Wednesday January 5, 2022

Today’s Finale
E!: The Bradshaw Bunch at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Welcome to cable, Magnolia Network! Discovery’s joint venture with Chip and Joanna Gaines makes its long-awaited cable debut today, January 5 at 9p, with “Fixer Upper: Welcome Home.” The network’s linear launch was originally slated for October 2020, but the pandemic caused production delays that prompted Discovery to add Magnolia to streamer discovery+, along with a dedicated app, instead. Magnolia is a rebrand of Discovery’s DIY Network.

Nielsen announced the launch of Streaming Signals, a new solution aimed at helping CTV operators and advertisers better understand who is watching a show within the household. Using machine learning models to determine who is in the household based on historical viewership data, Streaming Signals delivers a signal within 50 milliseconds to CTV operators of who is currently streaming program content. “Nielsen Streaming Signals brings a layer of unmatched real-time, person-level demographic precision to audience optimization,” said Ameneh Atai, General Manager Digital and Advanced TV, Nielsen.

NBC’s “Late Night” has been canceled for the rest of the week, following a positive Covid test for now-isolating host Seth Meyers. A vaxxed and booster-ed Meyers tweeted that he feels fine, adding, “Tune in next Monday to see what cool location we will try to pass off as a studio!”.

It was cut short by a day due to the Covid-19 surge, but the CES trade show is still going on in Vegas. On Fox Business Network, Consumer Technology Association President and CEO Gary Shapiro said the convention now has 2300 exhibitors, up from 2200 before pandemic concerns caused cancellations. “They keep signing up; we’ve had lots in November and lots in December,” said Shapiro on “The Claman Countdown.” “And why is that? Because this is one place a lot of companies rely on each year to get their message out and they really didn’t have that in 2021.” In the crowd have been “hundreds of startups,” added Shapiro.

BBB National Programs’ Children’s Advertising Review Unit has begun monitoring child-directed advertising under the revised CARU Advertising Guidelines, to assure that advertising directed to children is not deceptive, unfair, or inappropriate for its intended audience. Watchdog CARU seeks voluntary cooperation of companies but, where necessary, will refer content for enforcement action to a federal regulatory body. The revised Guidelines, which were released in July and went into effect January 1, more specifically address digital and social media, video content, influencer marketing, apps, in-game advertising and other interactive children’s spaces.

Andy Cohen expressed regret for his alcohol-fueled remarks on CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage – at least, some of them. Cohen, who during the show mocked Ryan Seacrest’s “group of losers” on ABC, later said on his radio show, “I really like Ryan Seacrest, and he is a great guy, and I really regret saying that. I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it.” As for his widely-shared rant against former NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, however, Cohen said, “The only thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on is what a horrible mayor he has been.” As for CNN, the net said Cohen will be back for next year’s show.

Scott MacFarlane has been named congressional correspondent for CBS News. Before joining CBS News, MacFarlane was an investigative and political reporter for WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. and contributor to the NBC News Channel.

The Golden Globe Awards ceremony won’t have the glitter of celebrity presenters, reports Variety. Having been booted from NBC over unethical practices and lack of diversity at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Globes will hold its event on Sunday January 9, at the Beverly Hilton, with little or no starpower. In addition to recognizing film and television winners, the Golden Globe Awards “will shine a light on the long-established philanthropy work of the HFPA, showcasing a range of grantees during the program,” said the HFPA.

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Netflix and BBC mockumentary “Cunk on Earth,” from Broke & Bones, will tell the story of the world’s greatest inventions, with a comic spin. UK comedian Diane Morgan will reprise her “Cunk on Britain” role of Philomena Cunk. Charlie Brooker is co-writing and exec producing, with Ben Caudell, Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris also writing and Annabel Jones. Ali Marlow also executive producing.

Former Bloomberg News CEO Justin Smith is launching a global news company with New York Times columnist and former BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith. “The news industry is facing a crisis in consumer trust and confidence due to the distorting influence of social media and rising levels of polarization and parochialism,” said Smith in an email obtained by the Wall Street Journal. “My plan is to launch a premium news business that serves unbiased journalism to a global audience and provides a high-quality platform for the best journalists in the world.” Smith is being replaced at Bloomberg by Scott Havens, Bloomberg Media’s Chief Growth Officer and Global Head of Strategic Partnerships.

Casting note: Keesha Sharp (“Lethal Weapon”) has joined season three of Starz’ “Power Book II: Ghost” as a series regular.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

A new, six-episode season of “Travels With Darley” launches on PBS stations this month, and this spring on Ovation TV’s Journy. The series focuses on the history, food, music and art that reflects diverse cultures and traditions.

Truffled spatchcock chicken, anyone? “Just Eats with Chef JJ” is back for season four on Cleo TV Wednesday, January 12 at 9p. Bevy Smith is on hand for the premiere.

Season two of “Total Control” kicks off on Sundance Now on Thursday, January 20. New episodes of the Australian political drama will premiere Thursdays.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling is returning to AXS TV’s lineup with classic episodes beginning January 20 and new weekly programs premiering Thursday, March 3 at 10p. NJPW, which previously aired from 2015-19, joins the net’s Thursday night wrestling lineup.

CNBC’s “No Retreat: Business Bootcamp” puts executives and their teams through physical and mental challenges to help them reach their potential, starting Tuesday, February 22 at 10p. “Entrepreneurship is at the forefront of everything CNBC does and what better way to start the new year than to help businesses navigate today’s changing landscape,” said Denise Contis, EVP and Head of Content, CNBC Primetime. “’No Retreat: Business Bootcamp’ reveals the unconventional and highly successful approach to team building used by top companies.”

COMING UP

New animated film “The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild” premieres on Disney+ Friday, January 28. The movie joins five other films and two TV specials from the franchise on the streamer.

PBS’ “American Experience” kicks off its new season with “Riveted: The History of Jeans” on Monday, February 7 at 9p (check local listings). The show explores the history of the wardrobe staple, from slavery to high fashion.

STREAMING

Sixty-three percent of consumers believe the streaming subscriptions they want are too expensive, according to the Accenture’s “Streaming’s Next Act” study. And asked what percentage of content provided by five major streaming services is relevant to them, no service scored above 40%. “That’s not far off from what we found consumers thought about the content they paid for from their cable providers a few years ago,” noted the report.

Future Today’s average CPM increased by 25% year over year in November, supported by technological advances and expanded capabilities in contextual and demographic targeting, reports the company. Total watch time across the platform increased by 85% year over year in Q3 2021, streaming more than 63 million hours of content in November. “2021 has been a pivotal year for Future Today,” said CEO Vikrant Mathur. “We expect this growth to continue into 2022 and beyond, as AVOD adoption increases by both consumers and brands.”

TECH TALK

AT&T and Verizon made an eleventh-hour decision to delay their rollout of 5G wireless service in the C-band at the request of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, over concerns within the aviation industry about possible interference with aviation systems. “We have voluntarily agreed to one additional two-week delay of our deployment of C-Band 5G services,” said AT&T. “We know aviation safety and 5G can co-exist and we are confident further collaboration and technical assessment will allay any issues.” The rollout was initially scheduled to take place December 5.

Despite the C-band delay, more than 100 million people in 1,700-plus cities will have access to 5G Ultra Wideband, announced Verizon on Monday. With the eventual addition of C-band, millions more homes and businesses will be covered. “We’ve already proven our success with Fios broadband in the Northeast, and now we will give millions more consumers and business owners around the country a real choice in how they get their internet,” said Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon.

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ADD TO CALENDAR

“The Cleaning Lady” swept up 3.6 million P2+ viewers in Live+SD Nielsens, to rank as Fox’s #1 drama debut in two years, since “9-1-1: Lone Star.”

The premiere of Disney+ series “The Book of Bobba Fett” drew 1.7 million US households Wednesday-Sunday, according to Samba TV. That’s 13% higher than the debut of “Hawkeye” in November.

“Don’t Look Up” was viewed 263.3 hours in its first 10 days, on pace to surpass Netflix’s most-watched film, “Red Notice.”

Over at HBO Max, December was the streamer’s most-viewed month since its launch in May 2020 in terms of hours viewed, with a lineup including “And Just Like That…”, “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” finales of “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Insecure,” and films “The Matrix Resurrections” and “King Richard.”

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Monday, January 3
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: The Bachelor 3.75 (0.9), Abbott Elementary 2.07 (0.4), black-ish 1.68 (0.3)
CBS: The Neighborhood 5.28 (0.5), Bob Hearts Abishola 5.06 (0.5), NCIS 6.72 (0.4), NCIS: Hawai’i 4,78 (0.4)
CW: All American 0.38 (0.1), 4400 0.29 (0.0)
FOX: 9-1-1: Lone Star 5.25 (0.7), The Cleaning Lady 3.56 (0.5)
NBC: Kenan 2.57 (0.4), Kenan 2.01 (0.3), That’s My Jam 2.40 (0.4), Ordinary Joe 1.69 (0.3)
Telemundo: Hercal: Amor e Venganza 1.10 (0.3), Malverde: El Santo Patron 0.74 (0.2)
Source: Nielsen, live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

FilmRise has appointed Daniel Gagliardi as Vice President, Digital Distribution and Business Development. Previously, Gagliardi was Head of Content at Vudu.

IN MEMORIAM

Writer/producer John Bowman died suddenly December 31. He was 64. Bowman’s credits include “Saturday Night Live,” for which he won a writing Emmy; “Martin,” for which he was co-creator and producer; “Murphy Brown”; and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” among others.

Game show producer Jay Wopert died January 3 of Alzheimer’s. He was 79. In addition to creating shows with his production company, Wopert wrote Disney’s first “Pirates of the Caribbean” film.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which two-time Academy Award winner guested on her brother’s sitcom as a child? Jodie Foster joined her brother Buddy Foster on “Mayberry R.F.D.” (1968-71). Kudos to: Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NYC; Erica Miller-Jones Day/LA; Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Matt Sautter-WideOrbit/York, PA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which performer won his third Primetime Emmy nomination at age 92? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four per time zone.)