Wednesday January 27, 2021

IN THE NEWS

Larry Kudlow, former director of President Trump’s National Economic Council, is going back to television. Kudlow will host a daily show on Fox Business Network starting later this year, and appear on Fox Business and Fox News as an on-air financial analyst starting February 8. The economist appeared on CNBC from 2001-14. Despite a financial disclosure form in which former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she had an employment agreement with FNC to start work in January, the network said she “is not currently an employee or contributor.”

NBC renewed “The Blacklist” for season nine. Because of the pandemic, only two episodes aired before the drama’s season eight hiatus; they averaged a 1.2 rating among A18-49. On January 29 comes the reveal of the name that tops Raymond Reddington’s blacklist.

Jane Fonda will receive the Cecil B. deMille Award at the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The “Coming Home” and “Grace & Frankie” star will accept the honor during the telecast airing Sunday, February 28 at 8p, live on NBC.

Local TV executives Peter Dunn, President of the CBS Television Stations, and David Friend, SVP News, have been placed on administrative leave following a two-part report in the L.A. Times that said they “cultivated a hostile work environment.” The report cited bullying female managers and impeding efforts to hire Black journalists. “CBS is committed to a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace where all voices are heard, claims are investigated and appropriate action is taken where necessary,” said CBS in a statement.

Fox acquired seasons one and two of Canadian legal drama “Diggstown.” The CBC original, Canada’s first drama series to feature a Black Canadian woman (Vinessa Antoine) as the lead character, is also available to stream on BET+.

Don’t look for Richard Lewis when season 11 of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” arrives. While Lewis has been a cast member since the HBO show’s debut, recent back and shoulder surgeries make his participation this go-round impossible. Tweeted cast member Cheryl Hines, “We are going to miss you this season. Season 12 it is!”

Add Google to the list of companies suspending certain political donations. Google first paused donations after the January 6 attack at the US Capitol, and following a review of its contribution policies, said it “will not be making any contributions this cycle to any member of Congress who voted against certification of the election results.” The move follows similar decisions by Marriott, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and others.

Verizon sold HuffPost to BuzzFeed last year, but the the rest of the company’s media division is safe, said CEO Hans Vestberg during a 4Q20 earnings call. “We started this journey in 2018, re-assessing the overall strategy of Verizon Media Group and started to take out costs,” said Vestberg. “We are now in the position where we wanted to be” – and that includes Yahoo and AOL. Verizon reported a net loss of 72,000 pay-TV subscribers for the quarter, and 92,000 new internet customers.

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Seventy percent of respondents to an AdColony survey said they will watch the Super Bowl on their TV. More people will be watching on connected TV this year, with 25% saying they would use CTV – a 12% increase from 2020’s survey. During the big game, viewers will also be on their mobile devices texting (36%), browsing social media apps (35%), and playing mobile games (29%). Shares for all of these activities have gone up since last year, not surprising since there will be fewer gatherings this year.

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A+E Studios and ITV Studios America in association with Groundswell Productions

are developing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 classic “The Great Gatsby” as a single season dramatic event series. The pilot script will be written by executive producer Michael Hirst (“Vikings”) and executive producer Michael London (“Sideways”).

Westbrook Media, launched in 2019 by Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, is teaming with Israel’s Tedy Productions (“Euphoria”). A short-form scripted series and a short-form game show are already in development. “I’ve been a fan of the Tedy crew for a while,” said said Westbrook Media, SVP Head of Content Lukas Kaiser. “They’ve got a long and storied history of creating cutting edge, barrier breaking contents that cuts across all genres, formats and marketplaces.”

HBO put an adaptation The Fact of a Body, author Alex Marzano-Lesnevich’s story centered on a lawyer assigned to a child murder case that brings up trauma from her past, in development. Jeremiah Zagar (“We The Animals”) is co-writing and directing.

Also in development at HBO is a limited series based on season three of podcast “Serial,” looking at the flawed criminal justice system in Cleveland. Akron, OH native LeBron James is one of the executive producers; Shola Amoo will write and direct.

A24 and Amy Adams’ Bond Group Entertainment are adapting Anna North’s novel Outlawed for TV. Adams will executive produce the adaptation of the feminist Western story alongside Stacy O’Neil.

“Dugout Moms,” focused on a single mom who finds support from a group of Little League parents, is in development at ABC. The comedy comes from Jacque Edmonds Cofer (“The Unicorn”), Two Shakes Entertainment, Picture It Productions and CBS Studios.

Apple TV+ ordered a second season of Israeli thriller “Tehran.” The series will continue to run on Israeli broadcaster Kan 11 as well as Apple TV+.

Casting notes: Dan Bucatinsky (“Scandal”) has joined the cast of ABC’s upcoming “Rebel,” starring Katey Sagal…Singer/actress Demi Lovato (“Sonny with a Chance”) will star in and executive produce food issue comedy”Hungry,” which has a put pilot commitment from NBC…Sam Corlett (“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”) landed the lead role of Leif Eriksson in Netflix’s “Vikings: Valhalla.” The drama is a spin-off of History’s “Vikings.”…Wayne Brady (“Let’s Make a Deal”) will guest star on Showtime’s “American Gigolo” pilot.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

The “90 Day Fiance” franchise expands again with “”90 Day: The Single Life,” premiering Sunday, February 21 on discovery+. “With this monumental new spinoff, we’re giving center stage for the very first time to the singles our viewers have come to know and root for,” said Howard Lee, President and GM of TLC. Also launching that day is companion series “Pillow Talk,” with familiar faces commenting on the “90 Day” action.

NBC’s new sci-fi drama “Debris” will make its debut Monday, March 1 at 10p. The network made the announcement during a TCA panel.

Animated series “Archibald’s Next Big Thing” drops on Peacock on Thursday, February 18. The next chapter for Archibald Strutter, a chicken whose adventures don’t always go as planned, features a voice cast that boasts Tony Hale (“Veep”), Adam Pally (“The Mindy Project”), Jordan Fisher (“Hamilton”), and Chelsea Kane (“Baby Daddy”), among others.

MTV’s “Floribama Shore” is back for season four on Thursday, February 25 at 9p. The first episode follows the midseason finale of “Jersey Shore Family Vacation,” with the show moving to its regular time slot of 8p the following week.

Four-part docu-series “Exterminate All the Brutes” premieres on HBO with back-to-back episodes on Wednesday, April 7 at 9p. The series explores the exploitative and genocidal aspects of European colonialism.

Spanish-language movie network Cinelatino is launching the first of its new serialized dramas on Saturday, January 30 at 11p. Brazil’s “Calle Augusta” is set in the underground world of Sao Paulo strip clubs.

Hulu and Peacock are sharing streaming rights to “Modern Family,” which will be available to subscribers beginning Wednesday, February 3. It’s the first time all eleven seasons will be available on an SVOD platform in the US. During its 2009-2020 run on ABC, the comedy was available for next-day viewing to Hulu subscribers.

COMING UP

HGTV’s Beach Escape, a lineup featuring episodes of beach lifestyle series every Tuesday in February on discovery+, includes installments from shows including “Beachfront Bargain Hunt,” Mexico Life,” “Hawaii Life,” and “Island Life.” Bonus: Special “Beach Cabana Royale,” a design competition hosted by Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi (“Jersey Shore”), premieres on Tuesday, February 16.

In another discovery+ special, “Barefoot Contessa” Ina Garten and Melissa McCarthy (“Mike & Molly”) meet – virtually – in “Cocktails and Tall Tales with Ina Garten and Melissa McCarthy” on Friday, March 26. “We have all been stuck home looking for new ways to make it through each day safely and when the opportunity to meet and maybe have a drink with Melissa was presented, I immediately cleared my schedule,” said Garten. “Melissa is a brilliant comedic talent who I have long admired,”

Starting at 7a on Groundhog Day, February 2, The Weather Channel’s “AMHQ” will broadcast live coverage of Punxsutawney Phil looking for his shadow. While the meteorologists can’t be there in person this year, cardboard cutouts of Jim Cantore, Stephanie Abrams and Jen Carfagno will be featured at the PA ceremony while the humans stay safely distant at HQ in Atlanta.

Fuse’s “Future History” franchise, this year sponsored by P&G, will expand to 24 honorees, celebrating positive, proactive and emerging leaders. This includes the addition of Future Middle Eastern History in August, joining Future Black History (February), Future Women’s History (March), Future Asian Pacific History (May), Future LGBTQ History (June) and Future Hispanic History (September/October).

STREAMING

A survey from J.D. Power taken in December found that 81% of households said they subscribed to Netflix, down from 85% in April. Amazon Prime Video dipped to 65% from 66%. Seeing increases were Hulu (from 48% to 56%); Disney Plus (from 37% to 47%); YouTube (from 17% to 20%), HBO/HBO Max (from 13% to 22%); and Apple TV+ (from 10% to 14%). Peacock, which didn’t launch nationally until July, accounted for 18% of subs in December.

MAVTV Motorsports is continuing on the road to global expansion with Samsung TV Plus in the UK. The channel recently launched in Australia.

Estrella Media’s KSDX-EstrellaTV channel is now available on XUMO. “As we continue moving forward with our digital transformation, we are pleased to kick off the new year… delivering easily accessible ‘in-culture’ content to the Hispanic community,” said René Santaella, EVP, Digital and Streaming Media, Estrella Media.

Content monetization platform VlogBox and animation studio Sprout Studios struck a strategic partnership to distribute and monetize Sprout Studios animations in CTV markets, starting with Roku. One of the main goals is to design a children’s entertainment portal on Roku.

The IMDb TV app is now available on Roku devices in the US. “We are thrilled to provide customers a seamless and easy way to view our broadly-appealing content with the distribution of our IMDb TV app onto millions of Roku devices,” said Mark Eamer, VP of IMDb TV, OTT and Brand Advertising.

TECH TALK

YouTube extended the suspension of former President Trump’s account, “in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence.” A timeline for when the account could be reinstated was not provided, but YouTube said it was “staying vigilant and closely monitoring for any new developments.”

Twitter permanently suspended Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, for promoting conspiracy theories about voter fraud in the 2020 elections. Lindell’s Twitter account had over 412,000 followers.

In more Twitter news, the company has acquired Revue, a platform that allows users to publish and monetize newsletters. “Revue will accelerate our work to help people stay informed about their interests while giving all types of writers a way to monetize their audience – whether it’s through the one they built at a publication, their website, on Twitter or elsewhere,” said Twitter in a blog post. Revue’s paid tier allows users to send emails to up to 40,000 people, and takes a 6% cut of revenue, a number Twitter said would be lowered to 5%.

Lingopie, the language learning platform that uses SVOD technology, announced a partnership with RTVE, the public broadcasting network in Spain. “Having a wide variety of high-quality, original content that our users truly enjoy is one of the main reasons Lingopie has been such a success so far,” said David Datny, founder and CEO of Lingopie. “Working with RTVE will allow Lingopie users to view thousands of hours of new content.”

Verizon experienced disruption to its service that caused internet outages along the East Coast on Tuesday. “We are aware of an issue impacting the quality of Fios service throughout the Northeast corridor,” said a spokesman for Verizon. “We are working through the root cause.” Around noon, Verizon said a fiber had been cut in Brooklyn, NY, but didn’t specify if that was the cause of the outage.

GOING GLOBAL

Tencent Video, the online video streaming platform in China, secured sales to international broadcasters for its original series, “Super BOOMi” to Canal+; “A Squad” by KBS Kids in Korea; and “CoNaBLUE” in ASEAN countries including Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar via MeWatch, Mediacorp’s digital entertainment service.

GRB Studios announced several distribution deals, totaling nearly 200 hours of content, in a variety of genres with MNET Africa, UK-based SVOD NextUp, Comedy Central Middle East and ProSieben Germany.

Beach House Pictures is expanding its operations throughout Asia Pacific, including a majority stake acquisition of Tokyo-based production company Vesuvius Pictures and the appointment of Felix Feng to General Manager, Beach House Pictures China. Vesuvius Pictures’ co-founders Hyoe Yamamoto and Deborah Barillas will maintain a minority stake in the production company and their roles as Creative Director and Managing Director, respectively. Felix Feng will be based in Beijing and also reports to Donovan Chan and Jocelyn Little.

PBS International has licensed Frontline documentary “Trump’s American Carnage” to ZDF Info (Germany), VRT (Belgium), SBS (Australia), SRC (Canada), RTS (Switzerland), RTP (Portugal), RTÉ (Ireland), RTBF (Belgium), EBS (South Korea), DR (Denmark), DIRECTV (Latin America), B1 (Romania), and PBS America (UK).

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AIDS crisis series “It’s a Sin” premiered on UK’s Channel 4 to 1.9 million viewers, the net’s best drama launch since “Deadwater Fell” a year ago. The show arrives on HBO Max next month.

CBS Sunday news show “Face the Nation” had its best week among A25-54 (854,000) and second best in total viewers (4.3 million) for the season on January 24. President Biden’s medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx were featured.

TV Time’s Shows on the Rise for the Week of January 18
Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix) – 100%
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (Netflix) – 97.3%
Blown Away (Netflix) – 94.7%
9-1-1: Lone Star (FOX) – 89.1%
Nancy Drew (The CW) – 88.2%
Busted! (Netflix) – 87.7%
Batwoman (The CW) – 79.9%
9-1-1 (FOX) – 77.8%
Legacies (The CW) – 76.9%
Call My Agent! (France 2) – 76.1%
Methodology: Every week, millions of viewers around the world use TV Time to track their favorite series. “Shows on the Rise” is calculated by determining the week-over-week growth in episodes watched for a given program.

TV Time’s Binge Report for the Week of January 18
Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix) – 4.72%
Disenchantment (Netflix) – 2.39%
Attack on Titan (NHK) – 2.11%
Bridgerton (Netflix) – 1.92%
Lupin (Netflix) – 1.67%
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – 1.47%
The Office (NBC) – 1.37%
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC) – 1.36%
Modern Family (ABC) – 1.34%
One Piece (Fuji TV) – 1.33%
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 Monday, January 25
Show, P2+ millions, (A18-49)
ABC: “The Bachelor” 5.25 (1.5), “The Good Doctor” 4.30 )0.7)
CBS: “The Neighborhood” 6.40 (1.0), “Bob Hearts Abishola” 5.96 (0.8), “All Rise” 4.24 (0.5), “Bull” 5.38 (0.5)
CW: “All American” 0.82 (0.3), “Batwoman” 0.32 (0.1)
FOX: “9-1-1” 7.21 (1.2), “9-1-1: Lone Star” 5.90 (1.0)
NBC: “Ellen’s Game of Games” 3.38 (0.7), “The Wall” 3.12 (0.6), “Weakest Link” 2.45 (0.5)
Univision: “Vencer el Desamor” 1.69 (0.5), “Imperio de Mentiras” 1.53 (0.4), “Dulce Ambicion” 1.20 (0.4)
Univ Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Crown Media Family Networks announced the appointment of Jordan Neyer to the newly-created role of SVP, Corporate Strategy. Prior to joining Crown Media, Neyer was VP of Media and Entertainment at Metrixlab.

The E.W. Scripps Company has named Jon Marks as Chief Research Officer for its national television networks business. Most recently, Marks provided brand strategy, consumer insights, and custom market research as a consultant for NBCUniversal, Disney, Crown Media and the Weather Channel, among others.

Brian Keane is joining Nickelodeon Animation Studios as EVP of Production and Operations, a newly created position. Keane was previously Chief Operating Officer/EVP of Blue Sky Studios.

Blink Films has appointed Laura Jones as Executive Producer, Special Projects. Before joining Blink, Jones co-founded Antidote Productions.

Quantum Metric announced that former Zipcar CFO, Ed Goldfinger, and Box’s former SVP of Sales for American Scott Southwood will join their team as CFO and CRO, respectively.

Confluential Films has enlisted Joel M. Gonzales to oversee the development and production of their new Latinx content division as SVP and Head of Latinx Content. For the past 12 years, Gonzales as served as a producer through his own production company, Action Faith Media.

Vuulr, a global online content marketplace for film and TV rights, appointed Thomas Hughes as CEO Americas. Hughes was most recently EVP of Worldwide Digital Distribution at Lionsgate.

ITV Studios America announced the promotions of Joey Kern to VP, Production and Kimberly Rosenblum to VP, Business Affairs. Both Kern and Rosenblum were previously Directors.

Karen Bailey has been promoted from SVP to EVP of Original Programming at Starz.

IN MEMORIAM

Actor Bruce Kirby died January 24. He was 95. Kirby’s numerous TV roles included parts on “Columbo,” “L.A. Law,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” and “Golden Girls,” among others.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who was the woman looking for love in season one of TV One dating show “Donald J. Trump Presents The Ultimate Merger” (2010-11)? Omarosa. Kudos to: Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank, Glen Freyer/NYC, Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL, Ray Giacopelli-Mi7 Media Intel, Sonoma, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
On which game show did Steve Martin, Suzanne Somers, Tom Selleck, Andy Kaufman and The Carpenters all make appearances? (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.)