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Today’s Premieres
HBO Max: Flordelis: A Family Crime
ID: Death in the Deep South at 10p
Netflix: Freeridge; Make My Day

Today’s Finales
ABC: Celebrity Jeopardy! at 8p
FOX: Welcome to Flatch at 9p

IN THE NEWS

NBCUniversal announced that the recently formed Joint Industry Committee will join a panel at NBCU’s One23 annual developer conference. It will be the first time that broadcasters, holding companies and industry bodies will join each other onstage for a state of the industry conversation to discuss the progress being made to develop measurement certification standards, ahead of its first ever in-person event on April 25. “The acceleration of a multi-currency future requires that both programmers and buyers have a common understanding around the standards needed to power emerging cross-platform measurement solutions,” said David Levy, CEO of OpenAP. “By partnering on the initiatives laid out by the JIC, we will enable more measurement innovation for the benefit of all.” MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle will moderate the discussion.

Havas Media North America and FreeWheel have partnered to scale premium CTV campaigns for US advertisers. The integration will provide marketers with direct access to premium CTV programmers and MVPDs across more than 90% of the premium video ecosystem, and marks FreeWheel’s first preferred agency supply-side platform partnership for premium video. “What we are doing with Havas is, in its most simplistic form, removing friction and the traditional barriers their brands face when trying to connect with premium supply inventory,” Cameron Miille, Head of Marketplace Activation at FreeWheel, tells Cynopsis. “To use retail as an analogy, this is as direct to consumer as it gets. And, by doing this, Havas is getting unparalleled transparency, supply path optimization and access to the audiences they are looking for.”

HBO has canceled “Pennyworth” after three seasons. The news comes after the series was missing from the plan for Warner Bros. Discovery’s new comic book studio slate. The DC Comics origin series concluded in November.

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

HBO ordered to series a comedy documentary starring and executive produced by Jerrod Carmichael. The series will center on Carmichael’s personal life.

Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury renewed “Family Feud” through 2026. Under the extension, the game show, currently hosted by Steve Harvey, will launch its 50th year on television – on FOX, CBS, Nexstar, Scripps and Tegna.

Paramount+ is developing a three-part Lollapalooza docuseries. Michael John Warren will direct “Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza,” featuring the festival’s inaugural year performers Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Violent Femmes and more in 1991. MTV Entertainment Studios and FunMeter will produce the series in partnership with C3 Presents.

“The Terminal List” scored a second season and prequel series. Starring Chris Pratt and Taylor Kitsch, the Amazon Studios original kicks off a franchise with an early season two renewal and an origin series.

Warner Bros. Television is in development with John Wells and Ivo Van Hove for a music conservatory series. Written by Matthew-Lee Erlbach, the psychological thriller series “Doll” will be set in the world of a modern music conservatory, inspired by Erlbarch’s classical voice training experience.

Off The Fence and Dash Pictures extended their partnership for “Billy and Dom Eat the World.” OTF reported that it will develop a new six-part series starring Billy Boyd and Dominic Managhan. Immortalized as hobbits Merry and Pippin in “The Lord of the Rings,” the two will embark on a global food adventure in six locations, each with a one-hour episode.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

“Blindspotting” season two will premiere on April 14. The Starz will have a two-episode debut starting at 9p, with new episodes airing every Friday.

A new season of HGTV’s “Rock the Block” launches on March 6. The home renovation competition series returns with a six-episode season with some of the biggest houses and the biggest budgets in the show’s history.

“The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth” returns to Showtime on February 26. Season eight of the Emmy-nominated docuseries hosted by John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon and Jennifer Palmieri will hit the ground running to examine a new era of government under President Joe Biden.

COMING UP

“The Blacklist” is coming to a close with season 10. The NBC drama returns February 26.

TelevisaUnivision expanded its 2023 upfront event. Said Donna Speciale, President of US Advertising Sales and Marketing, “We’ve reached the tipping point. The cultural firepower of US Hispanics is indisputable, and more brands than ever are making the commitment to invest in this audience.” The upfront will take place on May 16 at Pier 26 in New York.

STREAMING

Amazon has expanded its partnership with Paramount Global. The deal will allow advertisers using Amazon DSP to reach Amazon audiences through the premium video advertising platform EyeQ, owned by Paramount Global, and will include the company’s streaming services Pluto TV and Paramount+, as well as broadcast brands CBS News, Comedy Central, VH1 and more.

A slew of media giants have left Fubo. Station signals from Sinclair Broadcast Group, Nexstar Media, Gray Television, E.W. Scripps Co., Tegna, Hearst Television and Cox Media Group will not air on the streaming platform amid a dispute with CBS, which provides a network feed to Fubo for markets, without local programming. Nexstar said in a statement, “This programming is being denied to Fubo subscribers because CBS’s owner, Paramount, has been unwilling to include Nexstar and other local broadcast groups in the negotiating process and unwilling to allow them to negotiate with Fubo on their own.”

Allen Media Group and Condé Nast have partnered to add Bon Appétit, Architectural Digest and GQ to the Local Now streaming service. Three new FAST channels focus on topics such as food journalism, design and architecture, and men’s fashion and culture from the magazines on the free streaming platform.

Tubi is streaming “Generation” following its removal from HBO Max. All 16 episodes of the series about a group of high school students as they explore identity and sexuality are now available.

Paramount+ made a series of original title removals from its platform. “Real World: Homecoming,” Jordan Peele’s “The Twilight Zone,” “Interrogation” and more were some of the scrapped titles.

SPORTS

Tom Brady will retire “for good” this time. The seven-time Super Bowl champion is leaving the field and taking to the booth as the new lead NFL analyst on Fox. In a video posted on Twitter, Brady said, “Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. I love you all.”

Apple announced its streaming Season Pass for Major League Soccer. Bringing exclusive coverage to more than 100 countries, the service will cost $12.99 for Apple TV+ subscribers, and $14.99 per month for non-subscribers.

NBC Sports will stream the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship on February 4 and 5. Teams from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales will face off over the course of six weeks, beginning with Wales versus Ireland on Saturday, February 4. All matches will stream live on Peacock, CNBC will air seven matches and NBC will air a selection of matches on delay. Reigning champion France won 5-0 in 2022.

The Cowgirl Channel is launching on Dish Network and SLING TV. Dedicated to women in western sports and the modern cowgirl, the channel will stream on Channel 269 this month, as part of Dish Network’s “America’s Top 120 Package.”

TECH TALK

Netflix is adding spatial audio and a higher device accessibility to its premium plan. The $19.99 per month tier will offer subscribers the option to stream and download on six devices (previously four), and theater-like sound to over 700 titles, including upcoming releases including “You” and “Tour de France.” The upgraded features will be available at no additional cost.

That’s the good news. Netflix will also continue to crack down on password sharing by asking people to pay an extra fee to use its services outside the household. Under the new terms, subscribers will have to choose a primary location for their TV, where all accounts and devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi. Subscribers using a separate device in the same home will have to launch the app at least once a month, “to ensure that [the] devices are associated with [the] primary location,” according to the company’s website. The streamer has already tested additional membership fees for account sharing in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru.

CASTING

Uzo Aduba will star in Shondaland’s “The Residence” on Netflix. From writer Paul William Davies, the eight-episode adaptation of Kate Andersen Brower’s novel “The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House” centers on a murder mystery and a State Dinner.

Toks Olagundoye has joined Paramount+’s “Frasier.” The star of “The Neighbors” will play Olivia, the university head of a psychology department and colleague of Alan, Frasier’s friend from college (played by Nicholas Lyndhurst).

Shannon DeVido and Jackson Kelly have joined the cast of “Lucky Hank” from Bob Odenkirk and Mireille Enos. DeVido will play an English professor and Kelly will play one of her students. The series premieres March 19 on AMC and AMC+.

GOING GLOBAL

Blue Ant Media greenlit new series for three Canadian specialty TV networks. Across T+E, Cottage Life, and its FAST channels HauntTV and Total Crime, the latest originals will include two world broadcast premieres.

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RATINGS

“El Señor de los Cielos” is Primetime’s #1 Spanish-language program. The eighth season of the Telemundo drama has ranked as the top drama program for A18-49 on six out of nine nights since its premiere, according to Nielsen. Delivering 836,000 A18-49 and 363,000 A8-34 in its second week, growing +2% and +17% respectively, the series also ranked as the most social drama series across all TV during its second week, based on total interactions and total video views.

Hallmark Channel was the #1 entertainment cable network in January. With its annual “New Year New Movies!” programming event, the net rose in the ranks to become the most watched across entertainment cable for the entire month in Total Day, Primetime, Weekend Total Day and Weekend Primetime among key demos.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Estrella Media made a series of music division hires. Gerardo Vergara will oversee managing the roster, catalog and business opportunities, as well as new artist signings and development, and Alejandro Garza will oversee music production and publishing and be an in-house music producer. “Adding Gerardo and Alex to EMME is the completion of our dream team,” said Eddie Leon, EVP, Radio Programming and Events for Estrella Media, who also oversees EMME.

It’s official: Heather Olander is the new head of unscripted programming at The CW Network. Olander will develop nonfiction series that “catalyzes conversations,” according to President of Entertainment for the company Brad Schwartz.

This Day in History
1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed New York) became a city.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which mystery series aired on NBC for its first season, and ABC for its second and third and final seasons? “Father Dowling Mysteries” (1989-1991). Kudos to: Aaron Paquette-AccelerateSG/Fort Worth, TX, Andrew Goldman-Grooveee, LLC/NYC, John Kukla-KDFW FOX 4/Dallas, TX, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, Dan Whitford-WTTW Chicago/Chicago

Today’s Trivia Question
What is Carrie Bradshaw’s shoe size on “Sex and the City” (1998-2004)? (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