Monday February 1, 2021

IN THE NEWS

WarnerMedia is holding its first WarnerMedia Kids & Family Upfront, virtually, on Wednesday February 17 at 2p. “Our universe of marketing possibilities just got a lot bigger as our powerful DC superheroes are now combined with nostalgic, beloved characters from Cartoon Network, Looney Tunes, Harry Potter and more,” said JP Colaco, Head of Advertising Sales, WarnerMedia. “The WarnerMedia Kids and Family Upfront is the first in many signature moments this year showcasing how together with advertisers, we can unlock and unearth opportunities across WarnerMedia’s beloved, global brands and IP.” The online experience will be designed to feel like a festival, with videos and conversations offering details about the company’s programming and brand philosophy, upcoming programming slate and partnership opportunities.

Charter Communications added 1.9 million customers in 2020, versus 1.1 million in 2019, reported the company. The company added 197,000 total customer relationships in the fourth quarter, compared to 268,000 during the fourth quarter of 2019. Charter attributed the slowdown to “lower sales activity caused by adding 1.9 million internet customers in the prior three quarters as well as lower market churn.”

A Delaware judge is allowing to proceed a lawsuit by a group of CBS stockholders over the merger of Viacom. The shareholders allege that former CBS CEO Joseph Ianniello gave his support for the merger in return for a payout of $125 million as he left the company. Before the ouster of CEO Les Moonves, Ianniello had worked with his boss to block the deal, desired by Shari Redstone. “Both Ianniello’s and Ms. Redstone’s 180-degree change from their prior positions support reasonable inferences that Ianniello’s enriched severance compensation was a quid pro quo and that he violated his fiduciary duty, with the Director Defendants’ help, by giving his loyalty to Ms. Redstone in return,” wrote the judge. “By selling his endorsement for the Merger – which Plaintiffs well plead Ianniello knew was bad for CBS stockholders – Ianniello conceivably violated his fiduciary duty of loyalty.”

Netflix renewed “On My Block” for a fourth and final season. Season three of the coming-of-age comedy premiered in March 2020.

“Trickster,” renewed by CBC for season two, had that decision rescinded after an investigation disputed co-creator Michelle Latimer’s claims of an Indigenous background. The series, focused on an Indigenous teen in British Columbia, is airing in the US on CW. “We have had many conversations over the last few weeks with a view to continuing production on a second season of ‘Trickster,’” CBC said in a statement. “Fully respecting everyone’s perspective, season two will not move forward as planned unfortunately.”

Cox Media Group and USA/Suddenlink reached a new retrans deal for the carriage of CMG stations inTulsa, OK; Memphis; Spokane, WA; Eureka, CA; Greenville-Greenwood,MS; and Alexandria, LA. But the immediate future of 14 local Cox stations for DirecTV and AT&T TV customers is less certain, as the companies face off in a fight over carriage fees. Channels could be removed by Tuesday if an agreement isn’t reached.

FX released its annual estimate of the total number of scripted television series for 2020, including shows on broadcast, basic cable, premium cable and streaming services.The total was was 493, a 7% decline from 2019. It’s the first time the number of scripted originals has decreased since FX starting keeping count in 2009.

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Netflix signed an overall deal with Roger Black and Waco O’Guin

, creators and producers of the streamer’s animated series “Paradise PD.” The duo will continue to oversee “Paradise PD” while creating and producing new animated content. “We couldn’t be happier that Netflix finally ‘put a ring on it,’” said Black and O’Guin. “It’s an awesome network full of nice people and a great place to work! Now we can finally get those matching cherry red PT Cruisers we’ve had our eyes on.”

“WeCrashed” nabbed a series order from Apple TV+. The limited series based on the podcast “WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork” will star Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto, who will also serve as executive producers. Lee Eisenberg will co-write, executive produce and serve as showrunner alongside Drew Crevello, with Wondery also executive producing.

Trailblazer Studios and Reuters are teaming to develop an unscripted series, “The Body Trade,” based on an investigative series by Reuters that exposed how donated bodies are fueling an unregulated industry in which human remains are bought and sold. “Trailblazer Studios’ adaptation of ‘The Body Trade’ marks a first for Reuters. It’s our entrée into the nonfiction television space, and we’re excited to see how our groundbreaking investigation translates and further develops on TV,” said Mike Williams, Global Enterprise Editor, Reuters.

A reboot of “Kate & Allie” landed a put pilot commitment from NBC. The reworking of the 1985-89 comedy starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin comes from Erica Oyama and Nahnatchka Khan (“Young Rock).

Another 1980s comedy getting new life is “The Wonder Years” (1988-93), from Saladin Patterson (“Dave”), which has been picked up to pilot by ABC. The series’ original star, Fred Savage, will direct and produce; Lee Daniels (“Empire”) and his Lee Daniels Entertainment partner Marc Velez will also exec produce. The original’s creator, Neal Marlens, is consulting.

ABC also ordered pilots for Zahir McGhee’s “Queens,” following four women who reunite for a chance to regain fame in the hip-hop world, and romantic anthology series “Epic,” both from ABC Signature.

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NBCUniversal has joined the companies pledging to follow the guidelines from the Ruderman Family Foundation aimed at making TV and film production more inclusive. “NBCUniversal remains committed to creating content that authentically reflects the world we live in and increasing opportunities for those with disabilities is an integral part of that,” said Janine Jones-Clark, Executive Vice President, Inclusion – Talent & Content, Film, Television & Streaming, NBCUniversal. “We are proud to join the Ruderman Family Foundation pledge as calls to action like theirs are important and hold the industry accountable of the work we still need to do in order to see systemic change.”

Casting notes: Joel Kinnaman (“For All Mankind”) has been cast in HBO’s reboot of “In Treatment,” slated to debut this year…David Magidoff (“The Morning Show”) has joined the cast of Showtime’s “Dexter” revival…Sara Gilbert (“The Conners”), Leland Orser (“Brand New Cherry Flavor”), Lyriq Bent (“Four Brothers”), J.R. Caria (“Infidel”), Tate Donovan (“Respect”), and Kevin Dunn (“Above Suspicion”) have boarded the cast of HBO Max pilot “Verbati,” about the college admissions scandal.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Cartoon trivia show “Tooned In” premieres on Nickelodeon Monday, February 8 at 5p. An animated AI robot hosts as kids compete in rounds of trivia about Nick cartoons.

The season three premiere of NBC’s “New Amsterdam,” delayed due to production shutdowns, has been set for Tuesday, March 2 at 10p. Season two averaged 3.3 among A18-49 and 13.8 million viewers.

COMING UP

DC film “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” premieres Thursday, March 18 on HBO Max. In the new, extended version of the 2017 Warner Bros. feature, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) joins forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) to protect the world.

Amateur dog trainers face off in Kym Whitley (“Animal Practice”)-hosted “Puppy Bowl Presents: The Dog Games,” streaming on discovery+ Saturday, February 6. It’s just one of the specials leading up Animal Planet’s “Puppy Bowl XVII,” airing/streaming the next day at 2p.

Cheddar is kicking off Black History Month with a special hour-long episode of “All Hands: Race Toward Inclusion” today, February 1 at 1p. The special will cover subjects across the worlds of business, politics, social justice and diversity & inclusion.

The nominees for this year’s 52nd NAACP Image Awards will be announced virtually on the NAACP Image Awards’ Instagram Tuesday, February 2 at 1p. Anika Noni-Rose (“Power”), Chloe Bailey (“Grown-ish”), Erika Alexander (“Living Single”), Nicco Annan (“P-Valley”), and TC Carson (“Living Single”) will be presenting.

STREAMING

Tubi is now the exclusive AVOD home to “¿Quién es la Máscara?”, the Mexican edition of “The Masked Singer.” “As we scale our massive selection of Spanish-language content for Tubi en Español at no cost to our viewers, we continue to deliver on our broader commitment to super serve underserved audiences,” said Adam Lewinson, Chief Content Officer, Tubi

GOING GLOBAL

ITV canceled the 2021 season of “Britain’s Got Talent” due to concerns over the pandemic. “Despite everyone at ITV, Thames and Syco doing their best to make it happen, and with our absolute priority of safeguarding the well-being and health of every person involved in the program, from judges, hosts and contestants to all of the crew and audience, the decision has been made to – unfortunately – move the record and broadcast of the 15th series of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ to 2022,” said a show rep.

Banijay Rights announces a second celebrity season of “MasterChef Argentina” for Telefe, a ViacomCBS brand. The celebrity grand finale broadcast last week on the Argentinian pay TV channel became the most watched of programme of the year, with a peak share of over 80%.

Red Arrow Studios International has picked up distribution rights to a new feature documentary focused on pop star Britney Spears. Directed by Samantha Stark, “Framing Britney Spears” is produced by the New York Times and Left/Right, and set to premiere on FX and Hulu in the US on February 5.

Italy’s Innovative SME announced the creation of Casta Diva Entertainment, a business line of the Creative content production business unit, for the television industry and part of Casta Diva Pictures. Massimo Righini joins the Group as Chief Creative Officer.

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The premiere of CW’s “Walker” earned the best Live+7 delivery of any CW debut since “Legends of Tomorrow” in January 2016. The episode grew 52% over Live+SD, drawing 3.71 million viewers.

The week of January 18, Discovery was the #2 non-news/sports cable network in Primetime among M25-54 and M18-49, based on Live+3 Nielsens. Discovery had Friday night’s top 2 cable programs among P/M25-54 with “Gold Rush” and “Gold Rush: White Water.”

Across the first 4 weeks of 2021, HGTV ranks as the #1 non-news/sports network during Total Day for W25-54, P2+, and P18+. In Prime, HGTV ranks as the #1 non-news/sports network among P2+ & P18+.

Top 10 Nielsen Streaming Chart Persons for the week of December 21
Program, # of episodes, total minutes viewed
“Wonder Woman 1984” (HBO Max), film, 2.3 billion
“Soul” (Netflix), 192, 1.7 billion
“The Office” (Netflix), 192, 1.4 billion
“Bridgerton” (Netflix), 8, 1.2 billion
“The Midnight Sky” (Netflix), film, 1.1 billion
“The Mandalorian” (Disney+), 16, 1 billion
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (Netflix), film, 705 million
“The Crown” (Netflix), 40, 700 million
“Grey’s Anatomy” (Netflix), 366, 691 million
“Christmas Chronicles” (Netflix), film, 660 million
Source: Nielsen SVOD Content Ratings (Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix), Nielsen National TV Panel, U.S. Viewing through Television.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Thursday, January 28
Show, P2+ millions, (A18-49)
ABC: “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” 6.61 (0.8), “The Chase” 4.85 (0.7), “The Hustler” 3.05 (0.5)
CBS: “Young Sheldon” 4.76 (0.5), “Young Sheldon” 4.17 (0.5), “Mom” 3.54 (0.4), “The Unicorn” 3.12 (0.4), “Star Trek: Discovery” 1.78 (0.2)
CW: “Walker 2.11 (0.3), “Legacies” 0.71 (0.02)
FOX: “Hell’s Kitchen” 2.48 (0.7), “Call Me Kat” 2.48 (0.6), “Last Man Standing” 2.53 (0.4)
NBC: “Mr. Mayor” 3.28 (0.6), “Superstore” 2.05 (0.40, Law & Order: SVU” 2.55 (0.50, “Dateline” 3.16 (0.5)
Telemundo: “Exatlon Estados Unidos” 1.06 (0.3), “La Suerte de Loli” 1.25 (0.3),“Busdandoa Frida” 1.08 (0.3)j
Univision: “Vencer al Desamor” 1.78 (0.5), “Imperio de Mentiras” 1.55 (0.4), “Dulce Ambicion” 1.27 (0.3)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Laurine Garaude, Reed MIDEM’s Television Division Director, is stepping down from her post. Garaude joined Reed MIDEM in 1993 and has headed the Television Division since 2009. During an interim period, Reed MIDEM’s Television Division will be headed by Jerome Delhaye and Deputy Director Lucy Smith.

Barcroft Studios announced two promotions and a hire within its production team. Adam Mudditt, previously Head of Production, has been named as Director of Production for Digital and TV; Jon Eastman has been upped to Executive Producer; and Katie Spedding has been appointed as Production Executive, re-joining the company from Vice Media, where she served as Production Manager.

IN MEMORIAM

Actress Cicely Tyson died January 28. She was 96. Tyson, who insisted that Black characters be portrayed with dignity, was a three-time Emmy winner and at 88, the oldest person to win a Tony. She won acclaim for her work on TV in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman,” “Roots,” and “Oldest Living Confederate Tells All,” among many others.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
During the first season of which drama series did the writer of the show’s theme song make a guest appearance and sing the song – covered by another singer over the credits – herself? In “The Trials of Rosie O’Neill” (1990-92), Carole King performed “I Wish I Knew,” sung during the first season credits by Melissa Manchester.

Today’s Trivia Question
What was Jennifer Aniston’s first series regular role? (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.)