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

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Thursday February 25, 2021

Today’s Finale
ABC: “The Hustler” at 10p

IN THE NEWS

Tegna is launching women-oriented multicast network, Twist, featuring lifestyle and reality programming – much of it featuring reveals, or twists, at the end of the show. Series including “Clean House,” “Top Chef Masters,” “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” “Dance Moms,” and “Tiny House Nation,” among others, will be featured, and viewers will be encouraged to submit their own videos of twists they’ve been thrown in life. “Twist will provide an exciting new viewing option for our female audience with content that has not been available through a multicast channel until now,” said Brian Weiss, President and GM of Tegna’s multicast networks, which include True Crime Network and Quest. In addition to carriage in 41 Tegna markets, Twist will be carried in 11 Univision local television markets.

Fox News Channel and ESPN topped the list in Beta Research’s fall 2020 Cable Operator Study, evaluating the value of basic able networks to cable operators, statistically tied at $1.01 and $.99, respectively. ESPN2 ($.91) was third, followed by CNN ($.83), Disney Channel ($.82), Discovery Channel ($.76), Food Network, NFL Network ($.73), TNT ($.72), TBS ($.70) and HGTV ($.69). Versus 2019, rankings increased for CNN and Food Network.

On a new measure in the Beta study, network groups receiving the highest scores on helping operators deal with the business impact of the coronavirus by being flexible on deals, renewals, license fees and on offering free previews were Hallmark Networks (64%), Discovery Inc. (59%), Fox Corporation (57%), NBCUniversal (56%), and Disney/ESPN Networks (55%). On another new measure, cable operators said that Fox News Channel, CNN, Hallmark Channel, MSNBC , Discovery Channel and HGTV were the individual basic networks most requested by customers to have on their channel lineup during the pandemic.

Ahead of a virtual event detailing its streaming strategy yesterday, ViacomCBS announced it beat analyst estimates for 4Q20, reporting global streaming subscribers grew to nearly 30 million, and domestic streaming subscribers rose to 19.2 million, up 71% year-over-year – all ahead of the launch of streaming service Paramount Plus on March 4. Q4 affiliate revenue was up 13% year-over-year, and advertising revenue rose 4%, driving a 3% increase in total revenue. “In Q4, despite the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, we finished the year with strong advertising and affiliate results that demonstrate the strength of our core businesses and achieved incredible growth across our linked streaming ecosystem,” said Bob Bakish, President and CEO.

During the ViacomCBS virtual event, Bakish said Paramount+ would include live sports, breaking news, and “a mountain of entertainment content.” Among the offerings will be “Halo,” a series based on the Xbox video game that was slated to debut on Showtime, but will instead be available exclusively on Paramount+. Produced by Showtime in partnership with 343 Industries and Amblin Television, the series will premiere in 1Q22.

Also in the works at Paramount+: both scripted and unscripted revivals of 2005-2020 CBS procedural “Criminal Minds,” which has lately found a huge new audience with TikTok users. In addition to a series with the original cast in development, is a companion, true-crime docu-series, featuring a real FBI profiler.

Branding a show or movie as an “original” boosts interest in viewing, especially among young consumers, according to Hub’s “Evolution of Video Branding” study. But while 70% of 16-34 year olds said that the term “original” made them more interested in watching a show or movie, including 25% who said that term alone would draw them in, only 53% of 35+ viewers said the term boosts their interest. Asked which TV source has the best original shows, Netflix came in first, with 29% choosing the streamer, followed by CBS (6%) and Amazon Prime Video (5%). Among ages 16-34, 38% named Netflix, followed by Disney+ (7%) and Hulu (6%).

Facebook revealed plans to spend at least $1 billion in the news industry over the next three years. The announcement came two days after Facebook struck a deal with the Australian government that ended a short-lived ban over Australia saying it could require Facebook to pay publishers for linking to their stories. “Facebook is more than willing to partner with news publishers,” said Nick Clegg, VP of Global Affairs at Facebook, in a blog post. “We absolutely recognize quality journalism is at the heart of how open societies function — informing and empowering citizens and holding the powerful to account.”

AMC Networks and Omnicom Media Group announced the successful completion of two first-to-market national linear addressable campaigns. The November and December campaigns, featuring Volkswagen and another major advertiser, utilized AMC Networks’ On Addressability partnership with Canoe Ventures, with spots running across the nation on Comcast and Charter cable systems, reaching nearly 25 million homes across the US. Future executions will include Cox cable systems as well. “This is a moment television networks, distributors and our advertising partners have been anticipating and working toward for many years, unleashing the power and potential of addressable advertising on the national level to deliver highly relevant and customized commercial spots to viewers,” said Kim Kelleher, President of Commercial Revenue and Partnerships for AMC Networks. “Our goal for 2021 and beyond is to make 100 percent of our linear, VOD and digital inventory addressable, with advanced cross-platform reach, measurement and sophisticated data analytics with attribution.”

NBC is removing the season finale of “Nurses” from its digital platforms amid backlash from Jewish organizations, which condemned a scene for being anti-Semitic. In the scene, an Orthodox Jewish patient refuses a bone graft because it would come from a “goyim leg.” The Canadian series was acquired by NBC in November amid pandemic production delays.

Total TV advertising declined 8.9% last year to $66.7 billion, down from $73.3 billion in 2019, according to Kantar. Cable TV saw the largest drop, down 16.6%. Syndication dipped 1%, while Spot TV was up 8.3%.

Crazy like a….Media company Al Jazeera, which folded its left-leaning cable news channel Al Jazeera America in 2016 after less than three years, is taking a different tack with digital news platform Rightly. “Al Jazeera is excited to expand its digital footprint with Rightly to provide fresh voices that are too often left out of the mainstream media a space to engage and debate the issues that matter most to them,” said Michael Weaver, SVP of Business Development andG at Al Jazeera Media Network’s Digital Division. “Rightly will also be a platform where the full spectrum of political voices can expect to have, or find, a thoughtful debate on the future of the United States.” Rightly’s editor-in-chief is Fox News veteran Scott Norvell.

“WandaVision” would seem like a sure bet for season 2 on Disney+, but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told a TCA audience that series star Elizabeth Olsen is instead headed for feature film sequel “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” At least for now. Explained Feige, “The fun of the MCU is obviously all the crossover we can do between series, between films. So it will vary based on the story. Sometimes it will go into a season 2, sometimes it will go into a feature and back into a series.” Feige also said he expects most of Marvel’s series on Disney+ will have six total hours of content, “whether that’s six episodes, like in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,’ or nine episodes like in ‘WandaVision.’” With costs per episode so high, six “felt like the appropriate number, at least for now,” said Feige.

Please take a minute to answer Cynopsis’ 3-question community poll for February
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7Q6BZWK

Bestselling authors Tom Wright and Bradley Hope (

Billion Dollar Whale) have launched Project Brazen, a journalism studio devoted to uncovering true stories from around the world via podcasts, books, documentaries, television series and films. Project Brazen will focus on tales of geopolitical intrigue and malfeasance that have been overlooked by mainstream media sources. “Project Brazen’s stories transport audiences inside hidden worlds,” said Wright and Hope. “Through our painstaking and challenging reporting process we peel back the cover on international crime, business and politics.”

Food Network has announced special with comedy group the Try Guys, known for their viral videos on YouTube, which show them trying everything from swimming with sharks… to baking without a recipe. Pre-production is currently underway on “No Recipe Roadtrip with the Try Guys” (wt), a special inspired by their series,”Without a Recipe.” Production is slated to begin later this quarter.

VICE TV greenlit four docu-series for second seasons. After a five-year hiatus, Michael K. Williams’ “Black Market” will return, alongside fall 2020’s “I Was a Teenage Felon” and “While the Rest of Us Die,” and summer 2019’s “The Devil You Know.”

CNN is picking up “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” for a second season, to air in 2022. Last Sunday, the culinary show drew 1.64 million viewers in Nielsen Live+SD numbers.

Daniel Sunjata (“Manifest”) landed a series regular role in Starz’ “Power Book II: Ghost.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

CNBC “TechCheck” premieres Monday, April 5 at 11a, replacing “Squawk Alley.” The live, one-hour tech-driven program will be the first CNBC broadcast anchored from multiple locations across the country, with CNBC’s Jon Fortt and Carl Quintanilla on the East Coast and Deirdre Bosa on the West Coast.

Disney+ revealed Spring and Summer premiere dates for new scripted series, including “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” (May 4), Marvel Studios’ “Loki” (June 11), “The Mysterious Benedict Society” (June 25), “Monsters At Work” (July 2), “Turner & Hooch” (July 16), and “Chip ‘N’ Dale: Park Life” (July 23). Second seasons of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” and Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zenimation” premiere this summer.

The CW also had debut dates to announce: The reboot “Kung Fu” premieres Wednesday, April 7 at 8p; season 6 of “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” bows Sunday, May 2 at 8p; season 4 of “Dynasty” arrives Friday, May 7 at 9p; season 3 of “In the Dark” launches Wednesday, June 9at 9p; and freshman drama “The Republic of Sarah” debuts Monday, June 14 at 9p.

New episodes of TV One autobiographical series “Uncensored” launch Sunday, March 21 at 10p. This season profiles Teddy Riley, Marsha Ambrosius, Donnie McClurkin, Kem, Remy Ma, Mona Scott Young, Lisa Leslie, and Jaleel White.

HBO Max has acquired the North American streaming rights to the three-part miniseries from Megamedia Chile, “Isabel.” Based on the life of Isabel Allende, the Spanish-language author and fighter for human rights, the limited series premieres on HBO Max on Friday, March 12.

A&E’s “Intervention” returns with a two-hour premiere Monday, March 15 at 9p, with an unfiltered look at the devastation caused by addiction. Returning for its 12th season on Monday, March 22 at 8p, “Hoarders” follows a team of experts as they tackle hoards while giving viewers an in-depth look at the stories of those dealing with compulsive hoarding behaviors.

“Wild West Chronicles,” inspired by famous characters and unsung heroes from the American West, premieres on INSP Sunday, April 11 at 5:30p.

STREAMING

Game Show Network is bringing four new streaming movie networks to FAST providers curated from its parent company, Sony Pictures Entertainment. Cinevault Westerns premiered on The Roku Channel February 11, and launched yesterday on Samsung TV Plus and VIZIO SmartCast. Cinevault 80s, Cinevault 70s and Cinevault will debut later this spring. “We recognized the immediate potential of this market after seeing the success of our own FAST channel Game Show Central, which launched less than a year ago,” said Tim Carry, EVP, Distribution, Game Show Network. “We instantly looked to expand the scale of this business and realized there was no better way to start than to work with our parent company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, to create these four channels from their comprehensive library of movies.”

If it’s not a bargain, the $500 million Peacock paid for five years of exclusive streaming rights to “The Office” might still be money well spent. The streamer had more paid sign-ups when the comedy was introduced in January than it did during its nationwide launch, or any other event, according to Antenna. But Netflix losing its grip on “The Office” – which had 57 billion minutes streamed in 2020 – didn’t have a significant impact on Netflix churn, according to Antenna. While Netflix subscribers who signed up for Peacock in January showed a 4.7% increase in churn versus those who didn’t sign up, fewer than 1% of Netflix subscribers joined the Peacock flock.

Cinedigm is adding 300 a hours of content, including over 65 films, 17 new series and 44 specials from companies including The Nacelle Company, Vision Films, Glass House Distribution, Magnolia and Shoreline. The streamer is focused on acquiring anime, horror, action, and family with strong IP and high production value, as well as documentaries.

Tubi, a division of FOX Entertainment, is getting more animated. The streamer has entered a licensing agreement with Toei Animation, the anime studio and pioneer in Japanese animation. The deal includes seven television series totaling nearly 500 episodes, as well as six TV specials. As part of the deal and for the first time ever, Tubi will stream English subtitled versions of “Dr. Slump” (from Akira Toriyama) and “Saint Seiya: Hades.”

AT&T TV customers can now watch up to 20 simultaneous streams in their homes, and have an unlimited DVR option. (The number of out-of-home streams customers can watch remains three.) The change goes live today, February 25. Excluded from the 20 in-home streams are Fox networks, Starz, NHL Network, Showtime and PBS. Subscribers can also now pay an extra $10 a month to boost their storage from 20 hours to unlimited. The recordings stay in the cloud-based DVR for 90 days.

New channels coming to Crackle in March include basketball-focused Hoops Channel; Angels and Demons; War Stories; Up Your Game, with titles like “Robotech!”; and Isn’t It Bromantic.

The IMDb TV app is now available on Chromecast with Google TV and other Android TV OS devices in the US. The expanded distribution follows recent IMDb TV app launches on Roku, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Sony Android TV devices.

COMING UP

Discovery+ special “Pop My Pet” follows veterinarians as they take on extreme cases of animals who suffer from a variety of skin and other ailments, on Monday, March 1.

TECH TALK

YouTube is adding new parental controls. Set to launch in beta, the “supervised experiences” will include three tiers: “Explore,” with material suitable for viewers at 9+; “Explore More,” with content for viewers 13+; and “Most of YouTube,” including almost all videos except those that are age-restricted or have “sensitive topics” suitable only for older teens. Parents will also be able to manage watch and search history from their child’s account settings.

Centro, provider of enterprise automation technology, announced the acquisition of QuanticMind, a developer of predictive advertising technology for digital channels, to integrate with its combo programmatic advertising and media workflow automation platform, Basis. QuanticMind’s martech platform utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to unify and analyze data, which powers its software for search, keyword bid management, and marketing intelligence visualization. “Centro is one step further to completing our vision of a singular, unified platform helping advertising agencies and marketers save time, money and resources by eliminating data and process silos through improved organization and automation of critical functions,” said Shawn Riegsecker, CEO of Centro.

GOING GLOBAL

UK indie Woodcut Media is in production with a a new, six-part true crime series, “Surviving a Serial Killer, ordered by Channel 4. The first episode is scheduled to premiere February 28 in the UK on channel More4.

NBCUniversal Formats has signed a co-production deal with Banijay Asia to adapt a number of its formats in India. Banijay Asia will represent and work with Universal Studio Group to create local versions of “Suits,” “House,” “Monk,” “Saturday Night Live,” “The Titan Games” and “Top Chef” across the region. The portfolio will be reimagined for a new audience across the linguistically diverse region.

Discovery Inc. and stc’s digital media and entertainment arm Intigral, have entered into a strategic long-term partnership for the provision of broadcast and SVOD content on Intigral’s flagship Saudi OTT service, Jawwy TV.

UK’s Channel 4 has commissioned CPL Productions to produce a new quiz series, “Quizness” (w/t) fronted by comedian Tom Allen. The new format was commissioned following an run-through program which Channel 4’s Head of Entertainment, Phil Harris, introduced to develop ideas from independent production companies sustainably and affordably.

London-based independent producer Nevision has entered a strategic agreement with writer Jeff Murphy to develop scripted projects for the global marketplace. Working with Nevision’s Creative Director, Scripted Neil Zeiger, Murphy will work on his own original ideas and also help develop Nevision’s slate of feature film and scripted TV series.

The most prestigious names in the industry, unveiled.

The Cynopsis Best Of The Best Awards Virtual Gala
Featuring Media’s Rising Stars
Sponsored by Crown Media Family

FINALISTS SAVE YOUR SEAT

The series premiere of CW’s “Superman & Lois” delivered 1.75 million viewers and 0.4 among A18-49, the largest audience for a DC series since December, 2019.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Tuesday, February 23
Show, P2+ (millions), (A18-49)
ABC: “To Tell the Truth” 3.90 (0.6), “black-ish” 2.54 (0.5), “mixed-ish” 2.11 (0.4), “To Tell the Truth”2.26 (0.4)
CBS: “NCIS” 5.47 (0.5), “FBI” 5.03 (0.5), “FBI: Most Wanted”4.01 (0.3)
CW: “Superman & Lois” 1.75 (0.4), “Superman & Lois” 1.24 (0.2)
FOX: “The Resident” 1.45 (0.3), “Prodigal Son” 0.91 (0.2)
ION: “NCIS: New Orleans” .80 (0.2), “NCIS: New Orleans” 0.94 (0.2), “NCIS: New Orleans” 0.83 (0.2)
NBC: “Young Rock” 3.61 (0.8), “Kenan” 2.76 (0.6), “This Is Us” 5.10(1.0), “Nurses” 2.20 (0.3)
Telemundo: “Exatlon Estados Unidos” 1.07 (0.3), “La Suerte de Loli” 1.07 (0.3), “Buscando a Frida” 0.97 (0.3)
Univision: “Vencer el Desamor” 1.66 (0.4), “Te Acuerdas de mi Ton”1.61(0.5), “Dulce Ambicion” 1.51 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

WarnerMedia is combining the production and business affairs teams of HBO and HBO Max. Janet Graham Borba’s role has been expanded to EVP of Production for HBO and HBO Max, and Susanna Felleman takes the role of EVP of Business Affairs for HBO and HBO Max. “As HBO Max moves toward the same in-house production model that’s been the heart of the HBO programming lineup for the past many years, it’s become clear that we need greater consistency across the business and production practices of HBO and HBO Max,” said Glenn Whitehead, President of Business Affairs and Production for HBO and HBO Max. Sandra Dewey and Pat Kelly will exit the company.

Carryl Pierre-Drews has been named SVP of Marketing and Communications and Jeff Murray as VP for Public Policy at IAB. Prior to joining IAB, Pierre-Drews served as VP of Marketing at Fullscreen, and Murray was Senior Manager of Government Relations at Accenture.

Marketing EDGE, a nonprofit marketing education organization, has added Elise James-DeCruise, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Marcus Thomas; John Kelly, Sr., Director of Global Member Growth at Nike; and Seema Patel; VP, Partnership Development at ViacomCBS, to its Board of Trustees. The expansion of the Board will help support the nonprofit to provide the necessary tools and programs student members need to succeed in their marketing and advertising careers.

Jeff Tobler has joined Ava DuVernay’s Array as CMO. Tobler was previously SVP, Television Publicity, Communications and Social Media for Warner Bros. Worldwide Television.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which “Friends” cast member got their start on “The Wonder Years”? David Schwimmer. Kudos to: Katherine Naugher-Discovery Inc./Knoxville, TN, Heather Allen-WWE Corporation/Stamford, CT, Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NYC, Megan Vachon/Budd Lake, NJ, Joel M. Maxwell-Marks, O’Neill, O’Brien, Doherty & Kelly/NYC, Barb Throm-Stealth Creative/Saint Louis, MO, John Kukla-KDFW/Dallas, Charlie Conner-KOKI/Tulsa, OK, Cherie Wall-Sandbox Entertainment/Nashville, Dan Whitford-WTTW/Chicago, Sandy Spiegel-WTTW/Chicago, Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA, Melissa Friedman/LA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
How many Emmys did Andy Griffith win for “The Andy Griffith Show” (1960-68)? (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.)