Tonight’s Finale
Cooking Channel: The Best Thing I Ever Ate at 9p
For streaming TV premieres, go here.

IN THE NEWS

ViacomCBS is reportedly considering creating a new ad-supported streaming service that would combine assets from CBS All Access, Pluto TV, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures. An ad-free version would also be available, as well as a premium package including Showtime, sources told CNBC. More is expected to be shared during the company’s earnings call on February 20.

On Saturday, CBS News President Susan Zirinsky said the network “fully support[s] Gayle King and her integrity as a journalist.” The day before, Oprah Winfrey told Today hosts that her good friend, CBS This Morning co-anchor King, “now has death threats and has to now travel with security,” following an interview with former WNBA star Lisa Leslie during which King asked about the 2003 sexual assault case against the late Kobe Bryant. “We find the threats against her or any journalist doing their job reprehensible,” Zirinsky told the Associated Press. On February 6, King said the clip from the Bryant interview was taken out of context.

Consumer spending on media rose 4.3% in 2019, according to PQ Media, reflecting the ongoing shift from ad-supported to consumer-supported business models. Global per capita spending on media increased to $337.22 in 2019, up 3.5% from the year prior.

HBO Max is close to a deal with Warner Bros. Television for a Friends reunion special, complete with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, reports Deadline. Friend-of-Friends Ellen DeGeneres is reportedly a top contender as host the nonscripted event. The one-hour show would help kick off the upcoming streamer, which will be home to the Friends library.

On Sunday, an animated series from Grammy winner John Legend started rolling out on Facebook. “To celebrate this Valentine’s Day, we reached out, asked for stories of love and family and friendship, and we got letters from all around the globe,” said Legend. “Telling tales full of heart, and hope and inspiration and hilarity.” Episodes of Dear John: Legendary Love Letters drop daily on Legend’s Facebook page through February 14.

The X Factor is taking a break in the UK. Originally slated to broadcast its final season on ITV this year, the reality competition produced by Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment and Thames Television will rest until 2021, allowing the format to be reassessed and refreshed.

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BBC host Michael McIntyre will star in a stand-up special for Netflix, taped at the London Palladium on March 5 and 6. Hungry Bear Media is producing.

CBS ordered two drama pilots: Good Sam, from Katie Wech (BH90210), Jennie Snyder (Jane the Virgin) and Snyder’s Sutton St. Productions, centered on a female surgeon; and Out the Door, from Evan Katz (24) and Jerry Bruckheimer Television, about an LAPD detective eager to retire. Studio for both is CBS Television Studios.

Call for submissions: To be included in the Cynopsis Upfronts Online Navigator, the go-to resource for buyers and planners during the 2020 Upfronts season, please submit the dates/times/locations of upfront events (if no events are planned, include a tagline or up to 25-word mission statement) and logo by March 1 to [email protected]. For sponsorship opportunities, contact [email protected].

Top 10 Weekend Domestic Box Office Estimates: February 7-9
Birds of Prey (Warner Bros.) $33.3 million, opening weekend
Bad Boys for Life (Sony) $12.0 million (week 4) cume revenue $166.3 million
1917 (Universal) $9.0 million (week 7), cume revenue $132.5 million
Dolittle (Universal) $6.7 million (week 4) cume revenue $63.9 million
Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony Pictures) $5.5 million (week 9), cume revenue $298.5 million
The Gentleman (STX) $4.2 million (week 3), cume revenue $26.9 million
Gretel & Hansel (United Artists) $3.5 million (week 2), cume revenue $11.5 million
Knives Out (Lionsgate) $2.4 million (week 11), cume revenue $158.9 million
Little Women (Sony) $2.3 million (week 7), cume revenue $102.7 million
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (Walt Disney) $2.2 million (week 8), cume revenue $510.5 million
Source: Comscore

Cynopsis is shining the spotlight on female leaders and changemakers in media, marketing, digital, social content, content marketing, data analytics, mobile and more. At the Cynopsis Top Women in Media Awards, we’ll celebrate not just the C-suite execs but also the many leaders, doers, and organizers who make it all happen. Click here to nominate.

TECH NEWS

A number of ad tech companies “have made interpretation of data files very messy indeed,” said Jane Clarke, CEO/Managing Director of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, necessitating standard data formats for advertising campaigns. The that end, CIMM, Ad-ID, Advertising Research Foundation, IRI and Kantar are launching a joint initiative to focus on cross-platform measurement, aimed at helping companies that are experiencing challenges synthesizing metadata for campaigns across DMPs, DSPs, ad exchanges and agencies. The news was announced at CIMM’s Cross-Platform Video Measurement and Data Summit.

While 3 out of 4 marketers believe automation and AI will affect branding, they’re divided about whether it will help or do harm in the long run, according to the “2020 State of Branding” report from Bynder. Fifty-six percent of respondents believe AI capabilities will negatively impact their branding efforts in 2020, either by diminishing creativity, eliminating jobs or producing less brand differentiation. Twenty-four percent believe AI will have a positive impact, while 23 percent believe branding cannot be automated at all. Marketers also expressed concern about new challenges accompanying the rise of tech-enabled branding, including skills gaps, data overload and more. “Marketing organizations readily adopted technology for analytics, digital channels and other functions that clearly benefit from automation” said Andrew Hally, SVP of Global Marketing at Bynder. “The challenge ahead is to harness emerging technologies like AI to maintain creative excellence while satisfying business demand for growing volumes and faster delivery.” For more, go here.

STREAMING SNIPPETS

February 9 was the first official National Cut the Cord Day, a holiday engineered by Sling TV in partnership with National Day Calendar. Sling TV is using the occasion to celebrate its five year anniversary, with deals available through tomorrow, February 11.

North American kids streaming platform Ameba TV has partnered with Australian Children’s Television Foundation to stream a selection of their children’s content, including: Hoopla Doopla, Lockie Leonard, Bushwacked Series 2, Worst Year of My Life Again and Wacky World Beaters.

COMING UP

A+E Networks offered more details on its live speaker series, HISTORYTalks, which launches Saturday, February 29 in NYC and feature a session with President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush in conversation with presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Additional conversations will include Billie Jean King, Padma Lakshmi, Gloria Steinem, Ronan Farrow, Trevor Noah and more.

A new iteration of Brain Games is airing Mondays on Nat Geo, with host Keegan-Michael Key testing the brain power of celebrities like Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell, Tiffany Haddish, Jack Black, Ted Danson and Rebel Wilson and more. Geoff Daniels, EVP, Global Unscripted Entertainment at Nat Geo, explains why the new version is the most mind-blowing yet, in Cynsiders.

CASTING

Chris Wood (Supergirl) has joined the cast of ABC sequel pilot thirtysomething(else)…Sam Claflin (Peaky Blinders) landed the male lead opposite Riley Keough in Amazon’s upcoming Daisy Jones & The Six…Lindsay Morgan (The 100) will play the female lead opposite Jared Padalecki in CW’ The Walker.

Contact Cynopsis today to get a jump on the competition & reach your target audience in this highly-engaging environment!

The premiere of CBS’s Tommy on Thursday grew its 10p timeslot by over 1.5 million viewers, versus the season finale of Evil.

Fox boasted TV’s highest-rated week in three years in Live+3 Nielsens the week of January 27, powered by Super Bowl LIV, the season three premiere of The Masked Singer and 9-1-1: Lone Star. In its post-Super Bowl perch, The Masker Singer delivered 9.1/40 and 26.7 million viewers (28.6 multi-platform viewers), television’s #1 entertainment telecast in two years and the highest-rated and most-watched reality telecast in eight years. Additionally, it was FOX’s #1 entertainment telecast in six years, since New Girl’s 2014 post-Bowl telecast.

Friday’s Democratic debate on ABC delivered 7.9 million viewers, up from the 7.4 million who watched last month’s event on CNN, but down from the first Dem debate, which drew 15.3 million viewers on its first night and 18.1 million on its second on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Thursday, February 6
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Station 19 5.92 (0.9), Grey’s Anatomy 5.48 (1.1), Million Little Things 3.73 (0.7)
CBS: Young Sheldon 8.98 (1.0), Unicorn 606 (0.7), Mom 6.33 (0.7), Carol’s Second Act 4.76 (0.5), Tommy 4.81 (0.4)
CW: Katy Keene 0.62 (0.2), Legacies 0.63 (0.2)
FOX: Last Man Standing 3.98 (0.7), Outmatched 2.66 (0.6), Deputy 3.50 (0.6)
NBC: Brooklyn Nine-Nine 2.66 (0.7), Brooklyn Nine-Nine 1.99 (0.5), Will & Grace 2.35 (0.5), Indebted 2.11 (0.4), Law and Order: SVU 3.25 (0.6)
UNIVISION: Ringo 1.60 (0.5), Amor Eterno 1.68 (0.5), Rubi 1.47 (0.5)
TELEMUNDO: Exation Estas Unidos 1.33 (0.4), La Dona 0.88 (0.3 `q
Source: Nielsen, live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Kantar hired Cam Baskey as Vice President, Client Leadership, to lead growth for Kantar’s CX and CX+ business in Canada. Baskey brings experience on both the client and research agency sides of the industry, including with BMO and Maritz CX.

DreamWorks Animation announced the streamlining of executive leadership within its TV division under Teri Weiss, EVP of Development, and Kelly Kulchak, EVP of Current Programming. Prior to these appointments, preschool series and kids and family programming were divided as separate development and current departments, with Weiss previously serving as EVP of Preschool Development and Current Series and Kulchak as EVP of Current Programming for kids series.

IN MEMORIAM

Actor Robert Conrad died February 8 of heart failure. He was 84. Conrad was best known for his roles in The Wild Wild West, Baa Baa Black Sheep and Hawaiian Eye.

Comedian Orson Bean died Friday, February 7 after being fatally struck by two cars in LA. He was 91. In addition to acting roles on Broadway and in film, Bean appeared in numerous television shows, most notably as a panelist on game shows like To Tell the Truth and Match Game.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Although Matthew Brock worked as a reporter on NewsRadio (1995 to 1999), what did the character hold a degree in? Dentistry. Kudos to: Rev. Mark Wajda/Lakeland, FL, Jim Ryan-A+E Networks/NYC, Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, Cammie Buerry-On Target Media/Las Vegas, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank, David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA,

Today’s Trivia Question
How long were episodes of TV’s first network news program? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four.)