A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM THE WALKING DEAD

The Walking Dead Final Season Returns

Part 2 of the epic final season of The Walking Dead is back. Stream new episodes early with AMC+ or tune-in Sundays 9/8c on AMC.

For more visit amcplus.com/twdu

Today’s Premieres
Disney+: The Proud Family: Prouder and Louder
FX: Snowfall at 10p

Today’s Finale
Food Network: Worst Cooks in America at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Syndicated daytime talker “The Wendy Williams Show” will end with its current 13th season. “Sherri,” hosted by Sherri Shepherd (“The View”), will inherit the timeslot on the Fox Television stations. Williams has been out all season with health issues, with guest hosts – including Shepherd – filling in. “Sherri” comes from Debmar-Mercury, producer/distributor of “The Wendy Willams Show”; David Perler will continue in the role of EP and showrunner. “Since Wendy is still not available to host the show as she continues on her road to recovery, we believe it is best for our fans, stations and advertising partners to start making this transition now,” said Debmar-Mercury Co-Presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein. “We hope to be able to work with Wendy again in the future, and continue to wish her a speedy and full recovery.”

No hard feelings from Williams, according to her spokesperson. “She, more than anyone, understands the reality of syndicated television – you can’t go to the marketplace and sell a show that’s the ‘Maybe Wendy Show’,” said Howard Bragman. “She understands why this decision was made from a business point of view, and she has been assured by Debmar-Mercury that should her health get to a point where she can host again and should her desire be that she hosts again that she would be back on TV at that time.”

AMC Networks has created “Avenue,” a division built to help advertising and marketing partners reach diverse and underrepresented audiences through association with AMC Networks’ programming, talent, relationships, reach and scale. “Connecting with, recognizing, celebrating and elevating these diverse audiences and communities is a focal point of so many of our conversations with partners today,” said Kim Kelleher, President of Commercial Revenue and Partnerships for AMC Networks. “We built ‘Avenue’ to maximize our partners’ impact as these conversations and our collective commitment and progress around representation and inclusion continue to expand.” A discussion series launched a year ago to create conversations is also being expanded as a full series that will be produced as part of the “Avenue” initiative. Hosted by Jordan Carlos, “Can We Talk About This?” will become a long-form series featuring talent, creators and cultural influencers.

TEGNA has reached an agreement to be acquired by Standard General for $5.4 billion. “This transaction is the next step in TEGNA’s evolution and recognizes the value of our portfolio of leading broadcast assets and innovative digital brands,” said Dave Lougee, President and CEO of TEGNA. Following the close of the transaction, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, Deb McDermott, currently CEO of Standard Media, will become CEO and Soo Kim, Founding Partner of Standard General, will serve as Chairman of the Board. TEGNA owns 64 US television stations, as well as Quest, True Crime and Twist networks.

Nexstar Media Group beat analysts’ estimates for 4Q21 with total revenue of $1.245 billion. That’s 10% less than the same period last year, but excluding political advertising revenue, net revenue was up 14%. Full year revenue hit a record $4.6 billion.

Netflix has canceled space drama “Another Life” after two seasons. “I wish we could do more seasons but sadly it’s just not in the cards,” tweeted series star Katee Sackhoff.

Ninety-eight percent of consumers plan to make at least one purchase through social media in 2022, according to Sprout Social. Gen Zers anticipate using networks like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTOk, while older shoppers lean toward Facebook and Pinterest. DEI alert: Overall, 60% of those surveyed said they are more likely to purchase from brands that highlight inclusivity.

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories and Kristen Campo have acquired the rights to Jean Hanff Korelitz’s upcoming novel The Latecomer to adapt as a limited series. Set to publish in May 2022 , the darkly comedic story follows a fractured family. Hanff Korelitz will executive produce alongside Papandrea and Made Up Stories’ Steve Hutensky, and Casey Haver and Campo in partnership with Endeavor Content.

Fred Rogers Productions has received grants from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and Heinz Family Foundation. The combined funding totals $350,000 to support onscreen programming and community outreach initiatives for “Alma’s Way” and “Donkey Hodie,” which launched in 2021 on PBS KIDS.

CBS News White House producer Fin Gómez has been named political director for CBS News. “As we look to the 2022 midterms and the 2024 election, we’re bringing together a powerhouse political team of correspondents, reporters and producers at CBS News who are committed to providing quality, comprehensive campaign coverage across our broadcast and streaming networks,” said President and Co-head of CBS News and Stations Neeraj Khemlani.

Former production associate Ashan Singh has been promoted to multi-platform reporter at ABC’s “Nightline.” Singh was most recently an on-air contributor and segment producer.

Casting notes: Michael Chiklis (“Gotham”) will star in the first episode of Fox crime anthology series “Accused”…Ashley Reyes (“How I Met Your Father”) has joined CW’s “Walker” as a series regular. The drama’s former female lead, Lindsey Morgan, left in December for personal reasons….Emmy Rossum (“Shameless”) landed the lead opposite Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried in Apple TV+ anthology series “The Crowded Room.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Season two of “The Snoopy Show” hits Apple TV+ Friday, March 11. Peanuts specials on the way include “It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown” on Friday, April 15, and “To Mom (and Dad), With Love” on Friday, May 6.

Also coming back for a second season, on Friday, May 6, is “The Wilds.” The YA drama returns to Prime Video with the continuing tale of teens stranded on a desert island.

HLN’s “Forensic Files” is back for season three on Sunday, February 27 at 10p. “This season we feature some amazing advancements in DNA technology that are now being applied to crime solving, including a technique that was used to identify the victims of 9/11,” said Paul Duffy, SVP, Program Development at CNN. “The forensic tools featured in every episode are what differentiates ‘Forensic Files’ from all other crime shows.”

Guilty pleasure “Siesta Key” returns for more of season four on a new night, Thursday, March 10 at 9p on MTV.

COMING UP

Angie Harmon (“Rizzoli & Isles”) stars in Lifetime movie series “Buried in Barstow,” premiering Saturday, June 4 at 8p. The first installment features Harmon as a single mother and former hit woman.

“Megaphone for Conspiracy: The Alex Jones Story” airs Sunday, February 27 at 9p on CNN. The special explores the far-right radio host’s rise from the fringes of public access television to a media empire.

In a “Hamilton” reunion, Daveed Diggs, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr. will open the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony, simulcast Sunday, February 27 at 8p on TNT and TBS.

TECH TALK

Clinch has launched SaaS platform Flight Control, aimed at simplifying the process of managing complex campaigns. Advertisers can unify personalized campaigns across multiple channels in one platform, managing strategy, planning, creative, trafficking, mid-campaign and post-campaign analytics. “Flight Control is a representation of what Clinch has always sought to do with creative personalization from the client perspective, which is to simplify the logic-building that enables successful DCO campaigns across all channels,” said Oz Etzioni, CEO of Clinch. “It’s no secret that until now, the process of planning, activating and then measuring campaign performance has introduced almost as much friction into campaigns as it is intended to solve.”

Facebook Reels is rolling out to over 150 countries. The TikTok-like feature, which debuted on Instagram in 2020, will include creative tools to help creators monetize their Reels through advertising. The company is expanding tests of Facebook Reels Overlay Ads to all Reels creators in the US, Canada and Mexico, with more to come by mid-March.

Magnite unveiled Live Stream Acceleration, a technology designed to help publishers more effectively monetize their supply, ensuring that ads are served in a timely manner without burdening their technical infrastructure. LSA regulates queries per second from elevated audience spikes, resulting in less throttling and more fill. A key benefit for advertisers is that they can address more actionable supply, with a greater likelihood that their ad will serve as a result of LSA.

Havas Group has acquired UK digital experience agency Inviqa. The agency will merge with Havas CX agency ekino in London, but the brand will be retained and run by founder Yair Spitzer. “As the world begins to transition out of the pandemic, customer experience continues to represent one of our biggest growth opportunities,” said Havas CEO Yannick Bollore.

Sling TV is now accepting cryptocurrencies for monthly subscription payments. Blockchain payment provider BitPay is processing the payments for holders of Sling accounts opened using US currency.

STREAMING

Netflix struck a deal with the French film industry that cuts the wait time for streaming movies from 36 months to 15 months after their theatrical release. In return, Netflix has agreed to invest a minimum of $45 million in at least 10 local films per year to be released in French cinemas. “This agreement is a new step towards our virtuous integration in the unique French cinema ecosystem,” said a Netflix spokesperson. “It reflects both our constructive contribution to the AVMS negotiation process and our commitment to be part of the French cultural exception.”

Fox Soul announced a joint partnership with HBCU Buzz, servicing the 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, on the launch of their HBCU Screening Room Pitch Contest. Each week, Fox Soul premieres an hour long program that contains short films by young Black filmmakers, followed by an interview. Students can enter the HBCU Screening Room Pitch Contest by submitting a 1-minute video to discuss their film concept.

GOING GLOBAL

TLC format “Say Yes to the Dress” will have its 10th local version in Dubai. Discovery promises “ground-breakiung storylines with intercultural and inter-religious couples.”

Quintus Studios announces a new factual co-financing initiative designed to streamline the development and fundraising of factual series. Following a virtual project screening week hosted on the Quintus Co-Pro Club screening platform, a co-operative of pre-selected streamers and broadcasters join a ‘remote project table’ with a producer, where factual projects are fine-tuned.

Period crime drama “Vienna Blood” has been renewed for a third season by ORF (Austria) and ZDF (Germany) and acquired by UK’s BBC Two and PBS.

Abacus Media Rights has picked up distribution rights for factual entertainment series “Ross Kemp: Shipwreck Treasure Hunter” for Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, the US, Canada, France and Iberia. Produced by Honey Bee in association with Freshwater Films, a co-production with Motion Content Group, the series has been commissioned and executive produced by Dan Korn, VP of Programming at A+E Networks UK, with Diana Carter, Commissioning Editor and Head of Talent at A+E Networks UK, for broadcast on Sky HISTORY in Spring 2022.

About Premium Content has secured new broadcast partners for comedy heist drama “The Unusual Suspects.” NRK in Norway, SVT in Sweden, DR in Denmark, RTL in Belgium and RTS in Switzerland have taken free TV rights for the series, with Stod 2 in Iceland and HOT Israel taking pay TV and SVOD rights. Canal+ Poland has picked up basic TV, pay TV and SVOD rights. Acorn TV in the UK has also acquired SVOD rights for the series.

ITV Studios has struck a major content deal with the CBC, including “Ten Year Old Tom,” “Showtrial” and “Coronation Street,” as well as a number of new dramas, comedies and factual shows acquired by the broadcaster.

Federation Kids & Family and ZDF Enterprises have jointly finalized deals with Disney+ and Italian broadcaster RAI for tween live action series “Find Me in Paris.”

Japan’s Nippon TV and London-based Envision Entertainment announced their first project together, “CONNECTED.” The crime drama series has been developed as the result of creative cooperation between the two companies to produce an innovative, high-quality television series with global appeal and international franchise potential.

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RATINGS

Fox News Digital finished January with over 2.7 billion total multiplatform minutes and over 1.4 billion total multiplatform views, while posting growth in the latter metric versus the prior month.

Shareablee Top 10 Streaming Shows for the week of February 14
Program, Platform, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
Stranger Things (Netflix), 15.4m, 21, 735,574, 26.6m
Euphoria (HBO Max), 11.4m, 20, 570,439, 7.2m
Umbrella Academy (Netflix), 825k, 3, 274,945, 4.7m
Bridgerton (Netflix), 738k, 5, 147,661, 2.4m
Nanatsu No Taizai (Netflix) 606k, 114, 5,315, 1m
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video), 348k, 70, 4,973, 737k
Love is Blind (Netflix), 315k, 38, 8,279, 552k
The Boys (Prime Video), 236k, 16, 14,727, 1.6m
Get Organized With The Home Edit (Netflix), 236k, 29, 8,122, 6m
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+), 222k, 27, 8,208, 300k

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Brown Bob Productions has appointedf Daniel Bankover as Head of Production. Banokover joines from ITN Productions, where he was Production Executive.

Chalkboard TV has named Tom Popay as Creative Director. Popay was previously Head of Development at Belfast-based Stellify Media.

Paul Palermo has been named VP of Business Development for location intelligence platform provider Nrby. Palermo was most recently Director of Sales, North America for Vecima Networks.

This Day in History
1886 – “The Times” of London published the first classified ad.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which network once had the tagline “TV Made Fresh Daily”? FX. Kudos to: John Ferlazzo/London; Neal Sussman-Roku/NYC; James Maxim-Disney Ad Sales/NYC; Tara Berman-NBC News/NYC; Mike May-R2 Innovative Technologies/Wellington, FL; Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA; Greg Stewart/LA; Ken DuBow-Access Entertainment/LA; David Chill-Chill Research/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which series moved from NBC to ABC in 2009? (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