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Wednesday January 6, 2021

IN THE NEWS

Former CNN, MSNBC and HLN anchor Ashleigh Banfield is joining WGN America as host of “Banfield,” an hour-long weeknight news show launching Monday, March 1 at 10p. The new program is part of an expansion of WGNA’s lineup complementing its prime time newscast, “NewsNation.”  

Nielsen inked a renewal agreement with Tegna Inc. that includes continued access to ratings for 34 of Tegna’s 51 markets, including data services Nielsen Arianna, NLTV, Digital in TV Ratings, Grabix, Rhiza and Nielsen Scarborough. Nielsen recently updated its local measurement methodology, combining advanced meter technology and big data with people-powered panels.

Add Netflix to the list of media companies pressing pause on production due to the recent surge of Covid-19 infections. Also postponing production for the time being are ABC Signature, CBS Studios, Lionsgate TV, Sony Pictures TV, Warner Bros. TV, Universal TV, and 20th Television.

The 63rd Grammy Awards show, slated to air January 31 on CBS, has been moved to Sunday, March 14. “The deteriorating Covid situation in Los Angeles, with hospital services being overwhelmed, ICUs having reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have all led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do,” said The Recording Academy and CBS. “Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show.”

C-SPAN announced that Steve Scully, placed on leave after falsely claiming his Twitter account was hacked, is returning to work – but not the screen – this week. Scully will start with assignments as a producer, and on radio’s “Washington Today” and podcast “The Weekly.” “We view October’s events as a singular episode in an otherwise successful 30- year C-SPAN career,” said the network. “And while it was appropriate in October for Steve to be immediately relieved of his duties leading our 2020 election coverage, we reiterate our belief that now, having completed a three-month administrative leave, he can continue to contribute to CSPAN’s mission.” Faced with criticism for posting a partisan tweet last fall, Scully claimed his Twitter account had been hacked, later apologizing.

Join us on Thursday, February 25 for our virtual celebration of the industry’s Best of the Best.

Finalists will be announced later next week!

Rhys Darby (“Flight of the Conchords”) landed the lead in HBO Max period comedy “Our Flag Means Death,” loosely based on the true story of a gentleman farmer who suffers a mid-life crisis and becomes a pirate. The show reunites Darby with filmmaker Taika Waititi (“Flight of the Conchords”); series creator David Jenkins (“People of Earth”) will serve as showrunner.

Clancy Brown (“Highlander”) is joining Showtime’s revival of “Dexter,” opposite Michael C. Hall. The original ran from 2006-13.

Did you know? When you sign up to become a Cynopsis member, you get monthly access to fresh data and analytics as it relates to hot topics like racism in the workplace, travel bans, production safety, as well as quarterly reports such as ‘State of the Media & TV/Video Production’ Study, ‘Future of the Upfronts,’ and so much more! Kick start your 2021 with insider knowledge: https://www.cynopsis.com/membership/

Endeavor Content inked a deal with South Korean production company Bon Factory to develop original TV series. “Compelling narrative should always find a global audience, and global stories demand top-tier talent in today’s marketplace to be told as genuinely as possible,” said Kelly Miller, VP, International Strategy, Endeavor Content. “South Korean culture has impacted the world globally, and Bon Factory’s storytelling style and ability to weave local and global approaches to content make this the perfect partnership.”

COMING UP

“Restored by the Fords” stars Leanne and Steve Ford are helping families return to their Pittsburgh roots in new HGTV series, “Home Again with the Fords,” premiering Tuesday, February 2, at 9p. The seven-episode series will follow Leanne, an interior designer, and Steve, a licensed contractor, as they update old homes.

HGTV offers a peek at programming on the new Discovery Inc. streamer in “discovery+ Previews,” tonight, January 6 at 9p.

Season two of “Married at First Sight: Couples Cam” follows favorite couples from the past season, starting Thursday, February 4 at 8p on Lifetime. The opener is followed by the debut of “Married at First Sight: Australia” at 9p.

Nat Geo’s “North Korea: Inside the Mind of a Dictator” pulls back the curtain on the life and reign of Kim Jong Un as he attempts to turn around his nation’s fortunes. The two-hour special premieres Monday, January 18, at 8p.

STREAMING

fuboTV announced preliminary fourth quarter revenue and subscriber results including Q4 total revenue of $94-$98 million, a 77% to 84% increase year-over-year. Prior guidance was $80-$85 million. Paid subscribers at year-end are expected to exceed 545,000, an increase of more than 72% year-over-year, versus prior guidance of 500,000-510,000. “fuboTV’s strong preliminary fourth quarter 2020 results exceeded what was already expected to be a record year for the company,” said David Gandler, co-founder and CEO, fuboTV. “In 2021, we will continue to be laser focused on executing our growth strategies, which include continuing to grow advertising revenues, working to implement sports wagering into our product and further establishing fuboTV as a leader in sports and live streaming.”

FAST Studios has launched, aimed at investing in and operating free ad-supported streaming television channels. “The next generation of TV is shaping up quickly as the lines between OTT and linear continue to blur,” said Stuart McLean, CEO of FAST Studios. “We are seeing gaps and obstacles for current and future channel owners who need to act like broadcasters to compete. FAST Studios addresses these needs by acting as a strategic investor, operator and distributor of channels, lowering the barrier to entry while delivering broadcast quality channels and infrastructure.”

The Doctor is in: Dr. Oz, a dedicated channel featuring episodes of “The Dr. Oz Show,” launched on Pluto TV on Tuesday. “‘The Dr. Oz Show’ has been delivering informative content on health and wellness to millions of Americans and established a commitment to keeping America healthy,” said Amy Kuessner, SVP, Content Strategy & Global Partnerships at Pluto TV. “By bringing the series to Pluto TV, we are excited to help viewers rediscover past episodes of this iconic show.”

Women’s lifestyle site Popsugar has launched a new modern love destination and a podcast series, “Love These Days,” in partnership with Crate and Barrel Wedding Registry. The destination will feature editorial content around the marriage planning process and relationships, as well as opportunities for site visitors to shop Crate and Barrel Wedding Registry products.

TECH TALK

Kantar announced an exclusive partnership with AI-powered search intelligence company Adthena. Kantar will integrate Adthena’s worldwide search data into its ad Intelligence platform in the US, Brazil, Denmark and France. Bain Capital Private Equity acquired 60% of Kantar from WPP in 2019.

Twitter has acquired social broadcasting app Breaker, which will shut down January 15 as its team joins Twitter to help “improve the health of the public conversation.” “Here at Breaker, we’re truly passionate about audio communication and we’re inspired by the ways Twitter is facilitating public conversations for people around the world,” said Breaker CEO Erik Berlin in a blog post. “We’re impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit at Twitter and enthusiastic about the new experiences that the team is creating.” Twitter is in the testing phase of an audio-enabled chat room feature, Spaces.

GOING GLOBAL

UK’s Channel 4 has commissioned “Britain’s Most Luxurious Hotels” (wt) from Spun Gold TV. The three-parter goes behind the scenes at Corinthia, The Langham and Chewton Glen, following the staff as they cater to their guests’ every whim.

Advanced TV platform company Cadent has expanded its automated addressable linear and VOD Advertising Platform into Liberty Global’s Irish footprint, Virgin Media Ireland, with its continental European markets to follow later in 2021.

Call for entries are now open for the
9th Annual Cynopsis Sports Media Awards.

This awards program is dedicated to celebrating the work of talented producers, hosts, sponsors and executives alike, and saluting the initiatives that drove audiences and turned sports viewers into fans over the past year.

GET STARTED

The debut of Fox’s “The Masked Dancer” waltzed off with a 1.7/9 Live+7 rating, to rank as the 2020-21 season’s #1 program premiere. The competition was the top entertainment show the week of December 21, and the most-watched (5.9 million P2+) on Sunday night.

CNN’s “New Year’s Live” special saw the biggest year-over-year boost among shows ringing out 2020, averaging 3.36 million viewers, up from 1.73 million in 2019. The show grew from 0.4 to 0.81 among A18-49. ABC’s “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” drew the most viewers with 18.4 million (up 5%) and 5.6 (up 10%) in the demo.

In 2020, Discovery boasted cable’s top 4 series on Friday nights among M25-54 and M18-49 in Live+3 Nielsens: “Gold Rush,” “Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail,” “Gold Rush: Dave Turin’s Lost Mine” and “Gold Rush: White Water.” Meanwhile, network sib HGTV ranked as the #1 non-news network in Total Day among W25-54, HHs, P2+, P18+, and W18+, and Food Network was the #2 non-news cable network (tied with HGTV) in Total Day among W18-49 and the #4 non-news net among P2+. TLC was the #1 cable network in Prime for Women 25-54/18-49/18-34), and saw its best W25-54 ratings and P2+ delivery ever.

The season 25 premiere of ABC’s “The Bachelor” delivered 5 million total viewers and 1.3 among A18-49 on Monday, a premiere low but enough to handily top the night in the demo.

TV Time’s Binge Report for the week of December 28
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix) – 4.86%
Bridgerton (Netflix) – 4.59%
Cobra Kai (Netflix) – 2.52%
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – 1.62%
Attack on Titan (NHK) – 1.54%
Friends (NBC) – 1.44%
One Piece (Fuji TV) – 1.26%
The Office (NBC) – 1.26%
Modern Family (ABC) – 1.24%
The Crown (Netflix) – 1.09%
The weekly Binge Report ranks shows with the most binge sessions. A binge session is when four or more episodes of a show are watched and tracked in the TV Time app within a given day.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Friday, January 1
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Shark Tank 2.56 (0.45), 20/20 2.19 I0.37
CBS: MacGyver 3.06 (0.25), Magnum P.I. 3.10 (0.26), Blue Bloods 3.53 (0.28)
CW: RuPaul’s Drag Race 0.45 (0.10), Masters of Illusion 0.31 (0.06)
FOX: WWE Friday Night Smackdown 2.01 (0.53)
NBC: The Weakest Link 2.45 (0.38), Dateline Classic 2.48 (0.39)
Telemundo: Cine Telemundo 0.79 (0.2), Todo Por Mi Hija 1.29 (0.3), Falsa Identidad 0.67 (0.2)
Univision: Vencer al Desamor 1.61 (0.4), Imperio de Mentiras 1.20 (0.3), Dulce Ambicion 1.08 (0.2)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews has been appointed EVP and CBS News Washington Bureau Chief. Ciprian-Matthews has served as an EVP for CBS News since 2018, and was most recently CBS News’ EVP of Strategic Professional Development. She has served as CBS News’ acting Washington bureau chief since July.

John Robertson has been promoted to VP of Distribution at Hearst Television. Robertson has been Senior Director of Finance since 2018.

IN MEMORIAM

Tanya Roberts, who was erroneously reported to have died on January 3, passed away January 4 at age 65. Multiple outlets, including Cynopsis, reported that Roberts died after her domestic partner mistakenly informed her rep that the “That ‘70’s Show” actress had died in his arms on Sunday. Roberts had been hospitalized since collapsing on December 24.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which US sitcom was the first to feature teenagers as the lead characters? Syndicated “Meet Corliss Archer” (1954) was first; “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” (1959-63) was the first produced for a major network.

Today’s Trivia Question
Who replaced Pat Sajak on “Wheel of Fortune” when he left to host a late-night talk show? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four answers per time zone.)