A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM A+E NETWORKS

THE QUEEN OF POP REIGNS SUPREME…
…WITH 17.2 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS!
LIFETIME AND A&E’S JANET JACKSON DOCUMENTARY EVENT
STRIKES A CHORD WITH AUDIENCES

TV’s #1 Original Documentary of the Year
#1 Cable Show of the Night in the Demos (A18-49 and A25-54) Friday and Saturday
#1 Most Talked-About Show on Social Media (Broadcast AND Cable)
Cable’s Biggest Non-Fiction Debut Since Spring 2020
Lifetime and A&E take the Top Two Slots in Cable Net Rankings Friday and Saturday
(source)

Today’s Premieres
AMC: Horror Noire at 10p
Apple TV+: Suspicion
discovery+: 90 Day Journey; Magnolia Table With Joanna Gaines; (re)Motel
Epix: Unprotected Sets at 12:35a
Magnolia: Lakefront Bargain Hunt Renovation at 9p
Nat Geo: Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back at 10p
Netflix: Sweet Magnolias
Prime Video: Reacher; Phat Tuesdays

Today’s Finale
Nat Geo: Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back at 9p

Saturday’s Premieres
Adult Swim and Crunchyroll: Shenmue the Animation at 12:30a
Food Network: Mary Makes It Easy at 12p

Sunday’s Premiere
Starz: Power Book IV: Force at 9:15p

Sunday’s Finales
Adult Swim and Crunchyroll: Blade Runner: Black Lotus
Food Network: Guy’s Chance of a Lifetime at 9p
TNT: Claws at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Super Bowl ad time is officially sold out – with some 30-second spots going for a record $7.1 million. NBCUniversal announced inventory for the big game across NBC, Telemundo and Peacock is taken, with just “a handful” of pregame slots available. “The NFL has never been stronger and has led us to new records this year,” said Mark Marshall, President of Advertising and Partnerships at NBCU. “We’ve seen an increased appetite for fans to watch the NFL across all our platforms. This multiplatform consumption has attracted even more advertisers who have the desire for the immediate scaled reach of sports.”

The second annual Black Owned Media Upfront has been set for March 1 and 2. In addition to showcasing new programming from Allen Media Group, brands and other Black-owned media companies, attendees will hear about the progress that has been made toward advancing equity in advertising budgets and economic inclusion.

Fifty-nine percent of consumers hold social media platforms responsible for ads next to unsafe content, according to research from Integral Ad Science. Other findings include:
· 47% of consumers report having an unfavorable view of brands whose ads appear next to unsuitable content.
· 46% of consumers are likely to remember a social ad if the message relates to surrounding content, while 41% would feel favorable towards these brands.
· 32% of respondents are likely to purchase a product or service if the ad in their social feed is contextually relevant. Meanwhile, 60% of consumers are unlikely to purchase a product or service advertised next to unsafe content.
“Consumers have developed more critical eyes for ads on social platforms, so brands need to adapt as well by tapping into the latest technology to align with what’s relevant and avoid unsuitable content,” said Tony Marlow, CMO, IAS.

Google has added new exposure frequency controls for CTV campaigns, enabling advertisers to avoid over-saturation – and viewer frustration – for their spots. If an advertiser set a frequency goal of five ads per week for a CTV campaign, instead of showing up to five CTV ads on YouTube and five ads on other CTV apps, Display & Video 360 will now aim to show the ad no more than five times total. “Viewers won’t see your ad more than they should as they navigate across YouTube, Hulu or any of their other favorite CTV apps,” said Google. “This more user-centric approach lowers your risk of triggering ad fatigue.”

The Scripps Howard Foundation, the philanthropic arm of The E.W. Scripps Company, in partnership with Scripps employees and audiences and the Scripps and Howard families, gave $6.4 million in charitable gifts during 2021. “It wasn’t an easy year for many people across the country,” said Liz Carter, President and CEO of the Scripps Howard Foundation. “These hardships inspire us and our donors to be able to address the needs in our communities; to be there for our employees during difficult times; to advance childhood literacy by making books available to the students who need them the most; and to support our industry by furthering journalism education and defense of the First Amendment.”

At an employee town hall event for Spotify employees on Thursday, founder and CEO Daniel Ek addressed Spotify’s controversial host Joe Rogan, whose podcasts have led to the defection of prominent musicians from the platform. “If we want even a shot at achieving our bold ambitions, it will mean having content on Spotify that many of us may not be proud to be associated with,” said Ek, according to audio obtained by The Verge. “Not anything goes, but there will be opinions, ideas, and beliefs that we disagree with strongly and even makes us angry or sad.”

Amazon for the first time reported revenue from its advertising business, with growth of 32% year-over-year and $9.7 billion during 4Q21. Revenue at cloud computing business Amazon Web Services rose almost 40%, to $17.78 billion, handily topping estimates. The company also said it is raising the price of its annual Prime membership to $139, from $119.

The Media Rating Council said Comscore’s national and local TV measurement products are undergoing an MRC audit as part of the accreditation process. Comscore, which had been unaccredited, re-entered the process in October.

WHO WILL WIN BEST OF THE BEST?

From Best Podcast to Best Diversity Awareness Campaign, the winners of the Best of the Best Awards will be announced on Feb 24th ! Who are you rooting for? Join us at this exciting event.

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

What does a former child star do when he turns 40? Macauley Culkin (“Home Alone”) has teamed with Lightbox for “Macauley Culkin’s Midlife Crisis,” exploring what it means to be middle aged. The project is executive produced by Lightbox’s co-founders Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn alongside Emily Gerson Saines.

Amazon Studios picked up to series “The Horror of Dolores Roach,” based on the podcast. The project from Blumhouse Television focuses on a woman released from prison after 16 years. Justina Machado (“One Day at a Time”) stars.

A limited series adaptation of 1990 courtroom thriller “Presumed Innocent” is headed to Apple, courtesy of hitmakers David E. Kelley and J.J. Abrams. The series will be produced by Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions and David E. Kelley Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

WildBrain and Jay Ward Productions have signed an agreementacross distribution, production and licensing for the portfolio of classic Ward-owned IP that includes “George of the Jungle,” “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” “Rocky & Bullwinkle” and more. Under the agreement, WildBrain will add 788 episodes of Jay Ward Productions’ animation to its distribution library, and the two companies will create new content based on the Ward portfolio.

ID has ordered “Crime Scene Confidential,” a six-parter that looks at the forensic evidence behind shocking murder cases. Launch date: Tuesday, March 8.

Epix shared its development slate at the TCA Winter Press Tour. Greenlights went to docuseries “Women Who Rock,” paying homage to female pioneers in music; season two of “NFL Icons”; and “The Making of a Haunting, The Amityville Murders.” On the scripted side of development are second seasons of “Chapelwaite” and “Domina” and season three of “Condor,” along with “Hotel Cocaine,” the story of a Cuban exile and CIA operative; Paris-set “Black Harvest”; “American Classic,” a comedy starring Kevin Kline; docuseries “Hollywood Black”; and “San Francisco Sounds” (wt).

Jon Brockett has been promoted to Executive Producer of the annual SAG Awards, and Kathy Connell returns as Executive Producer. The ceremony airs on TNT and TBS on Sunday, February 27 at 8p, and will be available the following day on HBO Max.

Switchblade Entertainment Group (“30 Minute Meals”) has rebranded as Intentional Content. “In our expanding marketplace, there is more of a demand than ever from buyers for high-quality content that is also cost effective,” said company co-owner Brian Flanagan. “As we look to address these needs, we also want to use our relationships and production know-how to create new opportunities to own and exploit our content.” Switchblade EVP Sean Lee has been promoted to partner in the company.

Casting notes: Bill Nighy (“Love Actually”) has joined the cast of Showtime’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” in the role played by David Bowie in the 1976 film…Louis Hoffman (“Land of Mine”) landed the male lead in Netflix’s “All the Light We Cannot See,” adapted from the bestseller by Anthony Doerr…Jen Landon and Kathryn Kelly have been elevated to series regulars for season five of Paramount+ drama “Yellowstone.”

RENEWALS

Paramount Network is bringing “Yellowstone” back for a fifth season. The season four premiere of the hit drama was watched by 14 million viewers, a number topped by the 15 million who viewed the season finale.

ID is renewing “Murder Under the Friday Night Lights” for a second season, ahead of its season finale on Tuesday, February 8 at 10p. “Our ID Addicts made this series an instant hit and we are happy to give them another season with fresh stories about shocking crimes behind America’s favorite pastime,” said Jason Salranis, President of Crime and Investigative Content.

Also renewed for a second season is HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere.” The series is inspired by the life of comedian and singer Bridget Everett.

And Food Network’s “Alex vs America” also received a season two pick-up. The series has been seen by nearly 6 million P2+ viewers in its Sunday 10p timeslot, up +28% from the net’s 2021 freshman premiere average.

Last but not least, discovery+ ordered second seasons of “Kendra Sells Hollywood,” “Love in Paradise: The Caribbean”, “Pig Royalty”; and “Ghost Brothers: Lights Out,” as well as season three of “90 Day: The Single Life.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Among the 11 new series premieres on HGTV and discovery+, announced at the TCA Winter Press Tour on Wednesday, is “Lil Jon Wants To Do What?”, starring the rapper-turned renovator, premiering Monday, May 2 at 10p. Also coming up is HGTV’s “The Great Giveback with Melissa McCarthy and Jenna Perusich,” following actress McCarthy and her cousin as they surprise homeowners with home renovations, on Monday, June 13 at 9p.

“Million Dollar Wheels” premieres Monday, February 28 on discovery+. The series, from executive producer Jamie Foxx, follows the life of a celebrity car dealer. Later this year (Wednesday, May 1 to be exact), drag queen Trixie Mattel renovates a rundown motel in Palm Springs, California in “Trixie Motel.”

Discovery+ docuseries “Legacy: In the Shadow of Greatness” follows the athletic pursuits of children of sports greats Dwayne Wade, Evander Holyfield and Randall Cunningham, starting Tuesday, March 8. Also on the way: “Inventions That Changed History” (March 31); and new additions to the “Undiscovered” strand of documentaries, starting with “Undiscovered: Edgewood” on May 19.

And discovery+ is looking ahead to Pride Month for the premiere of “The Book of Queer” in June. The series features an ensemble cast of LGBTQ+ actors who portray historical figures, with each episode culminating in an original song and music video, created and performed by queer artists including Betty Who and VINCINT.

Acorn TV series “Harry Wild” debuts Monday, April 4 with two episodes. Jane Seymor (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”) stars in the murder mystery thriller.

Season two of global espionage thriller “Tehran” premieres Friday, May 6 on Apple TV+. Glenn Close and Niv Sultan return for the eight-episode run.

Circle Network is introducing two new series on its platform. “Bill Cody Presents,” hosted by the country radio icon, premieres Wednesday, February 9 at 8p, and “Circle Presents: Country Sessions,” featuring Lee Brice, debuts Thursday, February 17 at 9p.

In honor of Women’s History Month, JOURNY’s March programming lineup is themed “Wonder(ing) Women,” with the new season of “Travels with Darley” as the anchor series. Episodes are available beginning Tuesday, March 1.

“Love After Lockup” returns for a new season on WE tv on Friday, March 4 at 9p. Episodes are now a super-sized 90 minutes.

COMING UP

AMC+ is marking Black History Month with “Black Stories & Storytellers,” a collection of documentaries and feature films including AMC+’s “Anne Boleyn,” classic films like “The Hurricane” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” and documentaries including “The Stand: How One Gesture Shook the World,” and “Natural Hair: The Movie.” ALLBLK, the company’s streaming service dedicated to Black content and creators, will celebrate Black love, with a video series featuring ALLBLK talent answering questions about love and relationships. The spots will roll out weekly throughout the month of February.

Under the theme of Celebrating Heritage, The Africa Channel’s premiere programming during BHM reaches across nations and cultures to celebrate the month inclusively. Among the premieres are “The History of Africa,” airing Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9p. “Rooted” airs Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting February 15 and American Civil Rights Documentaries air Saturday and Sunday starting February 5.

This month, Sensical, provider of videos and podcasts for children, is shining a spotlight on Black stories and Black creator excellence. The “Celebrate Black Stories” collection of videos teaches kids about Black art, history, and culture, and introduces them to famous Black inventors and change-makers.

AWARDS UPDATES

Leslie Jordan (“Will & Grace”) and Tracee Ellis Ross (“black-ish”) will announce the 94th Oscars nominations on Tuesday, Februray 8, via global live stream on the Academy’s digital platforms and national broadcast and streaming news programs, including ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “ABC News Live.”

Samuel L. Jackson will receive the Chairman’s Award during the “53rd NAACP Image Award,” Scot X. Esdaile will receive the Activist of the Year award, and Channing Hill will receive the Youth Activist of the Year award. The “53rd NAACP Image Awards,” hosted by Anthony Anderson, airs Saturday, February 26 at 8p on BET.

Concept Illustrator and Storyboard Artist Donna Cline (“Outbreak,” “Bones”) will receive the Art Director’s Guild Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illustrators and Matte Artists at the 26th Annual ADG Awards on Saturday, March 5 in LA.

STREAMING

Netflix unveiled a feature slate that includes 86 movies, with 61 English language titles, 20 non-English (among them six Korean films) and five animated features.

NextGen TV service Evoca has added Outdoor Sportsman Group Networks – Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel and World Fishing Network – to its Denver service.

GOING GLOBAL

Discovery, Inc. has entered into exclusive discussions with BT Group to create a new sport venture in the UK by combining its Eurosport business in the UK and Ireland with BT Sport. The companies aim for the 50:50 Joint Venture to be operational in 2022 pending a definite agreement and regulatory approval.

Quintus Studios has partnered with independent US producer Cry Havoc Productions to produce a new factual series, the first under its new Quintus Original banner. “Supercar Tech” explores how the Supercar genre originated and evolved.

Streaming service START, the premium content creator in Russia and CIS, is developing a drama series adaption of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s classic novel Crime and Punishment. The series will be set in modern-day St Petersburg and follow both the traditional protagonist Rodion Raskolnikov and his lesser-known sister Dunya Raskolnikov.

Banijay Rights announced two new adaptations of “Survivor,” with co-production agreements confirmed across Central and South-Eastern Europe. United Media-owned Nova TV in Croatia and Nova S in Serbia will broadcast a first season of the format in late 2022, while TV Markíza in Slovakia and TV Nova in the Czech Republic will air a new adaptation. Acun Medya is onboard as local producer for both versions.

Abacus Media Rights has acquired new Sky Documentaries-commissioned feature “The Scream” in partnership with Night Train Media for worldwide distribution for delivery May 2022.

Redknot has greenlit a third season of animated series “Agent Binky: Pets Of The Universe,” with episodes set to begin delivering this fall. The announcement comes ahead of the Season 2 premiere on Corus Entertainment’s Treehouse and streaming service STACKTV on April 11, and the return of new episodes on Discovery Kids in Latin America this month.

ARE YOU A SPORTS MEDIA ALL STAR?

For the 2022 Sports Media Awards, we have added an “All Stars – 10 Up and Coming Sports Innovators” category. This award will honor 10 up-and-coming executives, producers, movers, shakers, investors, etc. who are under 30 and have already made an impact on sports business.

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RATINGS

Featuring five new original movie premieres rolling out every Saturday night in January, Hallmark Channel’s New Year New Movies! stunt averaged 2.6 million Total Viewers and 266,000 W25-54. In addition, the programming event secured Hallmark Channel original movies as entertainment cable’s #1 most-watched original program in January among Households, Women 18+, and Total Viewers.

Meanwhile, Hallmark Drama, sister network to Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, has surpassed 50 million homes, according Nielsen data, a 15% year-over-year increase versus February 2021 channel. In December, the network experienced its most-watched days (12/22/21 and 12/26/21) and week (12/20-12/26/21) in network history among W18-49, W18-34, and W25-54.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Wednesday, February 2
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: The Goldbergs 3.48 (0.7), The Wonder Years 2.36 (0.5), The Conners 3.26 (0.6), Home Economics 2.17 (0.4), The Chase 2.15 (0.3)
CBS: Big Brother 3.76 (0.8), Amazing Race 3.76 (0.6), Good Sam 2.59 (0.4)
CW: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow 0.64 (0.1), Batwoman 0.54 (0.1)
FOX: I Can See Your Voice 2.43 (0.4) Next Level Chef 2.11 (0.5)
NBC: Chicago Med 3.74 (0.4), Chicago Fire 3.30 (0.4) Chicago PD 3.07 (0.4)
Telemundo: Exatlon 1.06 (0.3), Hercai: Amor Venganza 1.37 (0.4)
Univision: Seleccion EE.UU 1.47 (0.5), Seleccion Mexicana 2.53 (1.0)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

A+E Networks has elevated Sharon Scott to the post of President of A+E Networks’ Unscripted Division. Scott joined A+E Networks in 2020, serving as Executive Vice President of Category 6 Media. “Sharon is a well-respected executive with a proven track-record of driving the creation of best-in-class unscripted programming across an expansive range of genres,” said Paul Buccieri, President & Chairman of A+E Networks Group.

FuboTV has appointed John Janedis as CFO. Janedis was previously senior equity analyst at Wolfe Research.

Sarah Finn has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Production, Disney Television Animation. Finn was most recently VP, Production.

Stuart Zimmerman has been named Executive Vice President, Ad Sales for Sony Pictures Television and GSN. Zimmerman has been EVP, US Advertiser Sales since 2008.

Vizio has hired Ben Sullins as VP Product Engineering and Oz Lang as VP Product Management. Sullins was formerly SpotXSVP, while Lang was Head of Adobe TV.

Elizabeth Herbst-Brady has been promoted to VP, Global Revenue & Client Solutions at Yahoo. Previously, Herbst-Brady oversaw the North American sales and global operations team.

Karen Meehan has been elevated to Chief Operating Officer at Off The Fence. Meehan had been Head of Production.

This Day in History
2004 – Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook.

Friday Fun Fact
Competitive art used to be an Olympic sport, with medals awarded for music, painting, sculpture and architecture.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which anthology series aired episodes including “The Toothpaste Millionaire,” “Which Mother Is Mine?”, and “The Terrible Secret”? “ABC Afterschool Special” (1972-1997). Kudos to: Rory Rosegarten-The Conversation Company/Manhasset, NY; Charles Lore/NYC; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; Louis Lewow-FITE/Atlanta; Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which series is based on the Japanese franchise, “Super Sentai”? (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