Friday February 12, 2021

Today’s Premieres
Disney+: “Inside Pixar”
FX: “Hip Hop Uncovered” at 9p
Hulu: “Into the Dark: Tentacles”
Netflix: “Nadiya Bakes,” “Buried by the Bernards”
Nick: “Are You Afraid of the Dark? Curse of the Shadows” at 8p
PBS: “Lidia Celebrates America” at 10p

Sunday’s Premieres
ABC: “American Idol” at 8p
Adult Swim: “Momma Named Me Sheriff” at midnight
CNN: “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” at 9p, “Lincoln: Divided We Stand” at 10p
discovery+: “90 Day Fiance: Lovers Collection,” “90 Day Fiance: Love Games,” “Talking Evil”
Fox: Cherries Wild” at 7p, “The Great North” at 8:30p
HBO: “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” at 11p
History: “The Food That Built America” at 9p
HLN: “Down the Hill: The Delphi Murders” at 10p
Netflix: “The Big Day”
Science: “Ancient Unexplained Files” at 9p
Starz: “Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and Graham” at 9p, “The Luminaries” at 9:30p
TLC: “Sister Wives” at 10p

Sunday’s Finales
HBO: “The Lady and the Dale: at 9p
Showtime: “Your Honor” at 10p

Monday’s Premieres
discovery+: “Aliens in Alaska”
Netflix: “The Crew”
Travel: “Bigfoot Alaska” at 10p

Monday’s Finales
AMC: “The Salisbury Poisonings” at 10p
Food Network: “Kids Baking Championship” at 9p
HBO: “30 Coins” at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Discovery Inc.’s Magnolia Network, a joint venture with “Fixer Upper” stars Chip and Joanna Gaines, will offer an expanded slate of originals on streamer discovery+ starting July 15, the same day the Magnolia app launches with over 150 hours of content. The Magnolia linear network, whose planned October debut was delayed by the pandemic, will take over DIY in January 2022. “Our plan has evolved along the way, but our original vision for this network has remained the same,” said the Gaineses. “It is our ongoing desire to create a space, whether in a streaming environment, or on linear television, where people who watch a show on our network leave feeling like it was time well spent.”

The Walt Disney Co. and ViacomCBS are the latest media companies to announce virtual upfront dates. Disney’s will take place May 18, followed the next day by ViacomCBS. Hulu, which in the past had a presentation during NewFronts, will be included with Disney’s properties.

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” has been canceled again. The comedy ran for five seasons on Fox, then was picked up by NBC. Season seven aired in spring 2020; a 10-episode eighth and pandemic-delayed final run will wrap during the 2021-22 broadcast season.

Publicis Groupe has introduced Le Truc, a NYC-based creative hub where employees across Publicis New York, Digitas, Razorfish, Rokkan, Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Media can participate in client projects led by Le Truc teams. Carla Serrano, Global Chief Strategy Officer of Publicis Groupe, will oversee the group as President, along with Elaine Barker, Managing Partner of Operations at Saatchi & Saatchi.

Fox Television Stations is introducing a new advertising service, FLX, that allows advertisers to purchase across linear Fox TV stations as well as OTT and CTV options. The service offers programming from Fox Entertainment, Fox News, Fox Sports, and Tubi. Fox’s partnership with the pre-buy planning platform MediaOcean has expanded to include the new FLX service.

Facebook gave itself a pat on the back with the release of findings from its fourth-quarter 2020 Community Standards Enforcement Report, showing significantly less objectionable content versus its third quarter report. The prevalence of hate speech and violent or graphic content declined 29%, and 36% for adult nudity.

Actress Gina Carano, who played Cara Dunne in Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” won’t be returning to the “Star Wars” spin-off anytime soon. “Her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable,” said Lucasfilm, which owns the show, after a series of posts by Carano had people using the hashtag “FireGinaCarano. Lucasfilm said Carano is “not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future.”

Lydia Hu is joining Fox Business Network as a New York-based correspondent, starting February 15. Since January 2018, Hu has worked as a general assignment reporter and enterprise storyteller for NY1 in New York.

Under Comcast NBCUniversal’s newly launched Plan Your Vaccine awareness campaign, Telemundo, will provide news, information and resources in Spanish, through Planifica Tu Vacuna, an interactive tool in Spanish to help Latinos plan for their COVID-19 vaccination. It’s the kick-off of Telemundo’s year-long company-wide initiative to raise awareness in the Latino community about the COVID-19 vaccines.

View the finalists of the Best of the Best and Rising Stars awards. Now it’s time to celebrate! Save your complimentary seat to the virtual gala and watch the winners announced live on Thursday, February 25, at 1 PM ET.

The search is on for the best and brightest in sports media and we need your help. Be a part of putting together the industry’s most recognized list of the best in sports media.

APPLY TO JUDGE

HBO Max handed an eight-episode order to comedy “Rap Sh*t”

(wt) from Issa Rae (“Insecure”), with Syreeta Singleton (“Insecure”) serving as executive producer and showrunner, and hip hop duo Yung Miami and JT of City Girls serving as co-executive producers. The series, following two estranged high school friends from Miami who reunite to form a rap group, will be executive produced by Rae and Montrel McKay (“A Black Lady Sketch Show”) for HOORAE, as well as Jonathan Berry (“Insecure”) and Dave Becky (“Master of None”) for 3 Arts Entertainment, along with showrunner Syreeta Singleton, with Rae also writing the pilot.

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (“Game of Thrones”) are producing “Overstory,” a series adaptation of the Richard Powers novel in development at Netflix. Richard Robbins wrote the pilot script and serves as executive producer, along with Bernadette Caulfield and Hugh Jackman. Powers serves as co-executive producer.

Soccer star David Beckam’s Studio 99 and Matador Content are teaming to produce a series about the feud between Adidas and Puma, founded by brothers who became bitter rivals. “We promise you’ll never look at your sneakers the same way again,” said Jay Peterson, President, Boat Rocker Studios, Unscripted, and Todd Lubin, President, Matador Content.

Production has started on Hallmark Channel romantic comedy, “As Luck Would Have It,” the network announced at TCA. Filming will take place entirely on location in Ireland, with JoAnna Garcia Swisher (“Sweet Magnolias,” “Once Upon a Time”) and Allen Leech (“Downton Abbey”) starring, and Clare Niederpruem (“Love on Iceland,” “The Christmas Bow”) directing.

Acorn TV has renewed “Agatha Raisin for season four, with three feature-length episodes and a winter special. Free@Last TV’s Barry Ryan and David Walton will continue to produce the series for Acorn TV with Catherine Mackin from Acorn Media Enterprises and Michele Buck from Company Pictures as executive producers; and produced in association with all3media international.

“Tooning Out The News,” the animated series executive produced by Stephen Colbert that debuted on CBS All Access, has been picked up for a second season by Paramount+. Half hour special “Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out The News” will premiere on Paramount+ the day the streaming service launches, March 4.

Religion of Sports is teaming up with Facebook to deliver “Simone vs Herself,” a docu-series about the life of superstar gymnast Simone Biles. The series will premiere in the summer of 2021 exclusively on Facebook Watch.

Advertising is the most potent cultural influencer available, and the planning process needs to evolve to include Black Owned Media continually. But how? Find out by attending our free webinar on February 23, where we will discuss strategies to implement a more inclusive industry. Register today!

Scout Productions and Vanity Fair Studios are teaming for a docu-series on Hillsong, based on a Vanity Fair expose on the church. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Scout to tell the definitive story of Hillsong,” said Radhika Jones, VF Editor-in-Chief. “It’s a classic Vanity Fair tale of aspiration and betrayal, powered by courageous voices speaking out.”

Andrew Barth Feldman (“Dear Evan Hansen”) and Asher Angel (“Andi Mack”) will guest star in the upcoming second season of the Disney+ Original series “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

ABC News is launching primetime newscast focused on Black life in America. The six-episode series, “Soul of a Nation,” will offer a window into realities of Black life, with each episode exploring a specific theme including spirituality, Black joy, activism in sports and the racial reckoning that erupted after George Floyd’s death. Jemele Hill, Marsai Martin and others are among the roster of special guest hosts.

HGTV renovation competition series “Rock the Block” returns Monday, March 8 at 9p, with host Ty Pennington refereeing as experts battling to maximize the value of identical houses, with six weeks and $225,000.

Season seven of Hallmark Channel’s “Good Witch” premieres Sunday, May 16 at 9p. Based on the “The Good Witch” movie franchise that is the most successful in the network’s history, the series stars Catherine Bell (“Army Wives,” “JAG”) and James Denton (“Desperate Housewives,” “Devious Maids”).

TBS’ re-imagined format of the extreme obstacle course series, “Wipeout” will premiere on Thursday, April 1 at 9p. John Cena (“Fast & Furious”) and Nicole Byer (“Nailed It!,” “Girl Code”) host, with Camille Kostek (Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Model 2019) serving as field host.

Genera+Ion debuts on HBO Max with three episodes on Thursday, March 11, continuing with two new episodes on March 18, two episodes on March 25 and one episode on April 1. An additional eight episodes comprising the second half of the season will debut later this year. The half-hour series follows a diverse group of high school students whose exploration of modern sexuality tests deeply entrenched beliefs in their conservative community.

Season five of “Saints & Sinners” premieres on Bounce Sunday, April 11 at 9p. Serving as a bridge to the new season is the drama’s first movie, “Saints & Sinners: Judgement Day,” airing Sunday, February 14 at 9p.

STREAMING

Disney+ hit 94.9 million subscribers in 4Q20, and ESPN+ nearly doubled the number of subscribers versus year-ago, with 12.1 million. Hulu rose 30%, to 39.4 million. Direct-to-consumer revenue in the quarter jumped 73%, to $3.5 billion.

Tubi, a division of FOX Entertainment, has expanded its “News on Tubi” offering in the US with the addition of nearly 80 24-hour, live local news feeds from major television station owners that include Cox Media Group, Hearst Television, Scripps and TEGNA. Including Tubi’s current offering of 17 Fox Television stations and Altice USA’s News 12 New York, Tubi will carry nearly 100 local station feeds in 2021, covering 58 designated market areas, with stations to be rolled out throughout the year.

Netflix is opening a new office in Canada, said Co-SEO Ted Sarandos in a blog post, noting the streamer has spent $2.5 billion in the country since 2017. “We want to build on that momentum and make a new home for Netflix in Canada – opening an office and hiring a dedicated content executive to work directly with the Canadian creative community,” Sarandos said. “We could only have dreamed in 2012 when our first original production began filming in Ontario (“Hemlock Grove”) what an important part of our business Canada would become.” Netflix already has a production hub in Toronto.

TECH TALK

Discovery Inc. and Snap Inc. have announced a new content and advertising partnership around the Olympic Games, showcasing discovery+ and Eurosport’s Games content and coverage, shared through a new Eurosport Olympics daily Show on Snapchat’s Discover platform. Spanning this summer’s Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the partnership will seek to grow and sustain engagement, as well as introduce new audiences to discovery+ and Eurosport’s sports content.

Video advertising platform SpotX announced a partnership with LG Electronics to serve as the primary supply-side platform throughout the US, EMEA, and Latin America. SpotX is also providing LG with demand facilitation services to connect media buyers with the OTT video inventory available on LG smart TVs and will give buyers the ability to purchase that inventory programmatically through the SpotX platform or the demand-side platform of their choice. “This global partnership signifies a growing trend of device manufacturers recognizing the power of owning the glass to not only manage content distribution and access but also aggregate unique audience data,” said Mike Laband, SVP, Platform at SpotX. “LG is in the best position possible right now to make the leap and expand its advertising business with programmatic, and we’re excited to collaborate with the team in any way possible.”

COMING UP

Hallmark Channel’s “Spring Fling” features five original movie premieres every Saturday night starting with “Chasing Waterfalls” (Saturday, March 20, at 9p), followed by “Breakup Bootcamp” (Saturday, March 27 at 9p), “One Perfect Wedding” (Saturday, April 3 at 9p), the aforementioned “As Luck Would Have It” (Saturday, April 10 at 9p) and “Right in Front of Me” (wt; Saturday, April 17 at 9p). Coming up on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries: “Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: How to Con a Con” (Sunday, March 18 at 8p) and “Mystery 101: Killer Timing” (Sunday, March 21 at 8p).

Discovery+ unveiled its feature documentary slate for the first half of 2021. Offerings for March include “The Walrus and the Whistleblower,” following the crusade to free a walrus, available starting March 4; “My Beautiful Stutter,” highlighting a group of children’s experiences at “Camp Say,” on March 11; “Groomed,” the story of woman who travels back to her home country to confront her past sexual abuse as a child, on March 18; and “Miracle Fishing: Kidnapped Abroad,” telling the story of a father, kidnapped in Columbia, via the family’s archival video footage, on March 25.

In honor of Black History Month, BET is partnering with Facebook Elevate to debut #GenBlack is Now, a digital series of fireside chats that pair young, Black entrepreneurs with the current generation of notable Black-owned business leaders. The series will premiere on BET’s Facebook page today, February 12, with new episodes releasing every Friday throughout Black History Month.

BritBox will premiere the latest installment of the “Up” series, “63 Up,” on March 9. Directed Michael Apted (who died last month at age 79), the documentary anthology series returns every 7 years to offer insight into the premise of whether or not our adult lives are pre-determined by our earliest influences and by the social class in which we are raised. The series debuted in 1964.

GOING GLOBAL

BBC World News has been banned from airing in China, one week after British media regulator Ofcom withdrew China Global Television Network’s license to broadcast in the UK. China’s National Radio and Television Administration claimed that BBC World News had broadcast reports on China that “infringed the principles of truthfulness and impartiality in journalism.” “China’s decision to ban BBC World News in mainland China is an unacceptable curtailing of media freedom,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement. “China has some of the most severe restrictions on media and internet freedoms across the globe and this latest step will only damage China’s reputation in the eyes of the world.”

HBO Max is scheduled to launch in late June in 39 territories across Latin America and the Caribbean, marking the first availability for the platform outside the US.

MGM’s International Distribution and Acquisitions division has sold the studio’s upcoming drama series “Clarice,” which just launched in the US on CBS, to France’s TF1, Italy’s RAI, Germany’s Seven.One Entertainment Group, STAN in Australia, Nordic Entertainment Group’s Viaplay streaming service in the Nordics and Russia’s More TV.

The Radfords, Britain’s biggest family, moves to Channel 5 in new series, “22 Kids and Counting.” The show will document the lives of Noel and Sue Radford, plus their 22 children and six grandchildren.

START’s “Sherlock: The Russian Chronicles” has been acquired by NHK Enterprises, the business arm of NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster. The series airs on AXN Mystery in Japan on Sunday, February 14.

Abacus Media Rights has secured the international distribution rights to Dan Reed’s new documentary feature, “In the Shadow of 9/11.” Commissioned by Channel 4 in the UK, the film is produced by AMOS Pictures, and has already been picked up by PBS’s Frontline in the US.

Orange Smarty has acquired a slate of new content through a string of development-stage investment deals with new and existing producer partners, including a new relationship with Whitworth Media for engineering series “Inside the Spitfire Factory.”

Hat Trick International has picked up rights for new celebrity game show format “TV Showdown,” a reboot of “Telly Addicts,” produced by Livewire Pictures.

rlaxx TV, an AVOD provider headquartered in Kiel, Germany, is bringing the comedy catalogue from Comedy Dynamics to the streaming service.

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Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Wednesday, February 10
Show, P2+ millions, (A18-49)
ABC: “The Goldbergs” 3.31 (0.6), “American Housewife” 2.64 (0.5), “The Conners” 2.20 (0.4), “Call Your Mother” 2.20 (0.3), “For Life” 1.50 (0.3)
CBS: “Tough As Nails” 3.49 (0.6), “SEAL Team” 2.23 (0.3), “S.W.A.T.” 2.00 (0.3)
CW: “Riverdale” 0.54 (0.1), “Nancy Drew” 0.46 (0.1)
FOX: “The Masked Dancer” 2.79 (0.6), “Name That Tune” 2.43 (0.5)
NBC: “Chicago Med” 7.29 (1.0), “Chicago Fire” 7.50 (1.0), “Chicago P.D.” 6.31 (0.9)
Telemundo: “Exatlon Estados Unidos” 1.13 (0.3), “La Suerte de Loli” 1.14 (0.3), “Buscando a Frida” 1.07 (0.3)
Univision: “Vencer el Desamor” 1.71 (0.5), “Imperio de Mentiras” 1.44 (0.4), “Dulce Ambicion” 1.43 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen, live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Discovery, Inc. announced that Selina Govan has been promoted to Director, Corporate Communications, APAC. Govan previously oversaw Corporate Communications for the company’s Australia and New Zealand business.

MTV Entertainment Group elevated Lance McPherson to EVP and Deputy General Counsel, Business and Legal Affairs, and Bahareh Kamali to EVP of Strategic Development.

Team One, Publicis Groupe’s integrated media, digital and communications agency, has brought on Jessica Sinn as Management Director of Growth. Sinn was most recently Director of Business Development at 72andSunny.

Beck Media & Marketing has promoted Tom McAlister to President and made him the company’s first-ever partner. McAlister rejoined Beck in 2014 as Managing Director to establish the agency’s Austin, Texas office

Lori Tavoularis has been promoted to Chief Revenue Officer/EVP Revenue Operations at Nexstar Inc. Tavoularis will oversee all revenue-related functions for Nexstar Inc.’s Digital Division, including national, local and programmatic sales and digital marketing services.

Friday Fun Fact
Mexico’s presidential palace is 14 times larger than the White House.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
In which series could a building be entered via a secret passage in Del Floria’s Tailor Shop? The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964-68). Kudos to: Pete Hazell-Discovery Communications Europe/London, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, DanWhitford-WTTW/Chicago, Marc Goldstein-Marc Goldstein Media Solutions/NYC, Sandy Spiegel-WTTW/Chicago, Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, Dave Sikula-San Francisco State University/San Francisco, Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Dan Haberer-Creo Entertainment/Playa dell Rey, CA, David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which talk show host created and produced medical drama “Strong Medicine” (2000-2006)? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four.)