Today’s Premieres
AMC+: La Fortuna
Crackle: Men of West Hollywood
discovery+: Selling the Hamptons
Freeform: Single Drunk Female at 10p
HBO Max: Astral Journey; Looney Tunes Cartoons; On the Job
Paramount+: The Envoys
Peacock: Supernatural Academy; True Story with Ed & Randall
Netflix: Midnight Asia: Eat. Dance. Dream.
Nick: Warped! at 7:30p
Sundance Now: Total Control
WE tv: Double Cross at 10p

Today’s Finales
ABC: Women of the Movement at 8p; Let the World See Us at 10:30p

IN THE NEWS

Add Wolf Blitzer (CNN’s “The Situation Room”) to the fast-growing lineup of hosts for upcoming streaming service CNN+. Blitzer’s “The Newscast with Wolf Blitzer” joins shows featuring CNN colleagues Anderson Cooper, Kate Bolduan, and Sara Sidner, along with Chris Wallace, Audie Cornish and Kasie Hunt, among others. The service is set to debut in the spring.

It’s the end for MTV’s “The Hills: New Beginnings.” The revival reunited cast member of 2006-10 reality series, “The Hills.”

It’s also the end of the road, almost, for CBS’ “Bull.” The legal drama sixth season, now airing, will be its last. “It’s been my privilege to play Dr Jason Bull but after 6 Seasons of incredible storylines, I’ve decided it’s time to pursue new creative challenges and bring his story to a close,” said series star Michael Weatherly on Twitter. “It has been an honor to work with this talented cast, crew, and writing/producing team who helped reinvent the legal drama. Stay tuned for a big series finish.”

Jon Stewart will be the recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, in a gala taking place Sunday, April 24. “I have long admired and been influenced by the work of Mark Twain, or, as he was known by his given name, Samuel Leibowitz,” said Stewart.

Standard General and Apollo Global Management are nearing a $9 billion deal for Tegna, reports the New York Post. Regulations prohibiting any entity from owning commercial stations reaching more than 39% of US households could prove a stumbling block, since Tegna’s stations and Apollo’s would exceed that.

Dan Ball, host of One America News’ “Real America” is pulling no punches about DirecTV’s decision to drop OAN from its lineup in April. In addition to giving viewers AT&T’s customer support number and directing them to “blow the lines up,” Ball asked viewers to dig up dirt on DirecTV board chairman Bill Kennard so he can report on it.

The PGA Tour isn’t leaving home without American Express. Amex will continue as title sponsor of The American Express in La Quinta, California, through 2028. The annual tournament, which features a pro-am format, takes place January 20-23. “Giving back to the community while celebrating the passions of our customers is at the center of what we do at American Express,” said Stephen J. Squeri, Chairman and CEO of American Express. “We’re honored to continue this legacy by extending our role as title sponsor and growing the total charitable funds raised.”

Bucking the trend of TV award nominations being dominated by streaming shows, linear came out strong in the 33rd Annual GLAAD Awards noms for Outstanding Drama Series. Up for the prize are “9-1-1: Lone Star” (Fox), “Batwoman” (The CW), “The Chi” (Showtime), “Doom Patrol” (HBO Max), “Good Trouble” (Freeform”), “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC), “The L Word” (Showtime), “Pose” (FX), “Star Trek Discovery” (Paramount+) and “Supergirl” (The CW). Linear TV was not so well-represented in the comedy category, though, which includes “Dickinson” (Apple TV+), “Gentefied” (Netflix), “Love, Victor” (Hulu), “The Other Two” (HBO Max), “Saved by the Bell” (Peacock), “Sex Education” (Netflix), “Shrill” (Hulu), “Special” (Netflix), “Twenties” (BET), and “Work in Progress” (Showtime).

Final voting for the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards is open for eligible SAG-AFTRA members now through Friday, February 25 at 3p. The ceremony will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, February 27 at 8p.

National Geographic has made Covid documentary “The First Wave” available for free today, January 20, and tomorrow. The film can be seen without commercial interruption through the ABC and National Geographic apps.

Family Entertainment Television’s FETV and FMC are launching on Evoca TV, the Next Gen MVPD in the Mountain States. Family-friendly programming on FMC includes films starring John Wayne airing Fridays and Saturdays at 8p and 11p, respectively; the same titles air Sundays at 3p on FETV.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FINALISTS

This year’s Best of the Best finalists include Nickelodeon, Food Network, SiriusXM, MTV, discovery+, Viacom, NBC News and more. Join us on Feb 24th when we announce the winners!

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

WarnerMedia Kids & Family gave two new project greenlights that will expand the “Craig of the Creek” universe: preschool spinoff series, “Jessica’s Big Little World”, and an original animated movie, “Craig of the Creek: The Movie.” In addition, “Craig of the Creek” was renewed for season five for HBO Max and Cartoon Network.

Bravo ordered a fifteenth season of “Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live,” taking the late-nighter through 2023. WWHL notched almost 17 million total viewers in 2021, and saw year-over-year ratings growth among A18-49 and A25-54.

Tina Mabry (“Queen of the South”) will direct and co-write “Pretty Big,” based on the true story of Akira Armstrong and her Pretty Big Movement dance company, for Warner Bros. and HBO Max. Mike Jackson of Get Lifted Film Co., Poppy Hanks and Jelani Johnson of MACRO and Kristina Sorensen are producing.

German television executive Philipp Steffens and Julie Link are launching a production and talent management company, GLISK, in partnership with Federation Entertainment. The company is producing scripted, unscripted and formats for the German domestic marketplace alongside international multi-genre co-productions with global appeal.

Uncle Toad’s Media Group has been selected by the snowboarding competition Natural Selection as its production partner as part of a three-year partnership deal. The Natural Selection Tour will stream live starting Sunday, January 23.

Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (“This Is Us”) have inked a new three-year deal with 20th Television for their The Walk-Up Company. “Elizabeth and Isaac are two of the most talented, driven, soulful writers with whom I have ever had the pleasure to work, and ensuring they stayed within the fold was a mission for all of us at 20th,” said 20th Television President Karey Burke.

Nonfiction entertainment studio XTR announced a new documentary film that delves into the comeback of the trading card industry. Currently in production, “The Hobby” is directed by Morgan Jon Fox (“The One You Never Forget”) and produced by Ted Speaker (“Sword of Trust”). Bryn Mooser, Justin Lacob, Kathryn Everett and Abazar Khayami from XTR executive produce alongside Andy Hsieh.

ADVERTISING

Fox Corporation has planned two in-person Upfront events this spring, kicking off with the Content Drives Commerce Brand Partnership Summit on the Fox lot in LA on Wednesday, March 23. The day will include discussion and experiences from industry experts, talent, creators, and Fox leaders. The Fox Upfront will be a hybrid affair, taking place on Monday, May 16, at the Skylight on Vesey in New York City to showcase the “Power of the Fox Portfolio.” Fox will also participate in the IAB’s 2022 NewFronts, with an event taking place the week of May 2 featuring Tubi. “Fox will showcase how we continue to challenge the status quo across Measurement, Creativity, and Innovation to drive impact with Partners in 2022,” said Marianne Gambelli, President of Advertising Sales, Fox. “As a 100% ad supported portfolio, staying connected with our valued partners is a huge priority, and we can’t wait to see everyone in person.”

Advertisers can best engage with Latinx audiences by celebrating family time, and grow acquisition by promoting top genres such as sports and Spanish channels year-round, according to research from Roku. Sports channels dominate time spent on linear TV, according to the data, with 15% of the LatinX community’s time spent on sports channels. And while 83% of Latinx Americans speak English, 35% of time is spent on Spanish speaking channels. In addition, Latinx users on Roku are 74% more likely to have a 4+ household than non-Latinx Roku users.

A survey of 54 senior US advertisers forecast year-over-year growth of 7% in US advertising in 2022. The Cowen International study also found the digital ad market is expected to grow by 17%. The new iOs 14.5 changes requiring developers to get users’ permission to access the Identifier for Advertisers to collect targeting data will impact measurement and targeting for six months or more, believe 60% of respondents, with 20% expecting the impacts to be permanent.

Advertising space for the Super Bowl is nearly sold out, said Dan Lovinger, President of NBCU Ad Sales and Partnerships, during a video presentation on Wednesday, but added the company has reserved a few spots. Sales are pacing at about 20% above NBC’s last Super Bowl telecast in 2018, with select 30-second spots going for as much as $6.5 million. Lovinger predicted “a more comedic tone” in commercials, noting, “We all need that.”

A privacy bill introduced this week would prohibit advertisers from using personal information to target ads. The “Banning Surveillance Advertising Act,” from Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-California), Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) and Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), maintains personal information includes data that is “reasonably linkable” to an individual or device. “The ‘surveillance advertising’ business model is premised on the unseemly collection and hoarding of personal data to enable ad targeting,” said Eshoo. “This pernicious practice allows online platforms to chase user engagement at great cost to our society, and it fuels disinformation, discrimination, voter suppression, privacy abuses, and so many other harms.”

Not surprisingly, Google was among those contending the bill could have serious unintended ramifications. In a blog post titled “The harmful consequences of Congress’ anti-tech bills,” Google’s Kent Walker said the bill covers leading American countries, “while giving a free pass to foreign companies.” In addition, Walker maintains the legislation could make services like Google Search, Maps and Gmail “less helpful and less secure, and damag[e] American competitiveness.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

“The Real Dirty Dancing” launches Tuesday, February 1 at 9p on Fox. The four-episode competition has celebrities recreating scenes from the 1987 film starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze.

Limited series “WeCrashed,” based on Wondry podcast “WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork,” premieres with three episodes on Apple TV+ Friday, March 18. Jared Leto (“Dallas Buyers Club”) and Anne Hathaway (“The Devil Wears Prada”) star.

Hopeful singles connect with prisoners in ID’s true crime/true love series “Prisoner of Love,” debuting Monday, January 24 at 9p on ID. Season one follows five couples navigating the struggles of dating someone in the big house.

TLC, home of “Dr. Pimple Popper,” has two new medical series on the way. “Stuck,” covering extractions like a high heel from a face and an arrow from a wrist, premieres Wednesday, February 16 at 10p. “Body Parts” focuses on an anaplastologist who shares cases of patients who lost body parts, and were helped with prosthetics.

Three-part docuseries “Uprooted” shares new information on the 1986 unsolved hanging death of a 19-year-old Black man, Keith Warren, in Silver Spring, Maryland. All episodes stream Friday, February 18 on discovery+. The show will be accompanied by a six-part podcast hosted by Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza.

STEM series “Cyberchase” is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a marathon of 6 episodes selected by fans during “PBS KIDS Family Night,” Friday, January 21 through Sunday, January 23 from 7-10p on the PBS KIDS channel. Season thirteen launches Friday, February 25 with the debut of four episodes.

NBC has moved the premiere of “American Song Contest” from Monday, February 21 to Monday, March 21 at 8p. Slipping into the earlier timeslot is the launch of “America’s Got Talent: Extreme.”

UK drama “The Chelsea Detective” premieres Monday, March 7 on Acorn TV. The four-parter follows an inspector who lives on a houseboat after separating from his art dealer wife.

Season three of HGTV’s “Rock the Block” kicks off Monday, February 28 at 9p. Hosted again by Ty Pennington, the home renovation competition will be set in Greater Charleston, SC.

Sugar rush: “Spring Baking Championship” is back for a new season on Food Network Monday, February 28 at 8p. Six-part spinoff “Spring Baking Championship: Easter” returns the same night, at 10p.

Something’s cooking at EstrellaTV, too. “MasterChef Latinos,” showcasing 50 amateur chefs, debuts Thursday, February 10 at 8p. “The important thing about ‘MasterChef Latinos’ is its cultural diversity,” said Chef Adrian Herrera. “In this competition, our amateur Chefs have varied origins that reflect the stories of the people who came to the U.S. as immigrants, without money, with few opportunities, and with a clear and firm intention to get ahead.”

Vigilante twins Eric and Erica team up with the person who has trying to put them in jail for murder in season three of “Double Cross,” dropping Thursdays on ALLBLK starting February 3.

COMING UP

“Love & The Constitution,” offering an insider’s view into the life of Representative Jamie Raskin and a look at both a nation and Congressman in crisis, premieres Sunday, February 6 at 10p on MSNBC. The film follows Representative Raskin for over three years as he fights to defend democracy during Donald Trump’s presidency and in the second impeachment trial, and navigates personal tragedy after the loss of his son, who passed away just days before the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Tubi will anchor a month-long Black History Month tribute with the debuts of two new Tubi Originals: musical drama “Howard High” on Friday, February 4, and “Pass the Mic,” a documentary spotlighting the careers of Lil Nas X, Lizzo and Kendrick Lamar, on Wednesday, February 16. In addition, more than 1400 Black Cinema titles will be available on throughout the month.

Revry is also marking Black History Month, with LGBTQ-first Black stories. Among the offerings: “Saturday Church,” starring Mj Rodriguez (“Pose”), and “I’m From Driftwood,” a series based on the online archive of first person LGBTQ stories.

STREAMING

Paramount’s “Yellowstone” has launched its own YouTube Channel. In addition to the series, content includes prequal “1883,” and YouTube original extensions, “Behind the Story” and “Stories from the Bunkhouse.”

Netflix was the only streaming platform to lose penetration quarter over quarter, dipping to 54.3% from 54.6% in Q3 2021, according to data from Kantar’s Entertainment on Demand Q4 analysis. Other findings include: 9% of US HH took out a new sub in 4Q21, up from 8% in 3Q21, and streaming penetration grew to 85.2% (including MVPD+), up 2.7%. Excluding MVPD+, streaming is up 2.9%, to 84.7% HH penetration.

fuboTV is expanding its Multiview mode on Apple TV to support its FanView feature. Subscribers can create their own sports viewing dashboard that combines multiple streams with live stats and scores, and watch up to two live sporting events simultaneously. “In our mission to integrate interactivity into fuboTV’s live TV streaming experience, our team has been focused on launching products that enable consumers to engage with what’s on the screen in ways they never have before,” said Mike Berkley, Chief Product Officer at fuboTV. “Live sports in particular perfectly lends itself to enhanced viewing experiences.”

NewsOn, the local news streaming service from Sinclair Broadcast Group, has launched on Samsung TVs. Samsung TV Plus comes pre-installed on Samsung sets made since 2016.

FAST channel WildEarth TV will launch on the ZEASN platform in Europe and South America. The partnership makes WildEarth’s linear channel available on certain models from Philips, AOC and Whale OS powered Connected Televisions in the territories.

Filmhub and Struum have partnered to accelerate the distribution of content featured at the 2022 Slamdance Film Festival. The companies are offering every filmmaker exhibiting at Slamdance the opportunity to both extend the reach of the film while also capturing every dollar realized by both Filmhub and Struum in its first year of distribution. The services will forego the usual profit share while also making the film available to Struum subscribers. FilmHub also announced a $6.8 million seeding round led by a16z.

TECH TALK

Altice USA has selected Ampersand, owned by Comcast, Charter and Cox, as its exclusive ad sales partner for national addressable inventory. “Enabling targeting plus campaign management for linear and streaming media while maintaining data security checks all of the boxes that clients want and need to support growth for their business,” said Kevin O’Reilly, SVP of Product, Data and Optimization at Altice.

NATPE announced a new initiative to open its video library of 1000+ hours for content distribution, marketing and monetization opportunities. The organization is partnering with AnyClip for video management. Content ranges from keynote speeches and panels to celebrity presentations and acceptance speeches.

GOING GLOBAL

ITV Studios has sold titles including “The Bay” and “Bump” to WarnerMedia Latin America for HBO Max as part of a major content deal. The deal will see premium scripted titles premiering for the first time in Latin America.

A+E Networks’ “Top Dog” competition format has been picked up for a second season by RTL in Germany. The first, six-episode season of “Top Dog Germany” averaged 1.7 million total viewers, with a 12.2% share with adults 14-49.

FIRST LOOK 2022: OTT VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

Join us March 8th at First Look: OTT Virtual Conference. Topics covered will include: CTV, Addressable TV, VOD, Measurement, Ad Tech Solutions, Local OTT. Find out more by visiting the site and registering now!

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RATINGS

More than three million total viewers tuned in to watch the first night of the DIY Network’s rebrand to Magnolia Network on a Live+3 basis. The network’s prime average among P25-54 ratings and impressions on its January 5 launch day jumped more than 200% over DIY Network’s 2021 average. Overall, Magnolia Network ranked as the #22 cable network that night among P25-54 ratings. The cable premiere of “Fixer Upper: Welcome Home” was the highest rated and most watched program of the day for Magnolia Network, with more than 1.7 million viewers tuning in to the first episode.

“Yellowjackets” wrapped its first season on Showtime as the second-most streamed series in network history, behind “Dexter: New Blood.” The drama has averaged over 5 million weekly viewers across platforms, the highest for a new series on the network since “Billions” in 2016. Sunday’s season finale amassed 1.3 million viewers across platforms on Sunday alone, more than doubling its audience from the series premiere.

The new year got off to a good start for a number of syndicated shows. The week of January 3, “Judge Judy” (new season high 5.4 Live+SD national Nielsen, up 10% from the week before) notched its best rating since last May; “The Drew Barrymore Show” (new season high 0.6, up 20%) had its biggest week since April of 2021; and “The Ellen Degeneres Show” (1.1, up 22%), jumped 33% in the W25-54 age group and clocked the largest year-to-year increase of any program in first run. “Tamron Hall” did even better in the demo, rising 50%.

The series premiere of HGTV’s “Married to Real Estate” on January 13 delivered a .57 Live+3 rating among P25-54 and a .76 Live+3 rating among W25-54, increases of 10% and 15%, respectively, over the prior six weeks.

Basic Cable Top Five Networks for the week of January 10
Primetime (000)
ESPN 3852
Fox News 1795
MSNBC 1248
HGTV 1079
Hallmark Channel 972
Total Day (000)
Fox News 14528
ESPN 1112
MSNBC 690
HGTV 614
Hallmark Channel 553
Hallmark Channel 630
Source: Nielsen

Broadcast Nielsen Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of January 3 ranked in order by HH Rtg
Jeopardy (CMV) 6.6 AA
Wheel of Fortune (CMV) 6.0 AA
Family Feud (CMV) 5.9 AA
Judge Judy (CMV) 5.4 AA
Inside Edition (CMV) 2.4 AA
Entertainment Tonight (CMV) 2.4 AA
The Big Bang Theory (WB) 2.2 AA
The Dr. Phil Show (CMV) 1.9 AA
Live With Kelly and Ryan (DAD) 1.6 AA
Hot Bench (CMV) 1.6 AA

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Monday, January 17
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Monday Night Football 12.77 (2.7)
CBS: The Neighborhood 5.76 (0.6), Bob Hearts Abishola 5.49 (0.5), NCIS 7.26 (0.5), NCIS: Hawai’i 5.01 (0.4)
CW: Naomi 0.50 (0.1), 4400 0.45 (0.1)
FOX: 9-1-1: Lone Star 2.03 (0.3), The Cleaning Lady 1.33 (0.1)
NBC: Kenan 1.93 (0.4), Kenan 1.27 (0.3), That’s My Jam 1.96 (0.4), Ordinary Joe 1.37 (0.2)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos 1.16 (0.3), Hercal: Amor e Venganza 1.23 (0.3), Malverde: El Santo Patron 0.81 (0.3)
Univision: La Rosa de Guadalupe 1.86 (0.6), Vencer el Pasado 1.85 (0.6), Madre 1.64 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen, live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Disney’s at it again. After a reorganization in October that put the company’s focus on streaming, the media giant has done more tweaking. Rebecca Campell’s role has been expanded as Chairman, International Content and Operations; Michael Paull has been promoted to the newly-created role of President, Disney Streaming; Joe Earley moves from Disney+ to take the job of President of Hulu; and Disney+ will get a new leader, yet to be named.

Univision Communications has tapped Michael Schwimmer to serve as President, Global Platform Strategy and Revenue, a new position. Previously, Schwimmer served as Group President of Sling TV and Executive Vice President of DISH Media.

FilmRise has appointed Emilia Nuccio to the newly created position of Vice President, International Sales. Nuccio’s former roles include Senior Vice President of Sales at Dynamic Television.

Uberall has appointed Shae Mirran as Vice President of Sales in Uberall’s American Sales Organization. Mirran most recently led the Marketing Cloud sales team across the S at Salesforce.

Law&Crime Productions has hired Melody Shafir as Executive Vice President of Development. Before joining Law&Crime, Shafir served as an EVP at ALL3Media America’s IDTV.

This Day in History
1841 – China ceded Hong Kong to the British.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was “How I Met Your Father” topliner Hillary Duff’s first-ever starring role? Wendy, in 1998 film “Caspar Meets Wendy.” Kudos to: Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
What role earned Claire Danes her first Primetime Emmy? (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.)

Cynopsis Team