PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
TNT picked up Deadlier Than the Male (wt), a suspense drama about three damaged people trying to start over. Lily Rabe (American Horror Story), Enrique Murciano (Without A Trace), Hamish Linklater (Fantastic Four), Chiara Aurelia (Pretty Little Liars) and Amy Brenneman (The Leftovers) star.
Amy Bloom’s White Houses novel was optioned for television by Michael Lombardo’s Buster Productions, with Katie Couric on board to produce with him. Project incorporates fictional and nonfictional elements to tell the story of Eleanor Roosevelt’s love affair with longtime friend Lorena Hickok.
Deadline reports that HBO is moving forward with Stuxnet (wt), a cyberwarfare project from Alex Gibney, as a miniseries with Downton Abbey producer Carnival Films. Also, the BBC is developing a dance competition from Tim Hincks and Peter Fincham’s Expectation.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
The final stage of extreme weight loss, My 600-lb Life: Skin Tight, debuts on TLC Wednesday, March 7 at 10p. Dr. Nowzaradan returns with other top plastic surgeons to work with subjects looking to undergo full-body transformations through skin removal.
WE tv reboot Bridezillas arrives Friday, March 2 at 10p. In honor of the reality series’ return, the network is bringing a free Bridezillas Museum of Natural Hysteria to 4 Times Square in New York City on Friday, February 23, running through March 4.
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network set premiere dates for two series: Iyana: Fix My Life is back Saturday, March 3 at 9p and The Book of John Gray arrives Tuesday, March 13 at 10p.
The suspicious deaths of scientific geniuses are explored in Deadly Intelligence, bowing Sunday, April 8 at 10p on Science Channel.
Jewish Life Television acquired Israeli Krav Maga from The J Media Global/ILTV. Series exploring the self-defense training system debuts Monday, February 19 at 4:30p.
Craig of the Creek debuts on Cartoon Network on Friday, March 30 at 6:25p. Series is also available on the CN app and VOD beginning Monday, February 19.
BYUtv launches season three of Relative Race on Sunday, March 4 at 9p. The competition series follows four teams competing in challenges for a $50,000 grand prize across the US as they discover unknown relatives identified through DNA testing.
COMING UP
ESPN and Poker Central released their preliminary live broadcast schedule for the World Series of Poker. The event will be covered every day beginning Monday, July 2 through Saturday, July 14. ESPN will also broadcast Big One for One Drop, a $1 million buy-in tournament on Monday, July 16 and Tuesday, July 17.
TNT’s NBA Talent Challenge, a one-hour competition, kicks off NBA All-Star Saturday Night from Los Angeles. “This year we wanted to find some NBA players with unexpected off-the-court talent,” Robert Horowitz, President of JUMA Entertainment, tells Cynopsis. “Saturday on TNT, in the Third Edition of the NBA Talent Challenge, we have stars showcasing their skills in cooking, impersonations, artwork, singing, percussion and video gaming. The addition of Snoop Dogg as a celebrity judge, joining judges Charles Barkley, Shaq, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson, should definitely make for an entertaining hour.”
RESEARCH
Nearly 90% of kids globally believe they can accomplish anything, including ending the war, tackling world hunger, and bringing happiness to the world, if they work hard enough. That information comes courtesy of a global research study, Kids of the World, launched by Nickelodeon parent Viacom Inc. The study surveyed nearly 6000 children aged 6 to 11 from 30 countries, along with in-depth video ethnographies in 11 countries. And good for them: 85% of the kids surveyed believe it’s better to try things and risk mistakes than never trying at all.
Comcast and the American Foundation for the Blind released a survey of people with visual disabilities showing that a majority experience TV four of more hours per day, which is almost as much as the general public. Many of those surveyed reported that today’s assistive technologies, like video description, text-to-speech and voice control, were helpful when they watched. However, those tools still suffer from low levels of awareness, according to the study.
ADVERTISING
Hispanic spending is projected to grow 85% over the next 10 years, reaching a massive $1.7 trillion by 2020. MAGNA and Univision released the results of “Marketing to the Hispanic Mindset,” which revealed that language and culture targeting in digital video ads can double purchase intent of Hispanic consumers as well as increase their emotional connection with brands.
SYNDICATION AND DISTRIBUTION
The Raw Word, a new syndicated talk show hosted by NY Times author and professor, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, launches on Sinclair station in 16 markets on Monday, March 5. EP Ice-T will guest host a number of episodes. Series begins shooting at CBS Studio Center in Studio City on February 28.
Green Apple Entertainment acquired North American rights to three documentaries, a feature film and mini-series from Bag Talk Entertainment. Included are American Rap Stars 2, How to Make a Major Independent Movie, Napoleon: Life of an Outlaw, Brooklyn Knight and Mahjongg. Projects will be distributed on television, video on demand, DVD/Blu-ray and digital platforms.
CASTING
Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential), Sorcha Groundsell (Clique) and Percelle Ascott (Wizard vs. Aliens) will star in Netflix’s British teen supernatural drama, The Innocents…. Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother) and SNL alum Rob Riggle are voicing the parents in Disney Junior’s Fancy Nancy…. Bruno Bichir (Absentia) will recur on Titans, the live-action series to be presented on the DC-branded digital service….Titus Makin (Glee) is set as a regular in ABC’s straight-to-series light crime drama The Rookie.
On the pilot front, Jordan L. Jones nabbed a starring role in FOX comedy Rel….Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo) was tapped to lead CBS legal drama, Main Justice.… Romany Malco (Weeds) was cast in ABC ensemble drama Million Little Things…. Janet Montgomery (Salem) landed the female lead in NBC’s untitled Bellevue hospital drama…. Kate Dennings (Two Broke Girls) will star in ABC’s Justin Noble workplace comedy.
DIGITAL DOINGS
On a CBS earnings call with analysts on Thursday, CEO Les Moonves said that subscriber growth for CBS All Access and Showtime’s OTT were “far beyond” what the network expected. The net’s over-the-top direct-to consumer services have nearly 5 million subscribers, and CBS anticipates reaching its goal of 8 million by 2020.
The sedan singing lives on. Apple renewed James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke for a second season.
Netflix is having a major effect on other networks’ TV advertising, according to an analysis by ScreenMedia that estimates the streamer has taken somewhere between $3 billion to $6 billion per year off the table in TV advertising revenue. A report from digital media analyst Colin Dixon notes that the average Netflix subscriber in the US misses seeing about 35 30-second commercials per day. Taking into account all of Netflix’s US subscribers, that comes to nearly 2 billion ad views a day.
Amazon has confirmed that Jeffrey Tambor is officially off Transparent, some three months after being accused of sexual harassment on the set. He leaves the series ahead of its upcoming fifth season. The investigation into Tambor’s misconduct was recently concluded, although no details were released.
Sold in America debuts on Newsy’s cable and over-the-top streaming channels on Sunday, February 18 at 9p. The new series explores the buying, selling and trafficking of sex in the US,
Regan Aliyah (Mickey Mouse Club) is teaming with Judah Bellamy (Just Add Magic) to host Elevated Daily. Show blends social justice news with topical stories and begins production at YouTube, today.
People TV goes inside Hollywood with two new docuseries. Hollywood’s Greatest Untold Stories, based on Entertainment Weekly’s popular franchise, takes a look at strange and surprising Hollywood tales. Couch Surfing, hosted by Lola Ogunnaike, features film and TV stars sharing stories about their most memorable performance.
GOING GLOBAL
Paramount Worldwide Television Licensing & Distribution announced that period drama The Alienist has been licensed to STUDIOCANAL in France. Show premiers on POLAR+ in April.
FreemantleMedia International and Deutsche Telekom’s EntertainTV are taking drama Picnic at Hanging Rock to German audiences later this year. Drama centers on the disappearance of three schoolgirls and their governess on Valentine’s Day 1900.
Hemisphere Media Group acquired exclusive rights from The Miss Universe Organization for the Miss Universe Puerto Rico Franchise. Event will be managed and executed by Puerto Rico’s leading broadcast network WAPA Television, which has had broadcast rights to the pageant since 2015.
Plimsoll Productions acquired Jobin Sampson’s Bearhug TV. Sampson assumes the position of Creative Director, Plimsoll Wales, where he will create, develop and produce unscripted programming with a focus on specialist factual series in the UK.
BBC Studio’s in Australia is producing a new season of science series Stargazing. To air on local broadcaster ABC.
