02/15/18: The CW supersizes with Sunday

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

ANIMAL PLANET’S PUPPY BOWL XIV
BROKE RATINGS RECORDS

Highest-rated Puppy Bowl ever across all key demos
1.46 P25-54 rating
9 million total viewers (+20% vs. YAGO)
#1 cable telecast of the day
#1 most social non-sports program on cable

Source

CYNOPSIS

Good morning. It’s Thursday February 15, 2018 and this is your first early morning briefing.

Tonight’s Premieres:

A&E: The First 48: Murder in the Big Easy at 8p

Tonight’s Finale:
Great American Country: Barn Life at 10p

IN THE NEWS

The CW is adding a 2-hour Sunday primetime block next season. Nine years ago the CW returned Sunday to its affiliates, but now, up 3% year-to-date in total viewers and boasting the youngest median age in broadcast, the net has inked agreements for clearances on 6 nights. “As one of the largest CW affiliate groups, we are excited to see The CW Network reaffirm its commitment to broadcasting by expanding its schedule to Sunday night,” said Chris Ripley, President and CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Hitmaker Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) inked a 5-year deal with Netflix. Murphy’s agreement with 20^th Century Fox Television expires this summer. “The history of this moment is not lost on me,” said Murphy. “I am a gay kid from Indiana who moved to Hollywood in 1989 with $55 in savings in my pocket, so the fact that my dreams have crystallized and come true in such a major way is emotional and overwhelming to me.” Murphy will continue his involvement in current FX and Fox shows; he already had original series Ratched and The Politician set at Netflix. The streaming service, which signed Shonda Rhimes (Scandal) to a $100 million deal in August, has said it expects to spend up to $8 billion on content this year.

Overall viewing guarantees for Olympics TV advertisers are over-delivering, said Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBC Broadcasting & Sports, in a journalist call. While viewership on primetime TV dipped 6% from 2014 Winter Games for the first 5 days (the most recent Nielsens show an uptick), “The guarantee works across all the platforms,” explained Lazarus. “We don’t really have an individual guarantee. We certainly have targets. We are exceeding those targets.” NBC has sold over $900 million in advertising for the 2018 Olympics. And counting – since it isn’t dealing with makegoods, the net can use a portion of that inventory to sell more spots.

The decision to stop distributing newly released Disney, Marvel and Pixar films to Netflix in 2019 isn’t meant to harm the streaming service, said Walt Disney Co. chief strategy officer Kevin Mayer at the Code Media conference, but to enhance Disney’s planned streaming service. “I personally like Netflix,” said Mayer. “They’ve got a great product, they do exceedingly well in the marketplace. What we’re doing, we’re not trying to hurt or kill Netflix.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus posted a post-cancer surgery photo on Instagram yesterday that will make her fans happy. “Great doctors, great results, feeling happy and ready to rock after surgery,” wrote the Veep star. “Hey cancer, ‘F*ck you!'”

Katie Couric apologized for a comment she made during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, when she said the Dutch skate on canals “to get them from place to place.” When commenters on social media, including the Netherlands Embassy, noted that the Dutch in fact take buses, trains and other modes of transportation to get around, Couric tweeted congratulations to the Netherlands on their medal count, adding, “My apologies for being on thin ice for my comments re: skating on canals. I was trying to salute your historical passion for the sport but it didn’t come out that way!”

A day after FBI Director Chris Wray contradicted the White House timeline about when it learned of domestic abuse allegations against former aide Rob Porter, CNN launched another “Facts First” promo. “This is an apple,” the spot starts off. “And this is an apple. And this is an apple… And when you put them all together, you’ve got a case.”

Six of the highest-ranked basic networks on perceived value to cable operators in the 2017 Beta Cable Operator Study were sports or news networks, reports Beta. Versus the fall 2016 study, rank of Fox News Channel increased from 4th to 2^nd, and CNN increased from 13^th (tied) to 7^th (tied). Making the cut were ESPN ($.99), Fox News Channel ($.85), ESPN2 ($.78), Disney Channel ($.73), NFL Network ($.73), Discovery Channel ($.69), FS1($.67), Food Network ($.67), TNT ($.67),CNN ($.67) and USA ($.67).

Someone’s 15 minutes of fame just got extended. Former porn star Stormy Daniels is apparently ready to open up about Donald Trump now that the president’s personal attorney has come out and said he paid her $130,000 out of his pocket before Election Day. That makes her non-disclosure agreement null and void, said Daniels’ manager, Gina Rodriguez, “and Stormy is going to tell her story.”

Where would you like to hear Stormy Daniels tell her story? Let us know in the Cynopsis poll: http://cynopsis.com/poll/

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

The Cynopsis Short Form Video Festival

March 7, 2018 | SVA Theatre – NYC | 2pm – 7pm

In addition to viewing the exceptional videos from winners of our inaugural short form awards, you’ll learn from companies including: StateFarm, CDW, NBCUniversal, Volvo, Time Inc., Crowdtangle, Lyft, Limbik, Attn:, eShapTV, The Dodo and Viacom Velocity and partake in idea-rich panels that address important short form topics. Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to network with those on the forefront of the industry.

LEARN MORE GET TICKETS VIEW PANELS

PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Netflix ordered an 8-episode first season of the unscripted Marie Kondo Project from The Jackal Group, starring organizing consultant and author Kondo. Exec producers include Gail Berman, Joe Earley, Kondo, Takumi Kawahara, and Bianca Barnes-Williams.

TBS picked up Lena Waithe (Master of None) project Twenties to pilot. Comedy follows the adventures of a queer black girl and her 2 straight best friends. Twenties was created, written and exec produced by Waithe through her production company, Hillman Grad Productions, and exec produced by Andrew Coles for The Mission Entertainment.

NBC renewed summer supernatural drama Midnight, Texas for a second season. Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, who served as consulting producers the first time around and have an overall deal with Universal Television, will be showrunners for season two and will executive produce along with David Janollari. Series is produced by Universal Television and David Janollari Entertainment.

The peacock net also ordered a pilot for Bright Futures, a comedy from Kenya Barrish (black-ish) and grown-ishwriters Hale Rothstein, Danny Segal and Isaac Schemes, and ABC Studios. Project started out at ABC but didn’t make it to pilot.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Animal Planet’s The Zoo is back for season 2 on Saturday, March 10 at 9p. New animals featured at the Bronx Zoo include Dave, a red kangaroo who bounces back from arthritic symptoms.

The first half of season 4 of Netflix’s The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt launches Wednesday, May 30 – just in time to make the Emmy cut-off date of May 31. Second half premieres later in 2018.

Season 10 of WE tv’s Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars Family Edition features anger, drama and dysfunction starting Friday, March 9 at 9p.

Grace and Frankie was renewed for a fifth season on Netflix, with RuPaul onboard as a new character. Season 4 dropped last month.

COMING UP

Documentary Jane, telling the story of conservation icon Jane Goodall, premieres on National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD Monday, March 12 at 8p, followed by a rollout across 171 countries. The simulcast is timed to Women’s History Month.

Agents of Change, a documentary marking the 50^th anniversary of the 1968 student-led strike at SF State, has its national broadcast TV premiere on American Reframed Tuesday, February 20 at 8p on World Channel (check local listings).

Science Channel docu-series Silicon Valley: The Untold Story premieres Sunday, March 18 at 8p, 9p and 10p. The look at the tech industry includes interviews with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and WhatsApp founder and CEO Jan Koum, among others.

El Rey celebrates President’s Day weekend with a Resident’s Day marathon, starting Saturday, February 17 at 6a with Resident Evil.

Raycom Media will air Trail of Hope – The Journey to Equality, a documentary tracing the path of the civil rights struggle, this month. The one-hour special will air on all Raycom Media stations and in other select markets.

DIGITAL DATA

YouTube TV is adding Turner’s Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, TNT, truTV and Turner Classic Movies, as well as sports channels including NBA TV and MLB Network to its programming – and, not surprisingly, boosting its price from $35 to $40 monthly. YouTubeTV users now have access to stream nationally televised NBA games, the PGA championship and UEFA soccer. Both NBA League Pass and MLB.TV will also be available to add to a user’s monthly package for an extra fee in the coming months.

Verizon’s Go90, launched in fall 2015, is being folded into Oath Brands, announced Oath CEO Tim Armstrong at the Code Media conference. “Go90 was a super ambitious project, which was essentially trying to start an internet mobile video service from scratch,” said Armstrong. “It was highly likely we were going to stub our toe a huge number of times.” Oath was formed last year with Verizon’s newly-acquired AOL and Yahoo.

Netflix canceled Disjointed, starring Kathy Bates as the owner of a cannabis dispensary, after one season. The second half of the series’ 20 episodes were released last month.

Amazon Prime Video is teaming up with Newen, Bavaria Fiction and Deutsche Telekom for new comedy drama Germanized (French title Deutsch-Les-Landes), its first original series for its video streaming service in France.

Snap Inc. is adding new demographic analytics for Snapchat creators that could help secure sponsored content and product placement deals, including Total Story Views and Time Spent Viewing in the past week, month and year to date; gender breakdown; top age bracket; geographic regions; audience interests and more. The move is presumably intended to lure back influencers who moved to Instagram because of its tracking tools.

Gamer brand Machinima, fully acquired by Warner Bros. in 2016, announced a rebranding that reflects its move from a traditional multi-channel network to content provider. “We have gone through an incredible transformation from a YouTube network to a cross-platform gamer entertainment service with substantial scale,” said Machinima head Russell Arons. “Now, we want to truly define what that means and what we are. With our new brand identity, we are looking to evolve our brand presence to further excite our talent, fans and partners.”

Today Google Chrome begins removing ads from sites that don’t measure up to the Better Ads Standards. Depending on how many violations are found, sites will be evaluated as having a status of Passing, Warning or Failing, said Chris Bentzel, engineering manager at Google, in post. Chrome will block ads on sites that fail if they don’t comply within 30 days of notification of violations.

News & Guts, the start-up web site founded by Dan Rather, passed 1 million unique visitors in January, its second month publishing. “Engaging with a new audience on social media has been one of the most rewarding times of my career,” said Rather, who has 4.5 million followers on Facebook and Twitter. “Now with the new website, it’s an opportunity for me to cut through all the bull shine and bring you what’s important.”

Season 2 of Facebook Watch’s Make Up or Break Up premieres today at 8p, and the finale of Do or Dare is available tomorrow, February 16.

Mobile marketing platform Adikteev has secured $12 million in its Series B round from Ring Capital and BNP Development. Funding will be used to further international growth, as well as R&D efforts.

The live premiere of The BET Social Awards on Sunday garnered over 16 million impressions on Facebook Twitter and Instagram, and 2.2 million video views across BET’s social platforms.

KIDS CORNER

Hamilton’s Renee Elise Goldsberry will perform the theme song for Disney Junior’s Muppet Babies reboot, launching next month. Walt Disney Records is releasing the ditty on Friday, February 23.

CASTING

Don Johnson (Miami Vice) landed the male lead in Fox comedy pilot Daddy Issues….George Wendt (Cheers), Gia Sandhu (The Indian Detective) and Zenobia Shroff (The Big Sick) have joined the cast of ABC reboot pilot, The Greatest American Hero….Alana De La Garza (Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders) landed a lead role in CBS drama pilot Chiefs.

Jamie McShane (Bloodline) and Caroline Chikezie (The Shannara Chronicles) are onboard Fox vampire drama pilot The Passage as series regulars…. Ser’Darius Blain (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) landed a lead in the CW’s Charmed reboot pilot….Ray Fisher (Justice League) joins HBO‘s True Detective as a series regular.

DISTRIBUTION

CBS Studios International is putting up The Good Fight. Amazon Prime Video inked a multi-season licensing agreement for the CBS All Access drama across Europe, Asia and Latin America. Also included in the deal are SVOD rights for seasons of series including Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, Hawaii Five-0 and NCIS, among others.

FremantleMedia International nabbed distribution rights to a collection of new high-end non-scripted titles including Wild Pictures’ Miriam’s’ Big American Adventure, Naked Entertainment’s Indian Summer School (w/t), Boundless Productions’ Love in the Countryside and Arrow Media’s Inside Balmoral.

“Musically inspired” comedy Bartlett will be available on new streaming site IndieVue, starting February 27 with a live interactive screening event at 9p. Satire based on the life of ad exec turned director Martin Edwards (All the Wrong Places) currently streams on Amazon Prime and Vimeo on Demand.

Sports-first streamer fuboTV added another 6 local stations, for a total of 193 (including those owned and operated by or affiliated with CBS, Fox or NBC), plus access to Fox programming in 45 additional markets.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Companies migrate where the talent is!

And Cynopsis readership is where the talent is.

Looking to fill a job with an experienced industry candidate? Post a job today in Cynopsis dedicated job newsletters, deploying to an abundant audience of qualified media professionals from around the world every Wednesday and Sunday.

Email [email protected] for details on how to optimize that search experience

RATINGS

Shaun White won gold in the men’s snowboarding halfpipe event, and NBC was a winner, too, Tuesday night as the Pyeongchang Olympics hit a high of 19.6 in metered market households. The primetime average of 15.2 on NBC and NBC Sports was up from 14.5 for NBC in the 2014 Games.

Discovery announced the first set of Total Video metrics for its Olympic Winter Games coverage in Europe, for digital engagement on its own platforms and those of its partners. During the opening weekend, 373 million hours of video was watched; an average free-to-air and pay TV audience of 186 million, plus an additional 26 Million users through digital and social platforms, resulted in 212 million users viewing the Olympic Games across all platforms.

TVision’s Quarterly Attention Index for Primetime Broadcast, Cable and OTT Shows in 4Q17

Top Shows, Broadcast:

The Wall (NBC)

The Mick (Fox)

9JKL (CBS)

Top Shows, Cable:

Dick Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (BBC America)

Food Paradise (Travel)

Dance Moms (Lifetime)

TVision measures actual eyes on screen attention from an opt-in panel of 7500 people at 2000 U.S. households, second by second with privacy safe facial recognition technology.

The Binge Report for the week of February 5, 2018

(Title of Show / Share of Steams)

La Casa de Papel (Netflix/Antena 3) – 4.01%

Riverdale (The CW) – 3.15%

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – 2.84%

Altered Carbon (Netflix) – 2.31%

Friends (NBC) – 1.98%

How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) – 1.81%

This is Us (NBC) – 1.69%

The Flash (The CW) – 1.68%

Lucifer (FOX) – 1.44%

The Big Bang Theory (CBS) – 1.41%

The weekly Binge Report tracks and ranks shows based on the number of episodes consumed by the millions of fans across the globe in the TV Time app.

Live + Same Day Viewers AA (millions): Tuesday, February 13, 2018 time period averages

Source: NTI, Galaxy as dated Live+SD

NBC: 20.50 million

Winter Olympics 20.50

CBS: 5.88 million

NCIS 6.95, Bull 5.58, NCIS: New Orleans 5.10

ABC: 2.73 million

The Bachelor: Winter Games 3.01, 20/20 2.16

FOX: 1.95 million

Lethal Weapon 2.38, LA to Vegas 1.66, The Mick 1.39

CW: 1.43 million

The Flash 1.06, Black Lightning 1.81

UNIVISION: 1.15 million

Rico y Lazaro 1.26, Papa a Toda Madre 1.18, Caer en Tentacion 1.02

TELEMUNDO: .86 million

Jose Jose, el Principle de la Cancion .71, Sangre de mi Tierra .91, Senora Acero 4 .97

Tuesday A18-49 Rating: 5.2/20, ABC .7/3, CBS .6/2, FOX .6/2, UNI .5/2, TELE .5/2, CW .4/2

EXECUTIVE MOVES

AMC Networks International has expanded its business unit to include France and Italy. Eduardo Zulueta will lead the new unit as President of AMC Networks International Southern Europe. Zulueta is also President of AMC Networks International Latin America.

Greg Drebin was promoted to Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at 20^th Century Fox Television Distribution. Prior to Fox, Drebin was SVP of Programming and Marketing at Warner Bros. International TV Branded Services.

Adam Sher, previously Chief Creative Officer of ITV America, has been named President, while David Eilenberg, who had been President ITV Entertainment, has been elevated to Chief Creative Officer. Both report to CEO David George. Additionally, Heath Banks, formerly COO at ITV Creative, has been elevated to EVP, Operations, at ITV America, and Danielle Bibbo, formerly SVP of Production for ITV Creative, has been upped to EVP, Business Development at ITV America.

Pure Imaginations Studios tapped John P. Roberts as its first-ever Chief Content Officer. Previously, Roberts headed digital operations for Bunim/Murray Productions.

Content localization company SDI Media named Tony Young as Director, Business Development for the Americas. Young most recently served as Group Director, Affiliate Relations at CBS Television Network.

This Day in History: 1768 – The first mustard made in America was advertised.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question: What was the name of the woman Northern Exposure’s (1990-1995) Joel was engaged to when he arrived in Cicely, Alaska? Elaine Schulman. Kudos to: Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, Cynthia New-Spectrum Reach/Cape Girardeau, MO, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question: Which TV character photographed a Carly Simon album cover? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: A limit of four correct answers from each time zone will be selected.).

Answer to Our Last Anagram: Crawl My Med Bus = Marcus Welby, M.D. Kudos to: Paul Blutter- Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

1960s Series Anagram: Shaven Egret (Email [email protected]; first three respondents with the correct answer who aren’t in trivia will be posted in tomorrow’s newsletter.)

Lynn Leahey Editorial Director @Lynn_Leahey
Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Diane K Schwartz Senior Vice President Media Communications Group	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina \| 203-218-6480 VP, Sales	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak \| 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

CYNOPSISJOBS – For More jobs, please visit Cynopsis.com

JOB OF THE DAY

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
PAC-12
SF

In this critical role, you will drive corporate communications, executive communications and internal/stakeholder communications efforts for the Pac-12 Networks. Min 10 yrs exp in strategic communications, including corp comm.

Full posting/apply HERE

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER/Capitol Broadcasting/Raleigh NC: Are you a digital storyteller looking for a new creative outlet? CBC Audience Development is an innovation lab seeking a digital producer to produce WRAL.com originals and create new forms of storytelling for our digital properties. Apply HERE (2/22)

JOB OPENING: COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR/PAC-12/SF: In this critical role, you will drive corporate communications, executive communications and internal/stakeholder communications efforts for the Pac-12 Networks. Min 10 yrs exp in strategic communications, including corp comm. Full posting/apply HERE (2/21)

JOB OPENING: MARKETING COORDINATOR/DAYTIME TALK SHOW/NY: 1-2+yrs mktg exp in entertainment or station relations. Address all affiliate promotional needs. Assist in creating on-air, web & social media content. Write/distribute correspondence to stations. Strong writing skills a must. Resume/cover: [email protected] (2/21)

JOB OPENING: NON-SCRIPTED DEVELOPMENT SALES EXEC/JUMA ENTERTAINMENT (Bucks County, PA). Lifestyle & Ent Specs Prodco expanding east coast operation. Position will lead creative process from concept development to sale. Multiple years experience necessary w/track record and sales results. Full info/apply HERE (2/21)

EXPERTISE SERVICES: NEED A BUDGET DONE? EIC/Co-EP w/15+ yrs. experience- Budgets done for all formats TV/Feature/Digital. Accurate, reasonable, & quick turn around. I will deliver PDF and MMB files w/assumptions sheet. Email: [email protected] (2/28)

JOB OPENING: DIR BRAND PARTNERSHIPS/Stage 13/California: Resp for driving sales efforts & reaching target accts & agencies for Stage 13, a fearless original digital content brand. 8+ yrs exp digital media sales w/in a Ent/media or ad agency. Mobile adv. a plus. Full info/apply HERE (2/20)

JOB OPENING: CONTENT & PROD COUNSEL/A+E/NY: Provide legal counsel in the areas of pre-brdcst, IP, 1^st Amendment, risk assessment & legal analysis. 5-7 yrs legal exp with a min of 2 yrs exp in a TV law environment. JD required. Apply HERE (2/20)

JOB OPENING: SALES ASSISTANT/GSNTV/New York: 1-2 yrs. Ad Sales exp. in cble/TV and/or entertainment. BA Degree; Deal maintenance, traffic, mtg. prep, and admin duties. Please visit www.gsntv.com and click careers (2/20)

JOB OPENING: VP, CONSUMER MARKETING/The First Tee/FL: Oversee mgmt & dev of mktg plans & advertising from ground up. Sprvs creation/delivery of: live events, co. initiatives & projects connected to its affiliate ntwk. mktg the brand to generate exposure & increase engagement. 10+ yrs exp. Full info/apply HERE (2/20)

JOB OPENING: VP, CONSUMER RESEARCH/The First Tee/FL: Lead team to support quantitative/qualitative rsrch to help org understand lifestyles & behaviors of our target aud to inform bus strat. Resp for conducting rsrch & relevancy of our brand, its affiliates among kids & key insights about golf. Apply HERE (2/20)

JOB OPENING: ENGINEER IN CHARGE/ALLIED SPORTS/LAS VEGAS EIC for brand new sports arena, emphasis on live broadcasting, IP and IT technology, 5-7+ yrs exp in live broadcasting esports/gaming knowledge a plus. Apply [email protected] (2/17)

JOB OPENING: VP BUSINESS & LEGAL AFFAIRS/AWESOMENESS/SANTA MONICA,CA: Ensure legal compliance & optimize our business objectives & goals across the multiple Awesomeness networks. 8+ years Legal / Business & Legal Affairs exp. Member CA Bar. Apply: HERE (2/16)

JOB OPENING: ANALYST, PROGRAM RESEARCH/NBCU/NY: Resp for analyzing & reporting for the Program Research dept. Provide viewing trends & analysis to multiple depts. Create reports & presentations on Bravo & Oxygen audience dynamics. Apply: HERE (2/16)

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT – THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15

ABC: The Bachelor Winter Games, 20/20

CBS: The Big Bang Theory [r], Young Sheldon [r], The Big Bang Theory [r], Mom [r], S.W.A.T. [r]

CW: Supernatural [r], Arrow [r]

FOX: Gotham [r], 9-1-1 [r]

NBC: 2018 Winter Olympics

PBS: This Old House Hour, Victoria on Masterpiece [r], Antiques Roadshow [r]

Telemundo: Jose Jose, el Principle de la Cancion, Sangre de mi Tierra, Senora Acero 4

Univision: El Rico y Lazaro, Papa a Toda Madre, Caer en Tentacion

02/15/18: The CW supersizes with Sunday

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