WE HAVE THE PROOF
BREAKING OUT OF TRADITIONAL DEMOS BOOSTS BUSINESS…

ADULTS 55+ ARE TWICE AS LIKELY TO RECALL BRANDS AND MESSAGES FROM TV ADS VS. ADULTS 18-34

A+E NETWORKS HAS THE ADVANCED TARGETING TOOLS
TO UNLEASH OPTIMAL VALUE FROM YOUR MEDIA BUYS

HISTORY | A&E | LIFETIME | LMN | FYI | VICE ON TV
Source

Tuesday February 9, 2021

IN THE NEWS

TNT will give corporate cousin CW a promotional boost with the airing of an encore presentation of the “Superman and & Lois” premiere on Saturday, February 27 at 9p, followed by sneak peeks special “Superman & Lois: Legacy of Hope.” Leading into the rebroadcast, TNT will air a Superman feature film marathon. CW pays it forward on Friday, February 12 at 8p, with an encore presentation of the sixth episode of TBS’s new extreme competition series, “Go-Big Show.”

Facebook is putting more muscle into its attempts to fight COVID-19. Steps include expanding the kinds of false claims that will be removed from Instagram and Facebook, improving search results related to pandemic content, and providing $120 million in advertising credits to promote vaccine and preventative health information. In addition, “We’re providing training and marketing support to help governments and health organizations move quickly and reach the right people with the latest vaccine information,” said the company.

Twitter is exploring revenue streams outside of targeted advertising, including subscription products, according to Bloomberg. Sources say one idea under consideration is giving users the ability to pay people they follow for exclusive content, or “tipping.” Others include charging for services like Tweetdeck, or profile-customization options. “It’s important to note we are still in very early exploration and we do not expect any meaningful revenue attributable to these opportunities in 2021,” said Bruce Falck, Head of Revenue Products.

The AARP has added TV/streaming categories to its Movies for Grownups Awards. Nominees for Best Series include “Perry Mason,” “Succession,” “Ted Lasso,” “The Crown” and “This Is Us.” Up for TV Movie/Limited Series are “Mrs. America,” “Small Axe,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” “Unorthodox,” and “Watchmen.” “Today” host Hoda Kotbe will host the awards ceremony on Sunday, March 28 at 8p on PBS.

SUPER BOWL STATS

About three-quarters of the ad units in the Super Bowl were for paid ads; the balance were house ads used to promote ViacomCBS owned programming, according to MediaRadar. There were 29 house ads for ViacomCBS products, with upcoming streamer Paramount+ airing eight spots, or almost 30% of the house inventory. The next most frequent spot (five times) was for CBS’ new show, “The Equalizer,” which ran immediately after the broadcast..

The most-watched Super Bowl commercial on YouTube during game day was Amazon’s “Alexa’s Body,” featuring Michael B. Jordan. Number two was Jeep’s “The Middle,” starring Bruce Springsteen; Cadillac’s “ScissorHandsFree,” with Timothee Chalamet, came in third.

The social media conversation around Super Bowl ads was down year over year, according to ListenFirst. There were 46,490 Tweets mentioning the specific term Super Bowl Ad on February 7, which was a decrease of -61% from the 118,391 Tweets mentioning Super Bowl Ad on February 2, 2020. That’s despite the overall interest in the game going up on social media – ListenFirst counted 5,141,108 Tweets mentioning the Super Bowl on February 7, an increase of 9% from the 4,722,584 Tweets that mentioned the Super Bowl on the day of last year’s game.

Mediaocean looked at social-media engagement as a proxy for cross-channel impact and saw a big difference for brands that ran in-game versus those that sat out. In the month leading up to the game, brands that were booked for the Super Bowl had a combined TV social lift of 74%, versus 67% for brands that did not participate this year. The Robinhood stock trading app, which had been all over the news and social media the past couple of weeks, had 174% more engagement during the game than it did on average in all of January. Mediaocean’s takeaway? $5.5 million for 30 seconds during the Super Bowl might just be a bargain.

About a fifth of TV homes with Roku or Chromecast devices streamed the Super Bowl, according to TVision, versus Roku’s pre-game estimate of 42%. Amid fears of super-spreader events, co-viewing of the game dropped 20%, to an average 1.8 number of people in the room, versus 2.0 last year.

Have you seen the Best of the Best and Rising Stars finalists? Watch the winners named live at our virtual event on Thursday, February 25 at 1 PM ET. Register now.

The next step for addressing the social upheaval and need for African American inclusion in the multibillion-dollar advertising industry is to put accountability in place. In this webinar, a panel of CEOs (stay tuned for speaker updates) will discuss the changes needed to ensure economic equality for Black-Owned Media companies.

SAVE MY SEAT

Apple TV+ gave a straight-to-series order for live action/CGI blended series “Jane

,” from J.J. Johnson, Sinking Ship Entertainment and the Jane Goodall Institute. The family show follows a 10-year-old girl who works to protect endangered animals through pretend play.

HBO Sports Documentary series “100 Foot Wave” tells the story of surfing pioneer Garrett McNamara, who, after visiting Nazaré, Portugal in hopes of conquering a 100-foot wave, helped locals transform the small fishing village into the world’s preeminent big-wave surfing destination. The six-parter, executive produced by Chris Smith, Maria Zuckerman, Ryan Heller and Michael Bloom, will premiere this spring on HBO.

A US version of hit UK game show format “The Wheel” has landed a 10-episode series order on NBC. The show will be produced by Warner Horizon division and the original British creative team, Hungry McBear and Michael McIntyre, who hosts the UK version. “It’s incredibly rare in this day and age for a new show to become an unqualified smash hit overnight … let alone in the biggest territory in Europe,” said Mike Darnell, President of Warner Bros. Unscripted Television. “We are thrilled to be in business with Hungry McBear and our amazing partners at NBC, who immediately saw ‘The Wheel’s’ potential and picked it up within 24 hours of the pitch.”

An animated comedy set in mythical Greece, from Dan Harmon (“Rick & Morty”) and Fox animation studio Bento Box, got a series order from Fox. “We have a Fox Entertainment fully owned and financed animated show from Dan Harmon at the top of his game that Bento Box will produce, and it will be ours for the broadcast network and to stream on Tubi,” said Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier. The series, the first to move forward under the company’s broadcast direct model, is slated to launch in 2022.

MTV picked up a second season of “Ridiculousness” spin-off “Deliciousness,” which will return with host Tiffani Thiessen (“Alexa & Katie”). What’s with MTV’s appetite for the food show? The debut of “Deliciousness” during its weeklong stunt in December saw a 25% lift in its time slot versus the previous year’s average.

Amazon ordered an eight-part series based on YA novel series The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han, who will showrun with executive producer Gabrielle Stanton (“The Flash”). The project comes from wiip and Amazon Studios.

Swedish-language limited series “Beartown,” centered on a floundering community in Sweden pinning its hopes on a teenage hockey team, debuts Monday, February 22 at 9p on HBO.

Comedy Central, Color Of Change, and Define American have partnered with Yes, And… Laughter Lab on a comedy and social justice program to showcase diverse comedians. The competitive incubation lab, pitch program and showcase sources, trains, and builds industry and social justice networks for diverse comedy writers and performers creating new comedy, with a focus on BIPOC, immigrant, Muslim, LGBTQ, and female talent.

FX ordered a pilot for its adaptation of “The Spook Who Sat By the Door,” executive produced by Lee Daniels and written by Leigh Dana Jackson (“Raising Dion”). 20th Television is producing.

Christina Milian (“The Oath”) has stepped into the role originated by the late Naya Rivera in season three of Starz drama “Step Up.” “I know I have massive shoes to fill,” said Milian. “Naya was incredible. I hope to honor Naya, her family, friends and fans with a great performance.” Rivera drowned in a boating accident in July.

Casting notes: Curtiss Cook was elevated to series regular on Showtime’s “The Chi,” while Tabitha Brown (“Princess of the Row”) and Jason Weaver (“ATL”) have joined in recurring roles. Rob Delaney (“Catastrophe”), Alice Eve (“Entourage”) and Edwina Findley (“If Loving You Is Wrong”) are onboard the cast of Amazon global thriller “The Power” in recurring roles…Hannah Einbinder (stand up on “The Late Show”) and Carl Clemons-Hopkins (“Hamilton”) have been added to the cast of HBO Max’s untitled Jean Smart comedy, premiering this spring.

Gen Z media company Kyra has relaunched, streamlining its operations to focus on creating digital content around a talent management division, a content studio, and a media publishing business.

In today’s media world, you need to be on top of your game. It’s why we created the Cynopsis Membership Program, designed to provide you the education, networking opportunities, benchmarking, and exclusive discounts you need to be a leader in the industry.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” premieres on Disney+ on Friday, March 19. The Marvel Studios’ series stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson aka The Falcon, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier, who came together in the final moments of “Avengers: Endgame.”

Fox News Media contributor and former National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow will host a new program on Fox Business Network starting Tuesday, February 16, airing weekdays at 4p with an encore at 7p. Kudlow will examine headlines and business trends, with an emphasis on the financial impact facing households and businesses. “Fox Business Tonight,” until last week hosted by Lou Dobbs, will continue at 5p with rotating co-hosts “for the foreseeable future,” said the network.

Bravo’s “Top Chef” kicks off season 18 with a supersized premiere on Thursday, April 1 from 8-9:15p. Portland, OR will be the backdrop and culinary inspiration this time around.

Over at Newsmax TV, Rob Finnerty has been named anchor of new morning show “Wake Up America,” airing weekdays at 6:30a. Previously, Finnerty was an anchor and reporter at a CBS affiliate in Tampa.

VF Corporation, the apparel, footwear and accessories company, has partnered with Pattrn (sister brand to The Weather Channel) to launch a new digital media series that highlights the company’s solutions to address climate change. The five-part series, “Sustainable Solutions,” launches today on Pattrn’s social media channels.

COMING UP

During Black History Month, TBS will pay off the student loans of three HBCU alumni via TBS HBCU Cash Out. Collaborating with HBCU alumni Lance Gross and Keshia Knight Pulliam, the interactive social media contest, running through March 8, will award a grand prize of $25,000 to three different winners who share how attending a HBCU is helping them achieve their goals.

“Down the Hill: The Delphi Murders” premieres Sunday, February 14 at 10p on HLN. A new chapter of the podcast about the unsolved murders of two teenage girls in Indiana, the two-night event features on-site investigative reporting.

“The March on Washington: Keepers of the Dream” traces the Civil Rights Movement from the 1963 March on Washington to the summer of 2020. The documentary premieres Thursday, February 18 at 10p on National Geographic.

Thrillist has launched a new, year-long editorial initiative, “The Roaming 20s,” dedicated to a new era of travel sparked by the impact of COVID-19 and working remotely. “With ‘The Roaming 20s,’ we want to help our audience discover fresh and safe ways to seek adventure, immerse themselves in other cultures and inspire them with personal stories about finding life’s bright spots during a particularly difficult time,” said Meghan Kirsch, Chief Content Officer.

Feature documentary “Own the Room,” following five students competing in the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards in China, premieres Friday, March 12 on Disney+.

2020 Sundance selection “Beast Beast,” written and directed by Danny Madden (“Krista”) and executive produced by Alec Baldwin, premieres Friday, February 12 on Tubi. The film chronicles the lives and trauma surrounding three people living in a southern town.

Cozi TV celebrates Valentine’s Day on Sunday, February 14 with a 16-episode marathon of “The Office” focused on the cringe-worthy romances of Michael Scott (“Benihana Christmas,” anyone?), starting at 11a.

STREAMING

The Fox Now and Fox Nation apps are now on VIZIO SmartCast. SmartCast viewers can access live and on demand episodes of Fox shows, Fox Sports, local news from Fox’s 17 owned and operated stations, FS1, FS2, FOX News Channel and FOX Business Network, as well as Fox’s new programming service Fox Soul.

Cinedigm announced a content distribution partnership with Rockbot, the out-of-home streaming TV service, to distribute four Cinedigm video channels to Rockbot’s business-to-business streaming media network. “At Cinedigm we remain focused on extending the reach of our AVOD services and ad-supported television networks as widely as possible,” said Tony Huidor, GM of Cinedigm Networks. “We know the future of video streaming extends beyond the living room.”

GOING GLOBAL

Atlantyca Entertainment struck a partnership with streaming solution Future Today to distribute the first season animated series “Bat Pack” on HappyKids, Future Today’s flagship kids and family channel in the US, UK and Canada.

Sinking Ship Entertainment picked up the distribution rights to the BBC Children’s Productions’ series “The Demonic Headmaster,” based on the Gillian Cross book series. The sci-fi psychological thriller, aimed at kids aged 8-12, is a reboot of the UK series produced in the 1990s of the same name.

Apartment 11 optioned the rights for the children’s book series, Olga, by Montreal-based author Elise Gravel, to develop as an animated series. The project centers on a fierce, animal-loving child scientist.

9 Story Distribution International has acquired three new children’s series for international distribution: “Andy and the Band,” a live action, music-driven comedy from Three Arrows Media and Ninja Pig Productions; “Weird Waters,” a CGI animated series from Wayletta Productions, Meticulous Media and Moondog Animation Studio; and “Bad Nature” an animated/live action hybrid from Rebel Television.

The buzzer is sounding this Wednesday on your Sports Media Awards application.

This is your final chance to get on the industry’s most renown and referenced list for the elite players in sports media.

ENTER NOW

TV Time’s Shows on the Rise for the Week of Feb 1
Firefly Lane (Netflix) – 100%
Je te promets (TF1) – 95.5%
En thérapie (Arte) – 80%
The Bureau of Magical Things (Nickelodeon) – 73.5%
La Resistencia (Movistar+) – 72.1%
The Good Place (NBC) – 50.9%
Resident Alien (Syfy) – 45.7%
Your Honor (Showtime) – 43.7%
Given (Fuji TV) – 41.1%
To My Star (Viki) – 38.5%
Methodology: Every week, millions of viewers around the world use TV Time to track their favorite series. “Shows on the Rise” is calculated by determining the week-over-week growth in episodes watched for a given program.

Shareablee Top 10 TV Shows for the week of February 1
Program, Network, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
Riverdale (The CW Network), 5.7M, 43, 134K, 16.7M
Today Show (NBC), 2.5M, 1,022, 2,425, 13.8M
The Daily Show (Comedy Central), 2.3M, 119, 19,030, 27.6M
Hannity (Fox News) 1.8M, 310, 5,900, 10.2M
Entertainment Tonight (WB/syndicated), 1.7M, 635, 2,654, 9.2M
Saturday Night Live (NBC), 1.5M, 50, 29,692, 14.2M
Good Morning America (ABC), 1.4M, 908, 1,594, 14.3M
Ellen Degeneres (WB/Syndicated), 1.3M, 54, 24,195, 206M
Fox & Friends (Fox News), 1.3M, 88, 14,762, 4.6M
The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC), 944K, 72, 13,113, 13.3M

Shareablee Top 10 Streaming Shows for the week of February 1
Program, Platform, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
Cobra Kai (Netflix), 1.5M, 38, 39,825, 2.7M
Get Organized With The Home Edit (Netflix), 883K, 37, 23,858, 5.4M
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix), 627K, 7, 89,513, 2.8M
The Mandalorian (Disney+), 501K, 8, 62,599, 2.5M
Julie and the Phantoms (Netflix), 345K, 2, 172,511, 889K
Nanatsu No Naizai (Netflix), 284K, 55, 5,165, 710K
One Piece (Funimation), 278K, 7, 39,739, 3.4M
Sex Education (Netflix), 245K, 1, 244,935, 4M
Re:ZERO (Funimation), 212K, 38, 5,571, 384K
Black Clover (Funimation), 138K, 7, 19,735, 871K

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Friday, February 5
Show, P2+ millions, (A18-49)
ABC: “Shark Tank” 4.68 (0.8), “20/20” 4.00 (0.6)
CBS: “MacGyver” 5.16 (0.5), “Magnum P.I.” 5.70 (0.5), “Blue Bloods” 6.51 (0.5)
CW: “Whose Line Is It Anyway” 0.92 ( 0.2), “Whose Line Is It Anyway” 0.86 (0.1), “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” 0.83 (0.1)
FOX: “WWE Friday Night SmackDown 2.26 (0.7)
NBC: “The Blacklist” 3.44 (0.4), “Dateline NBC” 2.84 (0.5)
Telemundo: “Exatlon Estados Unidos” 1.05 (0.3), “La Suerte de Loli”1.06 (0.3), “Buscando a Frida” 1.00 (0.3)
Univision: “Vencer al Desamor” 1.57 (0.4), “Imperio de Mentiras” 1.58 (0.5), “Dulce Ambicion” 1.34 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

IN MEMORIAM

ESPN SportsCenter reporter Pedro Gomez died unexpectedly February 7. He was 58. “Pedro was an elite journalist at the highest level and his professional accomplishments are universally recognized,” said James Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN and. Sports Content. “More importantly, Pedro was a kind, dear friend to us all.”

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which sitcom character’s catchphrase was “Wellll, doggie!”? Jed Clampett on “The Beverly Hillbillies” (1962-71). Kudos to: Chris Fahey-ABC-TV/NYC, Barbara E. Bevel/Staten Island, NY, Jim DeBlasi-The Cue/NY, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, Joe Leydon-Cowboys & Indians Magazine/Houston, Beth Tallent-TallentPR/Nashville, Adam Sumrall-FETV/South Bend, IN, John Kukla-KDFW/Dallas, Miriam Falcon-BET/Royal Oak, MI, Cherie Wall-Sandbox Entertainment/Nashville, Tom Boyd-WGN/Chicago, Creed Heilskov-ImOn/Cedar Rapids, IA, Barry Wooley-Telepictures/Chciago, Dave Sikula-San Francisco State University/San Francisco, Gary Moglovkin-CBS TV Studios/Studio City, CA, Kevin Moran-Blarney Productions/Pasadena, CA, Sally J. Maisel-Wienermania/Van Nuys, CA, Eric Litt-Nexstar/Chicago, Beth Stockton-Spectrum Reach/Kansas City, KS

Today’s Trivia Question
Which actor played the father of main characters on “Providence” (1999-2002) and “Desperate Housewives” (2007-2008)? (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.)