PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
NBC gave a 10-episode order for The Gilded Age, from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. The period drama, set in 1882 New York, offers Fellowes’ “delicious new take on both the emerging rich and the working class,” said Jennifer Salke, president, NBC Entertainment. Series is slated for 2019. The project is a long time coming – NBC first enlisted Fellowes to create the show in 2012, but Downton got in the way.
The CW gave pilot orders for 6 shows: A Roswell revival with an immigration twist; In the Dark, from Red Hour Films, about a blind woman who is “witness” to a murder; Keshet Studios’ Skinny Dip; dysfunctional family dramedy Playing Dead, from Intrigue Entertainment; comedic drama The End of the World As We Know It, from Justin Halpern & Patrick Schumacker and Rob Thomas; and Berlanti Prods.’ Spencer, centered on a South Central LA high school football player recruited to play for Beverly Hills High.
E! greenlit runway docu-series Model Squad, offering a look at the ups and downs of a group of supermodels, from Trooper Entertainment in association with Lionsgate and co-produced by IMG. Preview special Model Squad: Fashion Week airs Monday, February 12 at 10p.
Podcast network Gimlet Media is branching out with Gimlet Pictures, a film and TV unit headed by Gimlet’s Chris Giliberti. “The goal here is to play a greater role in extending our Gimlet sensibility and story craftsmanship to the audiences we reach in other formats,” said Giliberti, noting that the company served as producers on Alex Inc., Homecoming and Man of the People. On the heels of those projects, said Giliberty, “We feel prepared to take a bigger bet in TV and film.”
Netflix gave a series order to kids show The Prince of Peoria, reports Deadline. Nick Stanton and Devin Bunje (Gamer’s Guide to Pretty Much Everything) are writing.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
The first season of new ID series Homicide City will focus on crimes that shook Philadelphia around the turn of the 21st century, with Philly’s finest coming out of retirement to offer the inside stories on headline-making cases. Series debuts Wednesday, February 21 at 10p.
SciJinks, a science prank show hosted by Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki, will launch on Discovery and Science Channel this spring. “I am humbled and excited to work closely on this show with some of the scientists and STEM students I’ve had the pleasure of meeting over the past decade,” said Galecki, who is also producing. “It’s a great opportunity to put these amazing folks in the spotlight, erase some of the stereotypes of people in the sciences and it’s resulted in a show that is a whole lot of fun.”
Reelz’s The Price of Fame launches with an episode focused on Johnny Depp, whose lavish spending and moments of rage have drawn fire. Series launches Sunday, February 11 at 9p.
CBS warhorse Survivor returns for season 36 with a 2-hour premiere on Wednesday, February 28 at 8p. This edition, themed “Ghost Island,” centers on the bad decisions of past players, with players sent to a separate “haunted” island filled with relics from past seasons.
WE tv is bringing Bridezillas back for “an epic reboot” with 10 episodes featuring over-the-top brides and their meltdowns, starting Friday, March 2 at 10p.
Season 1 of Francekbek premieres on TV5Monde USA Sunday, February 4 at 1:30a. Series follows a woman from Quebec who moves to France in search of a new life.
Facebook renewed Thumb Candy Media’s live relationship show Make Up or Break Up for a second season on Facebook Watch. Round 2 begins February 15, streaming live on Thursdays at 8p.
In more Facebook Watch news, Courteney Cox (Cougar Town) is exec producing docu-series Nine Months, following different pregnancy stories. Ample Entertainment is producing.
Travel and lifestyle series Weekends with Yankee (mountain biking, surfing, cheese-making) returns to public television stations in April.
COMING UP
OWN special Oprah at the Apollo, featuring conversations about living a life with purpose, airs Tuesday, February 27 at 10p. Oprah Winfrey’s guests include Salma Hayek Pinault, Stephen Colbert, Lin-Manuel Miranda, grown-ish star Yara Shahidi, Trevor Noah and Jordan Peele.
HDNET Movies offers a pair of Oscar-winning love stories on Wednesday, February 14: 1968’s Romeo & Juliet at 8p is followed by 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The films are part of HDNET’s month-long “And the Oscar Goes To…” event.
Showtime true crime doc Operation Odessa, about a Russian mobster, a Miami playboy and a Cuban spy who sold a Soviet submarine to a Colombian drug cartel, will premiere at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival in Austin ahead of its debut on Showtime on Saturday, March 31 at 9p on-air, on demand and over the internet.
Z Living is airing special episodes of The Dr. Oz Show in honor of National Wear Red Day, raising awareness about heart disease, on February 2 starting at 4p, and World Cancer Day on February 4 starting at noon.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH HIGHLIGHTS
Fuse and Boost Mobile are teaming to commemorate Black History Month with custom Future Black History-themed vignettes showcasing the influences and inspirations of African American artists. Sponsored vignettes will begin airing on Fuse Monday, February 5. Also on tap: A one-hour music block highlighting artists on February 9 at 9a as well as an exploration of the Future Black History makers who are making their mark in pop culture today on the Fuse digital platforms.
Among the offerings on the Bounce slate for Black History Month are the 2018 Bounce Trumpet Awards on Sunday, February 11 at 9p; a special installment of newsmag Ed Gordon called “Am I Black Enough?”, examining the nuances of cultural identity; a short-form series of vignettes, “Your Story Matters,” about the inspiring experiences of trailblazing African Americans; and documentary Trail of Hope: The Journey to Equality on Sunday, February 18.
DIGITAL DATA
As the U.S. Dept. of Justice and the SEC look into software updates that slowed older iPhones, infuriating consumers, Apple said, “We have received questions from some government agencies and we are responding to them.” The company also said the intent of the update was to improve the customer experience, and reiterated that Apple would never do anything to intentionally shorten the life of one of its products.
Krystal Ball (The Cycle) has joined news source The Hill as co-host of a new digital morning show. Political analyst Jamal Simmons will be a regular analyst on the show before launching an opinion show later this year. “We were focused on a plan for video for some time, and are proud to offer an impressive lineup of balanced news and information for our audiences led by some of the biggest names in journalism,” said James Finkelstein, chairman of Capitol Hill Publishing, which publishes The Hill.
The Telemundo Station Group tunveiled updated station apps and websites that feature Telemundo En Vivo (Telemundo Live), a new TVE experience for digital and mobile app users. It’s the first time that audiences who live in markets where a Telemundo-owned station is located will be able to watch live television – including their local newscasts and Telemundo’s entertainment and sports programming – directly within the station apps and websites.
YouTube TV nabbed exclusive rights to about 18 games with a new Major League Soccer team in LA, reports Variety, in a deal that includes naming rights on jersey for the Los Angeles Football Club. Games will be restricted to subscribers in the LA market, who will not be charged extra for the games. It’s the first time a U.S. sports team opted for a streaming service instead of a TV deal.
Southwest Airlines, sponsor of Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl XiV, is planning a game day Facebook Live broadcast hosted by former MLB player Rocky Turner and veteran NFL running back Justin Forsett. Dog lovers can also get a behind-the-scenes peek at proceedings via Southwest’s Instagram Stories.
Hulu canceled drama Shut Eye after 2 seasons. Tweeted series star Jeffrey Donovan, “Enjoyed Shut Eye. But all good things must come to an end. I’m grateful to Hulu and Sony. They were great places to work at.”
MADE TO MEASURE
Super Bowl viewership via streaming services is expected to be up 45% from last year, and many viewers will simultaneously engage in secondary media sources to consume event-related content, according to digital marketing agency Adtaxi. Female respondents (35%) are more likely to use social media than male (29%), while men (18%) are more likely to turn to sports sites than women (10%).
Broadband-only households are expected to grow from 19 million in 2017 to 37.2 million by 2022, according to media research group Kagan. Long-term trends including increase in streaming content suppliers, widespread utility-like status of broadband, and a demographic shift attributable to shrinking baby boomers and rising millennials is yielding higher broadband-only home gains than initially anticipated, said Tony Lenoir, Senior Kagan Research Analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Kagan expects broadband-only homes, or households without a traditional multichannel video package but a subscription to wireline broadband, to rise at a 14.4% compound annual growth rate from 2017 to 2022.
GOING GLOBAL
Series from HBO’s catalog are coming to Amazon Prime Video in an agreement that calls for the streaming of 50 originals, including Game of Thrones, Big Little Lies and Westworld.
India drove the growth of pay-TV channels in Asia in 2017, according to data from Media Partners Asia, collecting 65% of revenues for global channels groups in the Asia-Pacific region last year. While global medial conglomerates saw 9% earnings growth in Asia, without the India market it would have been a 4% decrease, said Media Partners.
