the series.  NBC Universal will be responsible for home video distribution in the UK, France, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.  Full edition: CYN KIDS. 

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM TV GUIDE NETWORK^TM

Audience estimates for data of Sunday, May 3, 2009 and Monday, May 4, 2009 for National Broadcast data for Saturday, May 2, 2009 continues to be delayed due to processing back logs, caused by slower than normal data collection for Saturday and Sunday data. With luck, this data will be released today, and will be included in tomorrow’s edition of Cynopsis.

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of 4/20-4/26/09 ranked by HH Rtg
Wheel of Fortune (CTD)                                   6.5 AA
Jeopardy (CTD)                                               5.6 AA
Oprah Winfrey Show (CTD)                              4.7 AA / 4.8 GAA
Two and a Half Men (WB)                                 4.7 AA / 6.3 GAA
Judge Judy (CTD)                                            4.2 AA / 6.5 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (CTD)                            4.1 AA / 4.2 GAA
Family Guy (2/T)                                             3.9 AA / 4.6 GAA
Seinfeld (SPT)                                                 3.3 AA / 3.8 GAA
Dr. Phil Show (CTD)                                         3.2 AA / 3.3 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (CTD)                      3.0 AA / 3.9 GAA
Inside Edition (CTD)                                         3.0 AA / 3.1 GAA
Source: NSS Galaxy Explorer, Live+SD

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of 4/20-4/26/09 ranked by A18-49 Rtg
Family Guy (2/T)                                            2.7 AA / 3.1 GAA
Two and a Half Men (WB)                                2.5 AA / 3.2 GAA
Seinfeld (SPT)                                                2.1 AA / 2.3 GA
Everybody Loves Raymond (CTD)                      1.8 AA / 2.3 GAA
Oprah Winfrey Show (CTD)                              1.7 AA / 1.7 GAA
King of Queens (SPT)                                      1.6 AA / 1.8 GAA
King of the Hill (2/T)                                       1.6 AA / 1.9 GAA
Wheel of Fortune (CTD)                                   1.5 AA
Friends (WB)                                                  1.5 AA / 1.8 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (CTD)                           1.4 AA / 1.5 GAA
Judge Judy (CTD)                                           1.4 AA / 2.0 GAA
Source: NSS Galaxy Explorer, Live+SD

CBS Corporation formed the CBS Interactive Music Group, a new business division within CBS Interactive. CBS Interactive Music Group comprises CBS Radio streams of its music stations, web only channels; interactive websites for each CBS Radio music station; and Last.fm, a music discovery site offering millions of tracks in multiple genres with radio streaming and free-on-demand capabilities. David Goodman was tapped to lead this new unit as President, CBS Interactive Music Group. David has been with CBS Radio since 2002, serving as President/Digital Media and Integrated Marketing since December 2007. David will continue to be based at CBS Radio headquarters in New York.

Garrett Schaefer is the new VP/Marketing with Island Records, in charge of implementing marketing and advertising strategies for his list of artists including Bon Jovi, Mariah Carey, Melissa Etheridge among others. Based in New York, Garrett will report to Mark DiDia, EVP/GM, Island Records.

UK-based post-production and visual effects company, UNIT hired Andrew Newman as Executive Producer. In his new capacity, Andrew will be in charge of creating and growing UNIT’s roster of projects encompassing commercials, promos, feature-length programming and music videos.

MTV Networks International (MTVNI) promoted Sofia Ioannou as Managing Director of MTV Networks Latin America, replacing Pierluigi Gazzolo who was named COO for MTVNI. In her new role, Sofia will head the business and creative development for company brands including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite and Nick Jr. in Spanish-speaking Latin America in addition to Viacom Networks Brazil and MTV Networks Digital Suite. Sofia will continue to be based at the company’s office in Miami, reporting to Bob Bakish, President, MTVNI.

Jody Jones joins Discovery Communications as SVP/Digital Programming, coming from Scripps Networks Interactive. At Discovery Communications, Jody will oversee the development and implementation of the company’s online products, working with network management to incorporate the editorial vision for programming across the company’s various websites. She will be based at Discovery’s New York office.

VERSUS recruited Leon Schweir as SVP/Production and Executive Producer to manage live event and studio productions covering all the network’s sports properties including NHL, IndyCar Series, Tour de France, college football and the Professional Bull Riders. Leon will be based at network headquarters in Stamford, Conn. Previously, Leon was VP/Production and Executive Producer with the Big Ten Network.

Titan Worldwide added Mike Collins as VP/GM for its Dallas office. Mike will concentrate on local sales in addition to spurring on out-of-market sales into the Dallas market and increasing national sales.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA

This day in History:    1957 – U.S. Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his book “Profiles in Courage”.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:  Nick Moore was engaged to whom on primetime TV?  MALLORY KEATON on FAMILY TIES  Kudos to: Anne-Lamar Meeker-The Nielsen Company/Richmond; Brian Ricco-MultiVision Media, Inc./Ringwood; Cristin DeVries-CBS/NY; Jeff Stark-Discovery Communications/Silver Spring; Kabir Bhatia-Beaverkettle Broadcasting/Chicago; Kevin Schmidt-NCC/Chicago; Dan Radman-Prometheus/Chicago; Karen Frost-Columbia College/Chicago; Taylor Loeb-Mirage Casting/Los Angeles; Steve Abrams-My Network TV/Los Angeles; Scott Victor Nelson-William Morris/LA; Ashley Kreb-Fox Cable Networks/LA

Today’s Trivia Question:  What primetime TV character has a hobby of collecting Trolls?   (Email
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.)

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Later — Cyn
05.06.09

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JOB OPENING: MGR CONSUMER ADV/A&E TV: Mng consumer directed comm in support of tune-in & branding goals for A&E, Bio & CI HD. 5+yrs mktg and/or promotions exp in tv/cable or brdcst. Please apply via www.aetn.com/careers/html (5/13)

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JOB OPENING: VP-BUS AFFAIRS/DISCOVERY/MD: Mng/negot/draft complex TV prog. deals, provide legal advice on prog/prod. issues. JD, 6+yrs transactional & ent. Legal exp. Apply: http://corporate.discovery.com/careers #8948 (5/9)

JOB OPENING: NATIONAL SALES MANAGER/WTIC/WTXX/Hartford: Seeking NSM with at least 5+ yrs media sales exp; broadcast TV, cable or radio exp. preferred; excellent negotiation skills; strong work ethic; Resume:
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SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERN: Assist with designing and creating broadcast design and interactive media. Must know Photoshop, Illustrator and either Flash, A/E or Dreamweaver.
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SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Orchard Films, a documentary film production company/DUMBO, Brooklyn: Looking for summer interns to help with several projects. Email cover letter & resume to Amanda:
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SITUATION WANTED: REALITY PRODUCER/WRITER/DIR : NBC, TLC, CMT, CNN, E!, Discovery, pilots, sales tapes, internet; I’ll write your reality show treatment and develop your ideas. LA Based; travels well;
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SITUATION WANTED: 5 PRIME TIME EMMYS/ DOC. PROD, DIR., WRITER in L.A. Credits: National Geo, PBS, Discovery, History CH, TLC and MSNBC. Contact email:
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SITUATION WANTED: 8+ years experience in TVB-cast & Cable Buying & Supervising (General, DR, and PP). Also, some experience in print, radio, and online.Will move for the right opportunity.
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SITUATION WANTED: TONY NOM. B’WAY PROD/THEATRE CONSULT/ACQUIS. & DEV./NYC 30+ yrs exp. in theatre. Superb theatre/film/TV contacts seeks FT or Consulting Position w/Studio/Prod Co. looking for properties. Contact:
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SITUATION WANTED: Atlanta sales and marketing professional with 10 years experience in cable and telecommunications industry.Expertise in both the content and affiliate distribution. Strategic team player.
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SITUATION WANTED: EXPERIENCED GRAPHIC DESIGNER (LA) Reality-TV, Film, Commercial, Documentaries & Corporate. Creative & Flexible. Seeking Freelance or Staff Position, Remote or In-House. Reel & Contact Info: www.ChaztizedMedia.com (5/12)

SITUATION WANTED: FIELD PRODUCER/ DIRECTOR/LA: Docusoap, Lifestyle, Infotainment,Feature Doc + more. Resonant leader, keen writer, field/post, strong storyteller + showrunner. 8+ yrs. Will travel.
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SITUATION WANTED: International FORMAT CONSULTANT – Willing to travel anywhere in the world to consult, produce, or represent your formats, specializing in Asia,Australia,Europe, Middle East, North and South America and Africa. Mail to:
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SITUATION WANTED: COLLEGE STUDENT/NYC/DC: Seeking exciting summer internship (paid or unpaid). Drama & Psyc major at Vassar College, particularly interested in film and TV. Enthusiastic and hardworking.
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SITUATION WANTED: WRITER, PROD. ASST., RSCH, CREATIVE CONSULTANT: (PBS, MTV, GSUSA, Columbia) Script/story dvlpmt TV, theatre; educa & corp dvlpmt. Music, children’s media. Good sense of humor!
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT –  WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2009

ABC: Scrubs [f ], Lost, The Unusuals
AZTECA: Lo Que Callamos Las Mujeres Edicion Especial, Vidas al Limite, Al Extremo
CBS: New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY
CW:  America’s Next Top Model, 90210 [r]
FOX: Lie to Me, American Idol
ION:  Movie: Octopussy
MNT: World Funniest Moments, Comics Unleashed, Comics Unleashed
NBC: Law & Order: CI, Law & Order: SVU [r], Law & Order
PBS: Secrets of the Dead, WWII Behind Closed doors
TELE: Dona Barbara, El Rostro de Analia, Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso, El Cartel
UNIV: Cuidado con el Angel, Manana es para Siempre, Don Francisco Presenta

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