Today’s Premieres
Fox Nation: Presidential Pooches with Dana Perino
Hulu: Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence
MTV: Ex on the Beach: Couples at 9p
Netflix: My Dad the Bounty Hunter; You
TBS/truTV: Impractical Jokers at10p
TV One: Asking for a Friend at 8p

Today’s Finale
Fox: Hell’s Kitchen at 8p

IN THE NEWS

Lots to digest at NBCUniversal’s third annual developer showcase, One23. The company unveiled new advanced targeting solutions, self-service technology offerings, commerce-enabled ad products and a new content quality measurement index. Announcements included first-party data partnerships, in-flight optimization for linear, and measurement solutions, with key partners including Amazon Web Services, Comscore, FreeWheel, Google Display & Video 360, GroupM/Choreograph, iSpot, KERV Interactive, Mediaocean, Roku, Xandr and more. NBCU is extending functionality of Must ShopTV and its NBCU Checkout platform with direct integration on Peacock, and rolling out programmatic access to live sports on the streamer.

Fox Corp. met analysts’ expectations for its fiscal second quarter with total revenue of $4.61 billion, up 4% from the year-ago period. Ad revenue rose 4%, with an assist from the World Cup and strong results at Fox Sports for NFL coverage, along with political spending at local Fox stations and streaming service Tubi, which saw ad revenue rise 25%. “Whether measured in terms of engagement, monetization or profitability, our focused strategy of live news and sports programming, coupled with our growing digital initiatives, continues to deliver,” said CEO Lachlan Murdoch.

Fox Corp. may have sworn off the idea of a merger with News Corp. after shareholders objected to the possible deal, but that doesn’t mean the company isn’t exploring other options. During the company’s earnings call, Murdoch said other deals are likely because “scale is important.” While Fox doesn’t have “anything on the table today,” he shared, “we are in a strong position to capture opportunities when they present themselves. And, obviously, there are other companies in our sector that are not in as great a position that we will cast our eyes over…We do expect that M&A will be a more important part of our toolkit.”

Disney revenue of $23.51 billion was up 8% for the quarter, beating analyst estimates of $23.37 billion, thanks to the company’s theme park business. But change is afoot. “After a solid first quarter, we are embarking on a significant transformation, one that will maximize the potential of our world-class creative teams and our unparalleled brands and franchises,” said CEO Bob Iger in an earnings call. “We believe the work we are doing to reshape our company around creativity, while reducing expenses, will lead to sustained growth and profitability for our streaming business, better position us to weather future disruption and global economic challenges and deliver value for our shareholders.” Revenue for Disney’s linear TV networks dipped 5% to $7.3 billion, and operating income decreased 16% to $1.3 billion. As for those expenses – Disney is looking for $5.5 billion in cost savings, including $3 billion in non-sports related content. Layoffs across the company are expected to affect 7000 jobs.

A reorganization at Disney will include three segments: Entertainment, run by Dana Walden and Alan Bergman; ESPN; and Parks, Experiences and Products. “Our new structure is aimed at returning greater authority to our creative leaders, and making them accountable for how their content performs financially. Our former structure severed that link, and must be restored,” said Iger.

Amid shifting economic winds, Warner Bros. Discovery has adjusted its plan to completely merge streaming services HBO Max and discovery+. Instead, discovery+ will remain available along with a new, higher-priced combination of the services debuting in the spring. According to reports, WBD grew concerned that consumers might not want to pay a higher price for a combined service.

How worried should the media industry be about President Biden’s call for limits on targeted advertising? “I don’t think it will be the end of the world for advertisers,” said Scott McDonald, President and CEO of the Advertising Research Foundation. “We’ve seen for decades that advertising works very well even with the lower precision of contextual targeting. And in the past few years the industry has been figuring out how to cope with data and signal loss from privacy and pandemic disruptions. New legislation may cause near-term harm to ad tech, but marketers can still make smart data-driven decisions using improved econometric and marketing mix models. You just don’t need as much granularity as is often supposed – especially if it causes people to think that you’re being creepy or doing some kind of sneaky surveillance.”

Bob Liodice, CEO of the Association of National Advertisers, was less sanguine, but not panicking. “Digital advertising funds most popular apps, websites, and services, and businesses of every size depend on such ads to reach new customers and grow, so we should make sure that any legislation is designed to address specific consumer harms and not out of a general antipathy toward any use of data,” he urged. “Our common goal should be to stop unreasonable and unexpected data practices while allowing beneficial practices that drive innovation, growth, and consumer benefit.”

Three in 10 advertisers expect their 2023 budget will be greater than in 2022, and 54% say they expect it to remain the same, according to data from Advertiser Perceptions. Additional findings from the analysis include:
* 59% of respondents said they were shifting budgets to higher-performing media, down from 65% who said the same in October 2022
* 43% said they were reallocating dollars to social media, versus 58% indicating so in October 2022. 29% said they were reallocating dollars to CTV, down from 30% in October, with 40% of agency executives saying so, compared to just 15% of marketers
* Two in five advertisers that gained market share of their category in 2022 reported increasing their ad budgets compared to plan, while most of those that lost market share cut ad budgets
* Traditional media channels remain the most vulnerable to macroeconomic-related budget cuts, with OOH, print and linear TV being the most vulnerable.

Univision News has enlisted Maity Interiano to join Leon Krauze as co-anchor of the late evening edition of its national newscast, “Noticiero Univision Edicion Nocturna,” airing Monday-Friday at 11:35p. Interiano makes her debut on Monday, February 13.

Antonia Gentry (“Ginny & Georgia”) and Haley Lu Richardson (“The White Lotus”) have been named Ambassadors for the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®. Gentry and Richardson will present on the show and provide viewers with behind-the-scenes access to the ceremony. The Ambassadors will also participate in various SAG Awards pre-show events. The awards will be broadcast live on Netflix’s YouTube channel on Sunday, February 26 at 8p.

Over 400 writers – Tina Fey, Alan Zweibel and Adam McKay among them – have signed a petition asking for MSNBC to negotiate a “reasonable first contract” with the WGA East for the news net’s writers and producers. “Our colleagues are fighting for what we all need – meaningful protections set forth in a collective bargaining agreement,” reads the petition. “We call on management to recognize the contributions of the Guild-represented employees at MSNBC by agreeing to a fair contract that includes the pay and protections they deserve.”

Investigation Discovery alum Kevin Bennett has joined forces with true crime producer Scott Weinberger, of Weinberger Media, to form Authentic Wave, a podcast hub dedicated to true crime. “For decades traditional broadcast and cable networks have enjoyed great success in the crime genre, especially with women 35-65 years old, along with incredible rates of retention,” Weinberger tells Cynsiders. “Podcasting is now seeing a similar boom; however, the demos are much younger, still women, but the average dips as young as 23-45. The NEW super sweet spot for advertising dollars.” For details on the venture, go here.

Marketing partners for Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl XIX,” simulcast for the first time across Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, TBS, HBO Max and discovery+ on Sunday, February 12 at 2p, include Pooch Perks, Bark Social, Val Pak, Southwest Airlines®, Grounds & Hounds Coffee Co., and Georgetown Cupcake. Additionally, Multi-Platform collaborations include opportunities for Puppy Bowl fans to interact with Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” WeRateDogs, Georgia Aquarium and LA-based animal shelter Paw Works.

2023 Sports Media Awards

SURPRISE! Entry Deadline Extended.

We would hate for you to lose out on the opportunity to validate your team’s hard work. We’ve extended our entry deadline for one week. Entries now officially close on February 16th at 11:59pm EST.

ENTER TODAY

PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis will star in a series based on Patricia Cornwall’s Kay Scarpetta books. Executive producing will be Cornwell, Curtis through her Comet Pictures and Kidman and Per Saari through Kidman’s Blossom Films, with Blumhouse’s Jason Blum, Chris McCumber and Jeremy Gold.

Apple TV+ has renewed “Tehran” for a third season and added Hugh Laurie (“House”) to the cast. Also boarding the Israeli spy thriller are Sasson Gabai, Bahar Pars and Phoenix Raei.

Conspiracy thriller “The Madness” scored a series order from Netflix. The drama from Chernin Entertainment stars Colman Domingo (“Selma”). “’The Madness’ is a fresh take on the conspiracy thriller — turning the genre on its head with its multi-layered characters, propulsive action and swift pace,” said Peter Friedlander, VP of Scripted Series, Netflix, US and Canada. “We are proud to have such a powerhouse team assembled to bring this dynamic story to life for Netflix viewers around the world, and to continue producing great entertainment with team Chernin.”

Prime Video has ordered an animated series based on the Wytches comic books, by Scott Snyder and Jock, from Plan B Entertainment, Project 51 Productions and Amazon Studios. “’Wytches’ fuses nail biting horror and evocative drama while unearthing the dark lore surrounding an ancient burrow of witches,” said Melissa Wolfe, Head of Animation, Amazon Studios. “Given the haunting and intimate nature of Scott and Jock’s well regarded comic series, we are looking forward to delivering their creative vision to our global audience and expanding our growing roster of animated series.”

Creation Entertainment Media and Magic Frame announced that writing and directing duo Tim Clague and Danny Stack will write for new kids’ animated series, “BuddyBots.” The show follows a group of robots and two teen protagonists chronicling their adventures in a sci-fi animated world.

INSP began production this month on an original series, “Elkhorn,” about Theodore Roosevelt’s time in the West. “This show is perfectly on-brand for INSP,” said Doug Butts, EVP of Programming for INSP. “As the leader in Western and Western-adjacent programming, we tell stories about people who brave the frontier to carve out a life and legacy, often with nothing more than grit and determination.” The series, produced for INSP by Morningstar Entertainment, is slated to premiere in 2023.

Kelly Hu (“The Orville”) has been added to the cast of CBS drama “East New York” in a recurring role.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Netflix action thriller “The Night Agent” kicks off March 23. The 10-parter focuses on a low-level FBI agent tasked with working to uncover a dangerous conspiracy.

“Houses with History” returns for a new season on Tuesday, March 7 at 10p on HGTV. The premiere episode will feature the restoration and renovation of an 1800’s historic home that was originally a potting shed.

WE tv docuseries “Grown & Gospel,” following five career-driven childhood friends searching for success in the Detroit gospel scene, makes its debut Thursday, March 16 at 9p.

Discovery’s “Homestead Rescue” is back Tuesday, February 28 at 8p. In the season premiere, Marty Raney attempts to help a family in Wyoming resurrect an inherited homestead with a tragic legacy, while unraveling the mystery of an unfinished well.

In a new custom branded content series hosted by retired boxing champion Laila Ali, Ancestry® and The History Channel profile women who made an outsized impact on history. The cross-platform content series is rolling out over the course of the month. “Our collaboration with Ancestry is especially fulfilling because it seamlessly marries each partners’ efforts to illuminate lesser-known history,” said Niki Mandell, VP Ad Sales Marketing Partnerships, A+E Networks.

TV One dating show “The One,” led by celebrity power couple Kirk and Tammy Franklin, will help singles struggling to find that special someone. The series joins TV One’s Date Night Thursdays on May 18 at 8p.

Season two of INSP’s “Into the Wild Frontier” premieres Wednesday, February 15 at 10p. This run focuses on Kit Carson.

Short-form series “El Colapso” (The Collapse), an adaptation of the French dystopian miniseries “L’Effondrement,” will premiere Friday, February 10 on ViX. The eight-parter explores the societal consequences of a complete collapse of a city’s financial, technological, political, and environmental systems.

COMING UP

Having run through Lust, Envy, Wrath and Greed, Lifetime continues its movie anthology series with “Pride: A Seven Deadly Sins Story.” Executive produced by T.D. Jakes, Derrick Williams and Shaun Robinson, and inspired by actual events, the movie centers on the story of a famous bakery owner and reality TV star, Birdie Moore (“Stephanie Mills”), whose past secrets threaten the success she has achieved. The film premieres Saturday, April 8 at 8p.

Allen Media Group’s “Byron Allen Presents the Comedy and Music Superfest” will be broadcast Saturday, February 11 at 8p on NBC. The two-hour special was taped in front of a live audience, with Rickey Minor as musical director. “It’s time to bring superstars back to prime-time network television on a regular basis,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “Celebrating and amplifying iconic comedy and musical entertainers is from the golden age of television, and long overdue for the whole family to enjoy together.”

Comedy Central has set dates for the next five guest hosts of “The Daily Show”: Hasan Minhaj the week of February 27; followed by Marlon Wayans; Kal Penn; Al Franken and the week of March 37, John Leguizamo.

FOX News Books will release its sixth title, The Love Stories of the Bible Speak, by “FOX News Sunday” anchor Shannon Bream, on March 28. The third installment of Bream’s biblical franchise, “The Love Stories of the Bible Speak,” will reveal new dimensions of the golden rule of Christianity: to love God and your neighbor.

“Coming Out for Love,” an LGBTQ dating competition series, will host a live event watch-party for viewers on Valentine’s Day. The official series run will begin on Saturday, February 18 with the re-airing of episode 1. “COFL” is distributed via a new referral model funneled through global streaming platform Lesflicks.com.

Turner Classic Movies announced that the fourth annual Robert Osborne Award, recognizing an individual who has helped keep the cultural heritage of classic film alive for future generations, will be presented to Donald Bogle. He’ll receive the award at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival prior to a screening of 1954s “Carmen Jones,” the film that ignited his fascination and analysis of Black artists in the movies.

STREAMING

Peacock is launching “Watch With,” a new product experience that allows fans to watch special episodes alongside talent, with real time reactions, live commentary, and Q&A. Directly following the season two premiere of “Bel-Air,” “Watch With” officially launches with Jabari Banks + Olly Sholotan on February 24 at 9p. The feature will soon extend to “Eurovision” with two-time Olympian and NBC correspondent Johnny Weir, and “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” with Candiace Dillard Bassett and Marysol Patton.

Atlantyca Entertainment has extended its relationship with Future Today, which will now distribute the first season of Atlantyca’s spy-action animated series “Berry Bees” and the second season of the scary-comic adventure “Bat Pat” on its flagship kids and family-channel, HappyKids.

SPORTS ROUNDUP

Sixty-four percent of Americans plan on watching the commercials during the Super Bowl broadcast, according to a survey from Big Village. Additional findings from the report include:
· 67% of Americans usually do what they can to avoid commercials during normal television viewing, but make a special exception to watch Super Bowl advertising.
· 63% of Americans look forward to the ads during the Super Bowl broadcast more than the game itself.
· 61% of Americans like to seek out the ads after the game via YouTube and other social media platforms.

Sports streaming group DAZN landed the rights to stream NFL games for 10 years, as the exclusive home of the NFL’s Game Pass International (GPI) service. Included are the playoffs, regular season and post season games, including the Super Bowl, starting with the 2023 season. “Our goal has always been to make our games available to as many fans as possible, and we are confident that DAZN’s innovative viewing experience technology will best serve millions of viewers around the world while also engaging a new generation of international NFL fans,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Streamer BLK Prime has added The Athlete’s Foot as a sponsor for the Adrien Broner vs. Michael Williams Jr fight. The PPV bout takes place February 25.

IMPACT Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling will co-produce a live pro wrestling show on Thursday, March 30, at the Globe Theater in LA with stars from both promotions in-action and numerous first-ever matches confirmed. The show, “Multiverse United: Only the STRONG Survive,” will air live on pay-per-view on fite.tv at 11p.

TECH TALK

Cadent, an independent platform for advanced TV advertising, is partnering with consumer data platform Affinity Solutions to help advertisers looking to implement campaigns across audiences who purchase specific brands or categories. “Our partnership with Affinity Solutions allows customers of Aperture Platform to optimize the impact of their data-driven campaigns,” said Tony Yi, EVP Business Development and GM Platform, Cadent. “We want to help brands engage the right consumers by leveraging the deepest available audience insights.”

On the heels of Google’s introduction of its search conversational bot Bard, built in AI, came Microsoft’s announcement that it has partnered with ChatGPT maker OpenAI to add more advanced AI conversation models to power updates to Bing and the Edge browser. The company unveiled the new technology at an event at its headquarters in Redmond, WA, during which Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella noted, “It’s a new day in search.” The latest version of the Bing search engine will use an updated ChatGPT technology known as the Prometheus Model.

Baidu also had AI news, reporting it will launch a ChatGPT-life bot next month. The service will be available as an app before being integrating into Baidu’s search engine.

As advertisers diversify buys across linear, CTV, and digital, internal silos between digital and traditional channels also seem to be breaking down, with 80% now buying converged TV through a centralized team, according to a new report from Innovid. Key findings include:
· Goals for converged TV buys span reach and performance. The top goals for converged TV were 1) audience targeting; 2) reach/incremental reach; and 3) outcomes.
· A unified view of converged TV reach and performance is needed, but remains a challenge. While the way measurement was done differed widely by respondent, what was being measured was increasingly aligned, with 45% measuring the same KPIs across linear, CTV, and digital. The top KPIs for converged TV were online outcomes (86%), offline outcomes (57%), and brand reach (43%).
· Creative strategies are still rooted in the linear 60-second spot, but starting to evolve along with converged TV. Personalization at scale (48%) and interactivity at scale (35%) ranked as high creative priorities in 2023 for all respondents.

GOING GLOBAL

Dandelooo’s partner studio Ooolala, published on its website the company’s complete carbon footprint for the year 2022. Launched in 2018, Ooolala was designed from its inception to develop a sustainable approach to guarantee a very low footprint for any producer willing to reduce its impact on the planet.

Red Arrow Studios International is launching a new adventure dating show called “Stranded on Honeymoon Island,” in which couples are marooned on a deserted island and left to fend for themselves for two weeks. Created by Snowman Productions, the series has been commissioned by VTM2 in Belgium and will air in March. The production company is PIT.

Video Solutions AG, the media company that owns and operates wedotv AVOD and FAST channels, has completed a multi-platform launch in Italy for its wedo movies and wedo big stories FAST channels and direct-to-consumer platform wedotv. The launches mark the first time the company has expanded outside its initial launch territories of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the UK.

Paris-based distribution company Superights has added “I Love This Job,” produced by Polish company Animoon, to its catalogue.

2023 Measurement & Data Conference

Where do you think cross-platform measurement is headed in 2023?

Attend Cynopsis Measurement & Data Conference to find out! Join us on June 13-14, 2023 in NYC for this two-day program of in-depth conversation and actionable insights led by industry experts.

LEARN MORE & REGISTER NOW

RATINGS

President Biden’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday delivered 23.4 million viewers, according to early Nielsen data, down from 32.3 million last year. Fox News drew the most viewers in all of television for its coverage, averaging 4.57 million viewers from 9-10:30p on Tuesday. ABC placed second with 4.41 million, followed by 3.78 million for NBC. ABC was tops in the 25-54 demo.

Syfy had its most-watched premiere in two years with “The Ark,” which delivered 1 million total viewers in Live+3 Nielsens. The sci-fi series also drew the largest A18-49 audience since “Chucky” arrived in 2021.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Monday, January 30
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Will Trent 2.56 (0.3), The State of the Union 4.41 (0.6)
CBS: FBI 3.93 (0.3), CBS News: State of the Union 3.56 (0.4)
CW: The Winchesters 0.32 (0.1), The Winchesters 0.29 (0.1)
FOX: 9-1-1: Lone Star 3.80 (0.5), Fox News Special: State of the Union Address 1.66 (0.3)
ION: Chicago Fire 0.92 (0.1), 1.10 (0.1), 1.13 (0.1)
NBC: Night Court 4.23 (0.6), American Auto 2.09 (0.3) NBC News Special: State of the Union 3.78 (0.6)
Telemundo: La Casa de los Famosos 1.02 (0.3), El Estados de la Nacion 0.84 (0.2)
Univision: Vencer la Ausencia 1.34 (0.3), Noticias Univision Presenta: Estado de la Union 2023 1.08 (0.3)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXCUTIVE MOVES

Change is ahead at Amazon’s Prime Video international business. Starting in April, Barry Furlong, VP of Prime Video Europe at Prime Video, will add Africa and Middle East businesses to his purview, and will lead EMEA. Gaurav Gandhi will oversee the APAC region, adding Japan and South East Asia to his role for India, and Sushant Sreeram, Director – SVOD Business, will become Prime Video Country Director for India.

Cowshed Collective, formerly known as Cowshed Social has rebranded and reorganized its business into four divisions and appointed Maryam Hamizadeh as Chief Business Officer. Hamizadeh will also lead the Cowshed Creator and Ventures divisions, developing talent, commercial, talent led branded content and IP.

DigitalReef has named Kelyn Brannon as CFO. Brannon has served as Executive Vice President, CEO, and CFO of a variety of national and international companies.

Connor Thinnes has joined Pixellot as VP of Sales in North America. Thinnes was previously VP of Marketing at Home Town Ticketing.

This Day in History
1861 – Tennessee voted against secession.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which business-focused reality competition had a dating reality show spin-off featuring one of the contestants from the original show? 2010’s “Donald J. Trump Presents the Ultimate Merger,” spun off from “The Apprentice” (2004-17), starred Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth. Kudos to: Aaron Paquette-AccelerateSG/Fort Worth, TX; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; Scott Jenkins-Gracenote/Queensbury, NY; LaKendra Kennedy-Sinclair Broadcast Group/Baltimore; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which short-lived series co-starred Helen Hunt and Megan Mullaly? (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