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Today’s Premieres
Disney+: The Chorus: Success, Here I Go
Hulu: Taiwan Crime Stories
Netflix: Baking Show: The Professionals; Gunther’s Millions; Detective Conan: The Culprit Hanzawa
PBS: NOVA at 9p
Syfy: The Ark at 10p
TLC: My 600-Lb. Life at 8p
TV5Monde USA: Une Autre Histoire at 11:30p
TV5Mondeplus: Wilder; Les Schtroumpfs

IN THE NEWS

Tubi and Roku have signed content deals with Warner Bros. Discovery that will add 14 WB branded FAST channels and over 225 AVOD titles to Tubi, including three curated FAST channels – WB TV Reality, WB TV Series and WB TV Family – along with 11 FAST channels focused around genres. Tubi’s channels begin rolling out today, while Roku’s are slated to debut in the spring, featuring shows from across WBD’s portfolio. “We love working with world-class, cutting-edge partners like the Roku Channel,” said David Decker, President of Content Sales for Warner Bros. Discovery. “Their innovative platforms provide us with new ways to bring our valuable content to fans across the country.” As for Tubi, Decker said, “Tubi’s innovative platform and these new channels are one more way we are bringing Warner Bros. Discovery’s vast array of content to our fans. Tubi is an incredible client.”

National linear TV ad spending dipped 2%, to $37 billion in December, according to Standard Media Index, and was down 6% for the fourth quarter. For the calendar year 2022, national TV ad spend was down 5% versus 2021, and down 14% from 2019. However, add in media buys for national TV deals for streaming NFL programming, and TV spend grew 2%.

NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships unveiled updates to its One Platform structure. “We’ve learned that being a partnership platform requires us to move fast, stay agile, and keep our focus on the future – and that’s table stakes,” said Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships, Linda Yaccarino, in a blog post. “So, this year, to continue mirroring how our customers use One Platform, we’re evolving our structure and #OurPartnershipCommitment,” Changes include: Maggy Chan will now lead the Global Sales and Partnership teams; Mark Marshall will head a new, converged National Sales Team; a new SMB Growth Team is being created to help smaller businesses advertise; Josh Feldman is building out a new Content & Talent Partnerships team; and Christina Glorioso, who leads Training and Development, will work with Accenture and Salesforce to democratize all information and resources across teams.

CBS set the date for another crossover with its three “FBI” shows: April 4 on CBS and Paramount+. “As the FBIs continue to dominate on Tuesday nights, we are excited to reward our devoted fans with this special three-hour global crossover event that will bring these three heroic – and popular – teams together for a second time,” said Eric Kim, EVP of Current Programs for CBS Entertainment and CBS Studios. “Our April 4 crossover event will be a non-stop thrilling experience that will keep viewers engaged in ways that only Dick Wolf’s ‘FBI’ world can.”

The CW will be profitable by 2025, predicted executives from Nexstar Media Group, which acquired 75% of the network last year. In a conference call presentation, it was noted that the acquisition “protects existing television advertising and distribution revenue generated by Nexstar’s 37 CW-affiliated stations.” The company’s NewsNation channel has been profitable since its 2020 rebrand, said execs, and will air new 24/7 by the end of 2024.

NBC ordered a third season of “La Brea.” Season two of the disaster drama is averaging 3.6 million viewers and a 0.39 rating among A18-49.

Fox First Run has renewed five programs: “You Bet Your Life,” “Pictionary,” “25 Words or Less,” “Dish Nation” and “Divorce Court.” The programs will continue their run on the Fox-owned stations through the 2023-24 season. “One of the topics that came up at the inaugural industry syndication event, The Summit, was the strength and staying power of legacy shows,” said Stephen Brown, EVP of Programming and Development for Fox First Run and Fox Television Stations. “They are like good old friends that we turn to every day.”

The integration of GroupM networks Essence and MediaCom, announced last spring, is complete. EssenceMediacom, comprised of 10,000 people across 120 offices globally and led by Global CEO Nick Lawson, combines Essence’s performance, data, analytics and creative technology expertise with MediaCom’s scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media know-how. The agency launches with a client roste which includes adidas, Bayer, Dell, Google, Mars, NBCUniversal, PlayStation, Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company and Uber. Said Nick Lawson, EssenceMediacom’s Global CEO, “This process has been nine months in the making and I am so excited to see our ambition of bringing Essence and MediaCom together finally become a reality….Together, and with analytics, data and technology at our heart, I have no doubt we will deliver breakthroughs across our entire client base.”

“Pretty unbelievable,” tweeted “Reboot” star Johnny Knoxville after Hulu canceled the comedy after one season. Series creator Steve Levitan is shopping the show, which follows actors who reconvene for a revival of a 2000’s sitcom.

2022 Best of the Best & Rising Star Awards

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Registration for our virtual awards ceremony is now live! Celebrate with us on February 16th at 1 PM EST! To view the Best of the Best finalists and Rising Star honorees and to register today, click the link below:

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Hulu handed a series order for a revival of 20th Television Animation series “King of the Hill.” Co-creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels and the series’ cast – including Kathy Najimy, Stephen Root, Pamela Adlon, Johnny Hardwick and Lauren Tom – are along for the ride. “This show has all of the perfect ingredients to meet this moment in animation at Hulu,” said Craig Erwich, President, ABC Entertainment and Hulu and Disney Branded Television Streaming Originals. Saladin Patterson (“The Wonder Years”) will serve as executive producer and showrunner; 3 Arts’ Michael Rotenberg and Howard Klein, and Bandera Entertainment’s Dustin Davis will serve as executive producers. The series ran from 1997-2009 on Fox.

Entertainment One has acquired the rights to Janice Hallett’s bestselling novel The Twyford Code. It’s the first project to come out of eOne’s first-look deal with writer, director and producer Paul Andrew Williams. eOne will serve as the studio for the television adaptation, which will be developed in partnership with Cameron Roach’s company Rope Ladder. Williams will direct the series and eOne will handle the global rights.

Big Media has greenlit “Alien Files: Reopened.” “This is our third series in the UFO and unexplained phenomena space and we have really dug deep to find the top experts and historical records to bring audiences the most accurate and compelling information to date,” said Danny Wilk, President of Big Media Holdings. The eight-parter has been pre-sold in numerous territories.

TV series announced as part of DCU Chapter One include “Waller,” a spinoff of HBO Max’s “Suicide Squad,” starring Viola Davis; animated “Creature Commandos”; “Paradise Lost,” set on Wonder Woman’s planet; and “Booster Gold,” following a superhero pretender. Greg Berlanti’s “Green Lantern” project has been dropped, with “Lantern” – described by DC Co-CEO Peter Safran as “a much more ‘True Detective,’ terrestrial based investigation story” versus Berlanti’s “space opera” vision – taking that comic book slot.

AIM Tell-A-Vision® Group, producers of “Raw Travel,” announced today that at the end of their current Season 10 in September 2023, the show’s library of 200+ episodes, “Raw Travel Rebooked” will continue to air on select broadcast stations for Seasons 11 and 12 through 2025. Additionally, there are plans to continue to produce a limited number of unique “one-off” original episodes, which will circulate into the “Rebooked” episodes. “With our library of 200-plus, mostly-evergreen episodes, we can cycle one show weekly for four years without repeating,” said Robert G. Rose, Executive Producer and host of the series. “The ability to curate content from our library means viewers will see extraordinarily diverse travel experiences from scores of destinations.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Two R&B groups join for Bravo’s “SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B,” premiering Sunday, March 5 at 9:30p. The six-parter follows the chart-toppers as they pull together a one-night-only event.

Magnolia Network added two new series to its spring slate of shows: “Happy to be Home with the Benkos” and “Motel Rescue,” featuring Lindsey Kurowski from Magnolia Network’s “Inn the Works.” Additionally, the network has renewed “Beach Cottage Chronicles” and “Diary of an Old Home” for second seasons to debut later this spring.

Superprod live-action comedy “Home Sweet Rome!” has wrapped production in Italy and is scheduled to premiere on HBO Max in the US, and other platforms in Italy, Germany and the UK.

AXS TV’s “Sunday Night Rocks” lineup returns February 19, starting at 8p with the premiere of new series “Rockstar Shuffle.” The show offers a look at rock icons as they share their stories, show off their personal collections of music memorabilia, reflect on the memories, and more.

Prime Video has acquired “The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes.” The three-part docuseries, bringing to light the audio recordings of Adolf Eichmann detailing his role as one of the leading perpetrators behind the Holocaust’s “Final Solution,” is available to stream in the US.

“Aussie Gold Miners: Mine SOS” premieres Friday, February 3 at 10p on Discocvery Channel. The reality show follows miners on the brink of failure overhauling their operation.

Animal Planet’s “Pets & Pickers” follows the Regional Animal Protection Society as they raise money to help low-income pet families pay for healthcare by “picking” through donated bins and abandoned storage lockers. Premiere date: Saturday, February 18 at 9p.

SPORTS ROUNDUP

Sunday’s NFC Championship on Fox delivered 47.5 million viewers, for the most-watched Fox telecast of any kind since last year’s NFC championship. It was also the second most-streamed NFL game in Fox Sports history.

CBS’s AFC Championship Game on Sunday was the most-watched TV program since last year’s Super Bowl, scoring 53.12 million viewers. The Chiefs/Bengals matchup was also the most-viewed NFL Conference Championship Game in four years.

Fox Sports is offering 50 hours of programming the week of its 10th Super Bowl presentation on Sunday, February 12, across Fox, FS1 and Fox Deportes. On Super Bowl Sunday, FOX will broadcast seven-and-a-half hours of pregame coverage from its set in Glendale, AZ, before moving inside to the set in the northeast tunnel of the stadium just prior to kickoff. Curt Menefee hosts the special edition of “Fox NFL Sunday” alongside Terry Bradshaw with analysis from Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Jimmy Johnson and Rob Gronkowski. Jay Glazer will offer news from around the league heading into the game.

The National Hockey League’s All-Star Game and the NHL All-Star Skills competition are sold out, reports Disney Advertising of the two day event. Sponsors for the All-Star game include presenting sponsor Honda, Discovery, Enterprise, Goodyear, Lexus, Navy Federal Credit Union and SAP, while Chipotle, Discovery, Enterprise, Geico, Goodyear, Great Clips, Honda and Upper Deck have signed on for the Skills competition.

Showtime Sports has handed an expanded role to veteran journalist, host and NBA reporter Rachel Nichols, who joined Showtime Basketball in September 2022. Nichols will host and co-executive produce “Headliners with Rachel Nichols,” a new interview series, as well as host the existing weekly video podcast “What’s Burnin’.”

Wanna bet? The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has granted Sportradar Solutions a Temporary Sports Wagering Vendor License for the state. Sportradar now holds 44 licenses, or equivalent, in North America across US states, territories, tribes, and Canada. Legal, in-person sports betting in Massachusetts began on Tuesday.

STREAMING

As Paramount Global prepares to merge Paramount+ and Showtime, Helixa shared some data about the audience composition of Paramount+ members. Among major streaming platforms, Paramount+ members are more likely to have a household income between $40K-100K than the average US audience (41.29%). Amazon Prime members are more likely to have a household income over $100K than the average US audience (30.97%). Additionally, Helixa found that the Paramount+ audience is more evenly split across genders than other streamers (55.74% of the audience is male, while HBO Max and Peacock’s audiences were 63.03% and 57.41% male respectively). And the majority of the audience of Paramount+ was in the 25-49 age range (38.51%).

New subscribers to Peacock will not be offered a free option, reports The Streamable, but will have the choice of Peacock Premium or Peacock Premium Plus, as the NBCU streaming service’s offerings grow more robust with originals like “Poker Face” and popular shows like “Yellowstone.” Existing users will still have access to the free tier.

Spotify reported 489 million monthly active users in 4Q22, its largest ever quarterly bump at 20%, but wider losses ($250 million). “In hindsight, I got a little carried away and over-invested relative to the uncertainty I saw in the market,” said Spotify CEO Daniel Ek as the company reported earnings.

COMING UP

Nate Burleson, co-host of “CBS Mornings” and a CBS Sports Analyst, takes his hosting skills to a new level along with digital star Charli D’Amelio as they team for “Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2023.” Airing live on Saturday, March 4, at 7p, the awards celebrate – messily – fan favorites from across the worlds of film, television, music, sports and more.

Weigel Broadcasting will honor Cindy Williams with tributes on the MeTV and Decades Networks. MeTV will present four episodes of “Laverne & Shirley” that Williams previously shared with MeTV as among her favorites, on Sunday afternoon from 4-6p. Decades will pay tribute with a Weekend Binge of 36 back-to-back “Laverne & Shirley” episodes beginning Saturday, February 4 at 12p. Williams died January 25 at age 75.

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, ViX will feature romantic novelas, from Brazilian and Turkish tales to Mexican classics, reboots, and original stories. Among the novelas available on ViX Valentine’s Day Collection are “Amor Eterno,” “Amor Real,” “Destilando Amor,” and “Yo Compro Esa Mujer.”

GOING GLOBAL

Lionsgate+, the international streaming service from STARZ, is now available on Samsung Smart TVs, smart monitors, projectors and other Tizen OS–powered devices through a recent partnership agreement spanning across the UK, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia.

UK animation studio 3D Sparrow Group is expanding its non-dialogue preschool and family comedy property Booba with the launch of the show’s fourth season, signing of new broadcast partners. ITV picked up seasons two and three for its new, free streaming platform ITVX, STAR Channel exclusively acquired all four seasons for Greece, and 9GO! (Australia) and Pro Plus (Slovenia) both signed for the new fourth season, which all launched in Q4 2022. Season five is currently in production and scheduled to be delivered in 2024.

Hat Trick International has closed a string of international sales for ITV’s “D.I. Ray,” the latest thriller to come out of Jed Mercurio’s HTM Television. The show has been acquired by BritBox International, where it has already rolled out across multiple territories, including South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and will go to a 2nd window in Australia. Sales have also been closed with RTP in Portugal, Cosmote TV in Greece, Virgin Media in Ireland, Yes TV in Israel and NHK in Japan, where it will air on AXN Mystery. In addition, Acorn Media has taken the DVD rights for the UK, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the premiere rights for its SVOD platform in New Zealand.

2023 Sports Media Awards

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Have you entered yet? Get together your best campaign and showcase your tremendous work in the industry across production, marketing, and technology. Sports Media Awards entries are open until February 9th!

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RATINGS

Viewership for the third episode of HBO’s “The Last of Us” rose 12% from the week prior, and was up 37% from the series premiere. The first two episodes of the drama, based on the PlayStation game, are averaging 21.3 million viewers.

Across its 12-state local news footprint, Spectrum News averaged 2.2 million daily viewing households in January. Spectrum News Nielsen-rated markets in Charlotte and Los Angeles saw month-over-month viewership increases in January, with Charlotte +4% and Los Angeles +3%.

FOX News Channel finished January with over 1.3 million viewers in total day, 173,000 among A25-54 and 110,000 in the A18-49 demo. In primetime, FNC netted over 1.9 million viewers, 239,000 A25-54 and 157,000 in the A18-49 demo. The network secured the top 13 programs in cable news with viewers and the top 14 cable news programs among A25-54.

On January 23, Fox Business Network launched a new programming schedule, with the addition of “The Big Money Show” (weekdays, 1p) and “The Bottom Line” (weekdays, 6p) to the lineup. “The Bottom Line” secured double-digit growth year over year with 236,000 viewers, the best 6p performance for the network in more than two years. “The Big Money Show” drew 165,000 viewers in its first week.

Access game shows topped syndication the week of January 16, while the only daytime talk show to rise in households was the third most-watched chatfest, “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (four-week high 1.0, up 11% from the week before with more than 1.4-million daily viewers). “Jeopardy!” (5.9, unchanged) dominated syndication for the 16th straight week, followed by “Wheel of Fortune” (new season high 5.6, up 4%) and “Family Feud “(5.1, up 2%).

“Godzilla vs.Kong” was the #1 movie among P25-54 YTD in Prime and Total Day on Monday, January 23. The telecast averaged 343,000 viewers in P25-54 with a Live+3 rating of .57. TBS and TNT also aired 7 of the top 10 movie telecasts on cable in prime.

Paris-based Kids First has new global broadcast partners for “Hello Kitty: Super Style!”, an original 3D animated children’s program. The show, co-developed with Amazon Kids+, has been picked up by Viaplay for Scandinavia, Baltics, Poland and Benelux; Super RTL in Germany; CBC Canada, Canal + Ethiopia and Poland, and Canal Panda in Portugal.

Broadcast Nielsen Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of January 16 ranked in order by HH Rtg
Jeopardy! (CMV) 5.9 AA
Wheel of Fortune (CMV) 5.6 AA
Family Feud (CMV) 5.1 AA
Judge Judy (AT) 4.3 AA
Inside Edition (CMV) 2.3 AA
Entertainment Tonight (CMV) 2.2 AA
The Big Bang Theory (WB) 2.1 AA
Live with Kelly & Ryan (DAD) 1.7 AA
Dr. Phil CMV (CMV) 1.5 AA
Hot Bench (CMV) 1.3 AA

Basic Cable Top 10 for the week of January 23
Network, P2+ AA (000s)
Primetime
Fox News 2121
MSNBC 1079
HGTV 928
ESPN 916
Hallmark Channel 827
History 739
TNT 726
INSP 726
USA 707
TBS 685
Total Day
Fox News 1413
MSNBC 681
ESPN 523
HGTV 498
CNN 481
Hallmark Channel 457
INSP 402
ID 395
Food Network 388
History 370
Source: Nielsen

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Monday, January 30
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: The Bachelor 2.98 (0.6), The Good Doctor 3.43 (0.3)
CBS: The Neighborhood 4.20 (0.4), Bob Hearts Abishola 3.58 (0.4), NCIS 4.15 (0.3), NCIS: Hawai’i 3.27 (0.3)
CW: All American 0.47 (0.1), All American: Homecoming 0.39 (0.1)
FOX: TMZ Investigates 2.54 (0.4), Alert 2.29 (0.3)
ION: FBI 1.31 (0.1), FBI 1.07 (0.1), FBI 0.91 (0.1)
NBC: America’s Got Talent All-Stars 4.98 (0.5), Quantum Leap 2.10 (0.3)
Telemundo: La Casa de los Famosos 1.21 (0.4), El Señor de los Cielos 1.47 (0.6), Amor y Traición 0.92 (0.3)
Univision: Vencer la Ausencia 1.64 (0.5), Mi Camino es Amarte 1.70 (0.5), Cabo 1.49 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

FOX Television Stations has named Chris Reed as Executive Vice President of Legal Affairs. Most recently, Reed served as SVP of Intellectual Property, Content Protection, and Litigation for FOX Corporation.

The day after Paramount Global’s announcement that Showtime is being integrated into Paramount+, the company promoted Erin Calhoun to EVP, Communications, Paramount Streaming and Cross-Company Publicity. Calhoun had been EVP, Communications, Showtime Networks & Paramount Television.

Cision has appointed Cali Tran as the company’s new CEO. Tran was also recently appointed President and CEO of Brandwatch, a Cision company.

This Day in History
1790 – The US Supreme Court convened for the first time.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
The title character in which short-lived sitcom was a conservative TV personality who wrote a book titled, I’m Right. I’m Right. I’m Right. Shut Up.? “Monty” (1994), starring Henry Winkler. Kudos to: Aaron Paquette-AccelerateSG/Fort Worth, TX; Andrew Goldman-Grooveee/NYC; JoAnn DiNapoli-DeSales Media Group/Brooklyn; Amit Singh-Scripps/NYC; Greg West-WATC TV/Atlanta; Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; John Kukla-KDFW Fox 4/Dallas; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which mystery series aired on NBC for its first season, and ABC for its second and third and final seasons? (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.)

Cynopsis Team