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Wednesday March 3, 2021

Today’s Finales
Fox: “Name That Tune” at 8p
Travel: “Beyond the Unknown” at 10p

IN THE NEWS

E.W. Scripps Company is launching two new, reality-based national television networks, Doozy and Defy TV, on July 1. Doozy will serve women 25-54, while Defy TV will target men 25-54. They join Scripps nets ION, Bounce, Laff, Grit, Court TV, Court TV Mystery and Newsy. “By creating compelling new network programming to distribute through ION’s spectrum, Scripps is expanding the ways it creates value from our ownership of ION and its powerful distribution platform,” said Scripps Networks President Lisa Knutson. Scripps acquired ION Media in January.

Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has joined Fox News as an on-air commentator. Early in her career, McEnaney was a producer for FNC’s “Huckabee,” and later worked as a commentator on CNN.

The 2021 Primetime Emmys will take place Sunday, September 19 on CBS, announced the network and the Television Academy. The ceremony will also be available on Paramount+, the ViacomCBS streamer making its debut tomorrow, March 4.

Starz inked a multiyear first window deal with Lionsgate, for theatrically released Lionsgate and Summit films when current deals expire. The agreement is “the next logical step in capitalizing on the combination of our two companies,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “It gives our brands and franchises an exciting new platform home, accelerates the convergence of our studio and platform businesses and will support Starz’s continued growth into one of the world’s leading premium subscription platforms.” Starz is a Lionsgate company.

Disney hosted a show for media buyers that showcased technology aimed at helping marketers take better advantage of Disney’s diverse assets. A new data offering, DRAX, enables real-time programmatic bidding; Disney Select allows marketers to select desired audiences based on buyer behavior, household characteristics and psychographics; and transactional ad format GatewayGo pairs Hulu’s traditional ads with interactive prompts and personalized offers.

Entertainment One has entered into an overall deal for television with actress/singer Keke Palmer (“Scream”). eOne will manage worldwide rights and serve as the studio on all projects under the partnership.

For its upcoming season five, viewers of Fox singing competition “The Masked Singer” will have a chance for cash prizes for correcty predicting what will happen on the show, via theFox Bet Super 6 app. For every correct answer, users of the app will receive an entry for a prize drawing.

Altice USA has agreed to purchase high-speed data, video and voice services provider Morris Broadband. “Morris is a perfect fit for Altice as we are accelerating our network expansion with increased investment in edge outs, upgrades of underdeveloped systems and FTTH deployment to drive customer, revenue and cash flow growth,” said Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei. “We look forward to providing our high-quality broadband, video, mobile, and news offerings to thousands of additional homes and businesses, with a great opportunity to further penetrate Morris’ existing homes passed and by expanding more into adjacent areas.”

The title of Chief Anchor at ABC News, previously held by George Stephanopoulos, has been retired, according to CNN, as ABC divides breaking news duties between the GMA anchor and “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir. Stephanopoulos will have a production company set up at ABC for projects across Disney platforms, according to CNN, and helm four prime time specials on ABC per year.

E!’s “In the Room” host Jason Kennedy is leaving the interview show after 16 years. “COVID restrictions made it impossible to capture interviews with celebrities in a more personal setting, so I’ve decided to explore new opportunities,” Kennedy posted on Instagram.

Faster than a speeding bullet (almost), CW renewed “Superman & Lois” for a second season. In addition to strong premiere night ratings, the series grew from 1.7 million to 2.7 million viewers in Live+3, and shot up by 93% in the A18-34 demo.

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CBS issued two pilot orders for CBS Studios projects

. One is a comedy inspired by How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men, by TikTok star Sarah Cooper from writer Cimey Chupack and producers Nine Tassler and Denise Di Novi; the other is a comedy based on pro bowler Tom Smallwood’s life, from writer Mark Gross and producers David Hollander and Brian D’Arcy.

Peacock ordered science series “The End Is Nye,” hosted and executive produced by educator, engineer, author and inventor Bill Nye (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”). The series, described as a “scientific blueprint for surviving anything that comes our way,” is produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio and UCP, and Seth MacFarlane’s (“Cosmos,” “The Orville”) Fuzzy Door.

Amazon picked up a second season of fashion competition “Making the Cut.” Hosts Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn will return, joined by judges Winnie Harlow, a model, and Moschino Creative Director Jeremy Scott.

“Roar,” based on short stories by Cecilia Ahern, got a green light from Apple TV+. Nicole Kidman (“The Undoing”), Cynthia Erivo (“Geius: Aretha”), Merrit Wever (“Nurse Jackie”) and Alison Brie (“Community”) will star in the anthology series from GLOW creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch.

“Bridesman,” a short-form series for dating app Grindr, follows a gay bridesman as he undermines his best friend’s wedding. The show, created by John Oneil, begins production this month.

Digital advertising company Adsmovil announced a partnership with streamer HipHopTV and COCINA, a Latin food and lifestyle website, to form Adsmovil Studio, a content studio combining ideation and storytelling aimed at US Hispanics. “Adsmovil Studio is an ideal scenario for brands who are looking to reach US Hispanics with immersive content experiences that will have greater impact and interaction with their target audience,” said Andrew Polsky, Chief Revenue Officer of Adsmovil. “As more brands look to connect and influence minority groups in the US, direct publisher relationships become mission critical to provide quality inventory at scale in a brand safe environment.”

HBO Max and BBC One are co-producing psychological thriller “The Girl Before,” a limited series based on the bestselling book of the same name, from 42. The four-parter stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“The Morning Show,” “Misbehaviour”) and David Oyelowo (“Selma,” “Les Misérables”). Lisa Brühlmann (“Killing Eve”) will direct.

Dakota Fanning will pay Susan Ford in Showtime anthology series “First Lady.” The show reunites Fanning with her “I Am Sam” (2001) co-star Michelle Pfeiffer, who will play Betty Ford.

NEW + RETURNING SERIES

Ewan McGregor (“Trainspotting”) narrates “Stormborn,” following animals in remote and rugged landscapes. The first of three episodes premieres Wednesday, March 10 at 8p, part of Smithsonian Channel’s “Wild Wednesdays” lineup of natural history programming.

Fox is getting more animated on Mondays. Comedy “Housebroken,” with a voice cast including Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”), Nat Faxon (“Married”), Tony Hale (“Veep”) and Will Forte (“The Last Man on Earth”) premieres Monday, May 31 at 9p, followed by the season bow of “Duncanville” at 9:30p. “Housebroken” follows a group of neighborhood pets working through their issues.

Season five of Fox’s “The Masked Singer” will have some twists, it was revealed during a TCA panel on Tuesday. A secret celebrity guest, “Cluedle-doo,” will interrupt the show to provide clues about identities (which may or may not be helpful), and there will be wildcard rounds, with incognito celebs jumping in during the show’s run to steal someone else’s spot.

In more TCA news, Fox introduced a trailer for season two of “Prodigal Son” with two familiar faces – Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Chicago”) and Alan Cumming (“The Good Wife”), who will recur. HBO Max has acquired exclusive US SVOD rights to the drama, which returns for season two on Tuesday, April 13.

New seasons of “Strange Evidence” and “What on Earth?” premiere Thursday, March 11 on discovery+, and on Science Channel at 9p and 10p.

“Just Angela,” focused on Angela Simmons, daughter of rap pioneer Rev. Run, premiers on AspireTV Tuesday, March 30 at 9p. A recurring segment of the show will spotlight up and coming Black-owned businesses, featured on the aspireMKTPLC, an online directory of Black-owned businesses. “Just Angela” comes from Kin. “AspireTV is proud to partner with Kin and debut this new series featuring powerful and influential #girlboss Angela Simmons during Women’s History Month,” said Melissa Ingram, SVP, Multicultural Networks and Strategy, UP Entertainment. “To be able to use our platform to showcase a strong female entrepreneur like Angela while also promoting flourishing Black-owned businesses from the aspireMKTPLC in ‘Just Angela,’ is truly incredible.”

Season one of spy thriller “Condor” debuts Sunday, March 7 at 10p, following the mid-season premiere of “Pennyworth,” on Epix.

Pre-school series “Baby Shark’s Big Show!” premieres Friday, March 26 at 12:30p on Nickelodeon. New episodes will roll out Fridays.

TV One’s “Unsung” returns with new episodes on Sunday, March 21 at 9p. First musician to be profiled: Morris Day.

COMING UP

Genius Brands International is bringing five “Scooby-Doo” animated movies to its digital platform, Kartoon Channel, set to launch during “Friday Family Fun Films” on March 5.

Ten producing teams will vie for up to $150,000 in project funding at the Black Public Media PitchBLACK Forum, an interactive pitching competition. The event culminates the fourth edition of BPM’s 360 Incubator+ fellowship, a professional development program designed to identify and pipeline quality Black content. The virtual PitchBlack Forum will be held Wednesday, April 7 and Thursday, April 8.

The sports shutdown in March 2020 is explored in “The Day Sports Stood Still,” a feature-length doc from HBO Sports, Imagine Documentaries and Fuqua Films. The film debuts Wednesday, March 24 at 9p on HBO.

TECH TALK

Tremor International announced its expanded creative studio, Tr.ly. “We are excited to offer our clients an even more advanced experience for showcasing their brand stories,” said Les Seifer, VP, Creative, Tremor International. “With our newly combined Tr.ly team, we can now offer our clients cutting-edge creative solutions backed by our own unique, proprietary data and insights.”

Music video network Vevo announced it has selected iSpot as a TV ad measurement and attribution solution, enabling Vevo to distinguish CTV audiences from those viewing on other platforms to authenticate a campaign’s incremental reach. “Vevo can be bought like TV, and now, measured all the more like TV. However, unlike traditional TV, we provide brands with scaled access to younger, harder-to-reach audiences,” said Bryon Schafer, SVP, Research, Vevo.

Video advertising platform SpotX announced a strategic partnership with Crackle Plus to serve as a primary supply-side platform to power the video monetization of Crackle Plus inventory across both existing and new distribution channels. Crackle Plus is enhancing Crackle and Popcornflix’s VOD experiences as it expands its marketing activities into FAST channels.

NEP Group, the outsourced technical production partner for producers of live sports and entertainment, has acquired Vista Worldlink, provider of centralized broadcast solutions. The acquisition supports NEP’s strategic goal of becoming the worldwide leader in Centralized (Remote) Production.

STREAMING

fuboTV closed its strongest fourth quarter and year ever, topping $100 million in quarterly revenue for the first time ($105.1 million). fuboTV ended 2020 with 547,880 paid subscribers, including 92,800 net subscriber additions in the fourth quarter. “fuboTV’s fourth quarter closed our strongest fiscal year to date,” said David Gandler, co-founder and CEO, fuboTV. “Building on this quarter and year, we remain focused on continued innovation and are excited about our growth opportunities for 2021, including the ongoing expansion of our advertising business and the development of our own sportsbook.”

Vudu is now available on Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex. Xfinity customers can access Vudu’s catalog of movies and TV shows, along with a library of new releases available for rental or purchase and content in 4K UHD. Titles new on Vudu this month include “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run,” “Minari,” “The Mauritanian” and Pixar’s “Soul.”

Crunchyroll introduced a new beta experience for Crunchyroll Premium web users based in the US, including a mobile responsive experience, updated homepage, redesigned browse and watch pages, new search capabilities and the new Crunchylists feature. Within Crunchyroll Beta, the Crunchyroll homepage has a new user interface, redesigned to fit the needs of the anime community.

Digital media and entertainment company DMR has launched three of its digital linear channels on VIZIO SmartCast TVs: RetroCrush, Midnight Pulp and Cocoro.

GOING GLOBAL

Series Mania (August 26-September 2) and the Berlinale Co-Production Market (Berlinale) have again formed a partnership agreement surrounding Berlinale’s Co-Pro Series. As part of the partnership, Series Mania and Berlinale have set up a “Project Exchange,” whereby one project pitched at Series Mania is invited to pitch again in Berlin.In return, Series Mania will invite a Berlinale project to pitch in Lille as part of its professional event, the Series Mania Forum, set to take place on August 30-September 1.

ODMedia announced the expansion of its European footprint with the opening of a new office in France. Based in Paris, the office will be headed up by Vladimir Gasic.

UK’s BBC Three, which transitioned to OTT in 2015, is getting its own linear channel again. “BBC Three is a BBC success story, backing creativity, new talent and brave ideas has resulted in hit after hit, from ‘Fleabag’ and ‘Man Like Mobeen,’ ‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK’ and Jesy Nelson’s ‘Odd One Out,’ to ‘Normal People’ and ‘This Country’,” said Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer. “The BBC needs to back success and make sure its programmes reach as many young people as possible wherever they live in the UK.”

RMVISTAR has renewed its Latin America licensing deal with NBCUniversal International Networks for nine movies in its collection of Aurora Teagarden Mysteries movies, and reached a new licensing agreement for the Latin American rights to “Double Holiday” and “Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” which aired in the US on Hallmark Channel.

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There were bragging rights for all three cable news nets in February. MSNBC delivered the most total day viewers (1.36 million), followed by Fox News (1.32 million) and CNN (1.19 million). CNN beat the competition in the A25-54 demo in both total day and primetime. Fox News regained the primetime crown, averaging 2.47 million viewers, versus 2.19 million for MSNBC and 1.69 million for CNN.

Hallmark Channel’s 2021 Love Ever After programming event made the network the #1 most-watched across entertainment cable in Primetime and on Saturdays during the month of February. The stunt, which featured movie premieres every Saturday night throughout the month, further elevated Hallmark Channel to become the #2 most-watched entertainment cable network during Total Day in February among Households, Women 18+, and Total Viewers. The premieres averaged 249,000 W25-54 and 2.3 million total viewers, and in total, reached 6.7 million unduplicated total viewers.

Univision finished the week of February 22 as the third most-watched broadcast network during primetime with 194,000 A18-34, and the fifth most-watched broadcast network, with 505,000 A18-49 and 1.4 million Total Viewers 2+.

In syndication, several shows hit multi-week highs in national Nielsen Live+SD HH ratings the week of February 14. In the talk show race “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (2.0, up 11% from the previous week) and “Dr. Phil” (2.0, up 43%) tied for the lead. “Live” scored its best number since late 2020, while “Phil” leapt to its biggest score in 13 weeks. It was a tight race at the top of the syndication chart – “Jeopardy” (6.1, up 9%) took over the lead from “Judge Judy” (5.9, up 23%). “Family Feud” (5.9, up 5%) and “Wheel of Fortune” (5.9, up 2%) tied for second place.

Basic Cable Top 5 for the week of February 22
Primetime (P2+)
Fox News (2,478,000)
MSNBC (1,967,000)
CNN (1,295,000)
ESPN (1,102,000)
HGTV (1,090,000)
Total Day (P2+)
Fox News (1,388,000)
MSNBC (1,166,000)
CNN (909,000)
HGTV (659,000)
Hallmark Channel (555,000)

TV Time Shows on the Rise for the week of February 22
Ginny & Georgia (Netflix) – 100%
Superman & Lois (The CW) – 100%a
Pékin Express (M6) – 98.80%
Les Marseillais (W9) – 95.60%
Solar Opposites (Hulu) – 93.00%
Hotel Paradise (PL) (TVN) – 91.80%
Love, Victor (Hulu) – 86.70%
Cougar Town (ABC) – 83.20%
The Great North (FOX) – 82.90%
The Conners (ABC) – 81.00%
Every week, millions of viewers around the world use TV Time to track their favorite series. “Shows on the Rise” is calculated by determining the week-over-week growth in episodes watched for a given program.

TV Time Binge Report for the week of February 22
Attack on Titan (NHK) – 2.26%
Ginny & Georgia (Netflix) – 1.82%
Modern Family (ABC US) – 1.72%
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC US) – 1.59%
WandaVision (Disney+) – 1.52%
One Piece (Fuji TV) – 1.50%
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC) – 1.40%
The Office (US) (NBC) – 1.39%
Behind Her Eyes (Netflix) – 1.26%
Naruto Shippuden (TV Tokyo) – 1.12%
The weekly Binge Report ranks shows with the most binge sessions. A binge session is when four or more episodes of a show are watched and tracked in the TV Time app within a given day.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Monday, March 1
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: “The Bachelor” 4.69 (1.1), “The Good Doctor” 1.95 (0.3)
CBS: “Neighborhood” 3.71(0.5), “Bob Hearts Abishola” 3.37 (0.4), “All Rise” 2.20 (0.3), “Bull” 3.01 (0.3)
CW: “All American” 0.74 (0.2), “Black Lightning” 0.41 (0.1)
ION: “NCIS: LA” 1.06 (0.2), “NCIS: LA” 0.96 (0.2), “NCIS: LA” 0.93 (0.2)
FOX: “9-1-1” 6.40 (1.1), “9-1-1: Lonestar” 5.34 (0.9)
NBC: “The Voice” 7.89 (1.1), “Debris” 4.37 (0.6)
Telemundo: Exatlon 1.01 (0.3), Suerte de Loli 1.06 (0.3), Buscando Frida 1.03 (0.4)
Univision: Vencer al Desamor 1.72 (0.4), Te Acuerdas De Mi 1.44 (0.4), Dulce Ambicion 1.74 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

As part of an extensive restructure of its marketing department, Crown Media Family Networks expanded roles of three executives, and announced four promotions. Jennifer Lee-Temple, formerly SVP, Print, Video & Web Design, will serve in the augmented role of SVP, Brand Design. Danielle Mullin, SVP of Marketing, will become SVP of Brand Marketing & Ad Sales Marketing. The role of Lissa Grunfeld, previously VP of Design Production, has expanded to VP of Brand Production & Operations. Promotions within the marketing department, which has been renamed Crown Global Brand Group, include Michael Grover to VP of Brand Marketing; Leilani Gushiken to Senior Director of Brand Production; Joe Kordash to Senior Director of Brand Motion Graphics; and Lyn Smith to Senior Director of Brand Editing.

Joe Ortiz has been appointed SVP Content Marketing at Freeform. Ortiz joins the company from NowThis.

Carlos Brito Lavalle has been named General Manager for Once Mexico. Previously, Brito Lavalle served as Coordinator of Operations, and as Coordinator of the Aprende en Casa (Learn at Home) I and II program, as well as Head of Once México’s Acquisitions Division.

Kevin Dunaway is joining VUit as VP of Affiliate Relations and Content Development. Dunaway was previously VP, GM and GSM at the CBS affiliate in Traverse City.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who was the first Black actress to star in a TV drama? Cicely Tyson, in “East Side/West Side” (1963-64). Kudos to: Rick Dascher-WarnerMedia Studios/Atlanta, Marie NeJame-WNYW/NYC, Tori Gallarello-Alcock-Little Roosters/Bronx, NY, Sandy Spiegel-WTTW/Chicago, Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Wendy Holmes/Denver, Greg West-WATC/Atlanta, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank, David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA, Susan Nessabaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Who did Carroll O’Connor play on “Party of Five” (1994-2000)? 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.)