PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
After a mere two episodes, FOX renewed 9-1-1 for a second season. The show’s debut episode drew over 15 million viewers in seven-day multi-platform viewing, making it the net’s largest series premiere since Empire in 2015.
Comedy Central renewed late-night series The Jim Jefferies Show for a 20-episode second season.
Amazon Studios signed an overall deal with Sharon Horgan, co-creator and star of its popular comedy Catastrophe, as well as a first look deal with Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman for first look rights to Merman’s concepts to which Horgan is attached, and remake rights to TV series produced by Merman.
Cannabis news, entertainment and lifestyle VOD channel 420TV, set to launch in early 2018, struck a deal with Trae tha Truth to develop a 10-episode animated comedy loosely based on the rapper’s life. Series will be voiced by Trae along with some of VIP guest voices including Snoop Dogg, Marlon Wayans and others.
HBO Documentary Films acquired TV and theatrical rights to The Price of Everything ahead of its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival on Friday. Film explores the role of art and artistic passion in a money-driven society.
Latino digital media company, Raze, co-founded by Sofia Vergara, Luis Balaguer and Emiliano Calemzuk, struck deals with Netflix, Hulu and TNT. Raze is moving forward on production of Catrina, la Santa Muerte for Netflix, as well as developing Mi Hermanastro for Hulu and Black Veil for TNT.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
PBS premieres a five-part, half-hour series about the #MeToo movement on Friday, February 2. #Metoo, Now What? features women and men in dialogue about how the movement began and how to effect positive lasting change.
The cast of new late-night original series BET’s Mancave, premiering Thursday, January 18 at 10:30p, includes singer/songwriter and actor Tank, comedian Gerald “Slink” Johnson (Black Jesus) and producer Marcos “Kosine” Palacios. They join TV personality and Executive Producer Jeff Johnson on BET’s weekly half-hour series.
A 7-part documentary style series about the events surrounding the impeachment of President Clinton has been set at FOX. Scandalous bows Sunday, January 21 at 8p.
Telemundo premieres Nicky Jam: El Ganador, an authorized bio-series based on the life and career of the Latin music superstar, this summer. The show will also be available to Netflix members outside the US.
Nickelodeon’s viral sports clip series Crashletes returns for a third season on Sunday, February 11 at 10a. In each episode, co-hosts Brandon Broady and Stevie Nelson and a guest athlete provide in-depth analysis of viral sports bloopers.
Native America, from Providence Pictures, bows on PBS stations nationwide in fall 2018. Made with participation of Native-American communities, the 4-parter reveals an ancient and still thriving culture.
ADVERTISING
What are the keys to success for integrated ad campaign? A new report from Kantar Millward Brown, “Ad Reaction: The Art of Integration” found that some synergies are more effective than others. The strongest overall: TV and Facebook, and TV and outdoor.
Taking it all in: In 12 months, 90% of agencies and 81% of marketers will operate with some form of digital advertising capabilities in-house, according to a report from Centro and Advertiser Perceptions. And while advertisers employ a mix of programmatic buying models, 78% of agencies and 59% of marketers said they will no longer outsource to a third party by next year.
COMING UP
EPIX delivers romance this Valentine’s Day with an all-day movie marathon. The block begins with Sabrina at 7:05a on Wednesday, February 14 and includes An Officer and a Gentleman at 4:05p and Moonstruck at 10p.
History of Football, a 14-day, 24/7 television event running from May 28 to June 10 is set to air on History. The event leads up to the 2018 World Cup with David Villa, World Cup winner, serving as global press spokesperson, and will air in over 160 territories.
RFD-TV presents two specials featuring country and gospel music icons the Gaither Vocal Band, The Gatlin Brothers and The Oaky Ridge Boys. Gaither Gospel: A Few Good Men airs Thursday, January 18 at 6:30p. Country Roots and Gospel Favorites bows Thursday, January 25 at 6:30p.
SYNDICATION
NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution sold Chicago P.D. in 75% of the US for syndication to air Monday through Friday beginning September. As previously announced, the police procedural will air on FOX Television Stations. The show has also been sold to leading station groups across the country including Sinclair, Tribune, Hearst and others.
FOX Television Stations renewed Page Six TV through the 2018-2019 season. The daily pop culture program, modeled after the “Page Six” gossip column in the New York Post, debuted in September as the highest rated nationally syndicated entertainment newsmagazine in a decade.
CASTING
The 100’s Chai Hansen joins the third season of The CW’s Shadowhunter in a key role… Scoot McNairy was cast in Season 3 of HBO crime anthology, True Detective… Skye Marshall is set recur on The CW drama Black Lightning.
Upcoming OWN drama series Love Is ___ added five series regulars: Idara Victor (Alita: Battle Angel), Tyrone Brown (Bull), Kadeem Hardison (K.C. Undercover, A Different World), Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing (Nickelodeon’s Hunter Street) and Lana Young (Greenleaf).
CASTING Call: Parents, do your kids age 7-13 share a room? Do they really need their own rooms? An awesome new renovation series wants to treat your kids to the room transformations of their dreams. If you own your home, live in the NY Metro area and are a family with two kids sharing a bedroom, with potential space to expand or a large kids room that can be split into two, we want to hear from YOU! Email roommakeover@departure-films.com explaining the crowded bedroom situation.
KID STUFF
PBS Kids debuts Pinkalicious & Peterrific, a cartoon series based on Victoria Cann’s books, on Friday, February 9.
Jetzer, a newly released iOS app and entertainment platform, allows parents to craft time-controlled playlists for their children using a vast catalog of digital content. Featured are hundreds of books, lessons, homework tools and math games.
DIGITAL DATA
Facebook Watch is adding to its lineup. A 10-episode series order was made for Sacred Lies (wt), centering on a handless teen who escapes from a cult and ends up in juvenile detention, suspected of knowing who murdered the cult leader. Also greenlit: Fly Guys, an action series featuring top acrobats and stunt performers from Europe, set to debut on Friday, February 2. Bear Grylls: Face the Wild, featuring 10 fans who have been invited to accompany Grylls on an adventure, premieres on Wednesday, March 21.
Video ad serving platform SpotX formed a strategic partnership with sports-first streaming service fuboTV to power the programmatic monetization of fuboTV’s life OTT content. fuboTV previously monetized content mainly via subscriptions, but turned on ads this summer.
Snapchat stock (SNAP) dropped almost 5% on Tuesday, after the app’s redesigned layout for users in the UK, Australia and Canada, meant to boost engagement, instead drew complaints from users. The biggest gripe: Stories moved into the box where direct messages are sent and received. Snapchat was forced to issue a statement informing dissatisfied users, “It’s not possible to revert go a previous version of Snapchat.”
CBS Television Distribution secured digital multicast rights to The Carol Burnett Show, including all 11 seasons of the classic comedy showcase. “I’m thrilled to be back home at CBS, and I’m so happy that future generations will be able to see and enjoy the fun we had in those 11 wonderful years,” said Burnett.
BritBox closed a deal with for 300 hours of programming, including all 20 seasons of crime drama Midsomer Murders from All3Media International. Series follows Detective Chief Inspector John Barnaby as he solves crimes in a wealthy English community.
Everything Sucks! premieres on Netflix on Friday, February 16. The half-hour coming-of-age dramedy centers around Boring High School’s A/V Club and Drama Club, who join forces to make a movie.
Amazon Prime original series, Breathe, premieres on Friday, January 26. The psychological drama follows the lives of ordinary men faced with extraordinary circumstances.
GOING GLOBAL
NBCUniversal acquired original fantasy adventure series The Outpost for Syfy channels outside the US. The 10 one-hour episodes will premiere in the UK, France, Spain and more in late 2018.
Blue Ant International announced 300 hours of new global sales across all platforms at NATPE Miami. Among the highlights: Scripps Network Interactive (Asia) acquired Post My Party and Holiday Makeover Discovery Networks (New Zealand and Benelux) bought I’ve Got to Tell You.
Rive Gauche Television secured international distribution rights to Something’s Killing Me. The HLN series delves into the investigations of life and death crimes and medical mysteries.
Quebecor Content, Fair-Play and Omnicom Media Group’s Highway Entertainment teamed to fund the worldwide distribution of Revolution. The Quebec dance features solo, duet and group dancers vying for a $100,000 grand prize.
FilmRise and ITV Studios finalized a multi-title agreement that includes over 1000 hours of television programs and mini-series for Amazon’s U.S. Prime Video streaming service. Included are Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, drama London’s Burning, Dr. Zhivago and Hard Times.
Ovation struck a licensing deal with Banijay Rights for Season 2 of Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty, including U.S. cable premiere right to the series for Ovation TV and digital right for VOD, Ovation NOW. In addition, Ovation licensed Season 3 of Versailles from Banijay. The new season will have its U.S. linear and digital premieres on Ovation TV, on VOD, and Ovation now in fall 2018.
