PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
London-based production company Hillbilly Television acquired the TV drama rights to The Rapture, journalist and author Claire McGlasson’s debut novel about a real-life cult, set in 1920s Bedford.
Wendy Mericle, until recently EP/co-showrunner of the CW’s Arrow, inked an overall deal with ABC Studios. Mericle will develop new projects for broadcast, cable and streamers.
Top 10 Weekend Domestic Box Office Estimates: April 20-22, 2018
A Quiet Place (Paramount) $22.0 million (week 3), cume revenue $132.4 million
Rampage (Warner Bros.) $21.0 million (week 2), cume revenue $66.6 million
I Feel Pretty (STX) $16.2 million, opening weekend
Super Troopers 2 (Fox) $14.7 million, opening weekend
Truth or Dare (Universal) $7.9 million (week 2), cume revenue $30.4 million
Ready Player One (Warner Bros.) $7.5 (week 4) cume revenue $126.2 million
Blockers (Universal) $7.0 (week 3), cume revenue $48.3 million
Black Panther (Buena Vista) $4.6 million (week 10), cume revenue $681.1 million
Traffik (Lionsgate) $3.9 million, opening weekend
Isle of Dogs (Fox Searchlight) $3.4 million (week 5), cume revenue $24.5 million
Source: comScore
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Season three of WE tv’s David Tutera’s CELEBrations includes partiers Zendaya, Heidi and Spencer Pratt and Cake Boss Buddy Valastro, starting Friday, April 27 at 10p.
MTV and content studio Gunpowder & Sky announced that next generation stunt series Too Stupid To Die, developed in conjunction with YouTube banned daredevil Zach Holmes, will premiere in June. The eight-parter tells the story of a backyard stunt family “making a name for themselves with nothing but blood, sweat and fearlessness.”
Comedy Central’s Detroiters returns for season two with back-to-back episodes on Thursday, June 21 at 10p. Show will air each Thursday at 10:30 through the ten-episode season.
COMING UP
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! will dedicate this week’s shows to Avengers: Infinity War. Guest lineup includes the film’s stars, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Holland, Zoe Saldana, Pom Klementieff, Paul Bettany, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston, Dave Bautista, Mark Ruffalo, Danai Gurira, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin, Sebastian Stan, Chadwick Boseman, Karen Gillan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen and Winston Duke.
ADVERTISING
With an assist from Havas New York, TD Ameritrade embed an advertisement in the blockchain, an industry first. The goal of the campaign, Greetings from the Blockchain, is to shine a light on blockchain innovators and investors, and the new technologies changing consumer behavior.
From January 1-April 18 of this year, Hulu spent $60 million on 8,441 airings on national TV programs, according to iSPot.tv, with big spends on BET, MTV2, Fox News, ID and FX. Netflix spent $45.7 during that time for 1384 airings, while YouTube ponied up $17.2 million for 632 airings.
DIGITAL DATA
CNN reported that ads for over 300 companies and government agencies – including Adidas, Hershey, and the New York Times Co. – ran on YouTube channels promoting white nationalists, Nazis, pedophilia, conspiracy theories and North Korean propaganda. A year after a boycott over ads being placed in unsavory videos, YouTube said of the latest scandal, “We have partnered with our advertisers to make significant changes to how we approach monetization on YouTube with stricter policies, better controls and greater transparency.” P&G, which just resumed spending on select “whitelisted” YouTube channels after a year off, said it has “the right measures in place” for P&G brands to have the option of spending on YouTube.
Facebook updated its data policy, clarifying how data is collected, how the social media giant uses it, and how it might be shared or removed. “Consider who you choose to share with,” warns the 4200-word update, which also confirms Facebook tracks people even if they don’t have a Facebook account, and uses location data to “personalize and improve” its products.
Comcast and Charter are teaming to develop a common operating platform to support Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile and Charter’s Spectrum Mobile Service. The scalable software platform would power each company’s mobile sales and support platforms, device logistics, warehousing and billing. “By collaborating with Charter, we will help drive operational and cost efficiencies for both companies,” said Sam Schwartz, chief business development officer for Comcast.
Buzz from the AT&T/Department of Justice trial has AT&T planning to launch a $15/month, no-sports streaming service, AT&T Watch. According to the Washington Post, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson talked about the service during his testimony last week.
The April 14 installment of E! Snapchat show Face Forward set a record as NBCUniversal’s most-watched Snapchat Discover episode with over 12 million unique viewers. In its second season, the makeover show is averaging over 6 million US unique viewers.
Every season of Friday Night Lights is now available to stream on Hulu, via a new agreement with NBCUniversal. Cult fave high school football drama ran from 2006-2011.
Go90 is dropping a full third season of Top Grier today, Monday, April 23. Unscripted comedy from INE Entertainment follows social media star Hayes Grier.
CBS All Access grabbed development rights for limited event series 8 Fights – The Life of Muhamad Ali, from Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary’s Revelations Entertainment and CBS Television Studios.
CASTING
Geena Davis is returns to Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Nicole Herman for the May 10 episode. The Thelma & Louise star had a story arc on Grey’s during the 2014-15 season.
Noah Emmerich (The Americans) will star opposite Sacha Baron Cohen in Netflix drama The Spy.
