Today’s Premieres
Bravo: Top Chef at 8p
Discovery+: Restaurant Rivals: Irvine vs. Taffer

Today’s Finales
HGTV: Married to Real Estate at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Jennifer Hudson is headed to the small screen this fall. Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has sold daytime talk show “The Jennifer Hudson Show” to Fox Television Stations. Hearst Television and additional station groups representing more than 60 percent of the country are also on board for the launch.

The “MTV Movie & TV Awards”will take place Sunday, June 5, followed the next day by the reality TV-focused “Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted.” Both events will be held live at Santa Monica’s Barker Hanger. The two shows also aired back to back in 2021, and the production team from last year is back with MTV’s Bruce Gillmer, Wendy Plaut and Vanessa Whitewolf and Den Of Thieves’ Jesse Ignjatovic and Barb Bialkowski exec-producing.

“So You Think You Can Dance” will twirl back onto Fox this summer, three years after the dance competition’s last season aired. Fox paused production on season 17 of the show in June 2020 due to Covid-19. Auditions for the new season will take place in NY, LA and New Orleans this month.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is growing again. The media company is acquiring 1091 Pictures in a $15.55 million deal that will boost its streaming business, which includes Crackle and Popcornflix. The 1091 roster is about 4,000 titles strong and spans genres. It also has a portfolio of AVOD channels and ad-supported TV networks that reach a combined 1 billion ad impressions. CSFTS bought Screen Media in 2017 and plans to combine 1091 with that existing business unit.

“The Bold and the Beautiful” will be delivering daytime drama on CBS for two more years. The network renewed the soap through the 2023-24 season as it approaches its 35-year milestone on the air.

Global networks including the UK’s Channel 4 are racing to pick up Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s comedy series “Servant of the People.” The 2016 satire features Zelensky playing the president, before he actually became president of Ukraine three years later. The series also has been sold by distributor Eccho Rights to MBC in the Middle East, ANT 1 in Greece and PRO TV in Romania.

HBO Max and WarnerMedia OneFifty are expanding their annual Latino Short Film Competition. The WarnerMedia companies are partnering with the Georgia Latino Film Festival, the Houston Latino Film Festival, the LA Latino International Film Festival, the Miami Film Festival, the New York Latino Film Festival and the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival so the competition, presented by HBO Max, can optimize the networks of each of the six participating festivals to elevate diverse Latino voices.

Essence announced its slate of honorees for the 15th Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards. Actress/producer/director Nia Long (“You People”), actress Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”), actress/comedian/creator Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”) and actress Chante Adams (“A Journal For Jordan”) will be feted at the March 24 event, hosted by “Snowfall” actor Damson Idris.

UPFRONTS UPDATE

A+E Networks teased nearly 2,000 new hours of programming across its brands A&E, History and Lifetime anchored by A-list talent ahead of its annual Upfront presentation to advertisers, held virtually yesterday. “It all comes down to great storytelling in collaboration with A-list storytellers in-front-of and behind-the-camera,” said Paul Buccieri, President/Chairman, A+E Networks Group. “As our industry continues to evolve, we remain focused on premium, popular and relevant stories and storytellers and are expanding the ways our viewers can find our content.”

Among the highlights: Launching in fall 2022 is 4UV (For Unheard Voices), which will feature original content developed by and For Unheard Voices and live across the A+E Networks portfolio of linear, digital, social, and podcasts, and as a standalone FAST channel. A+E Networks executives also called for an updated currency to transact in today’s multiplatform media landscape. Their recent research study, Total Audience: Every Person Counts, revealed the discrepancy between how mature adults are depicted in ad creative and the way they view themselves and want to be seen.

Today, March 3: Disney Advertising Tech and Data Showcase at 2p (virtual)
March 15-16: Black Owned Media Upfront at 1p (virtual)
March 22: NBCUniversal’s One22 Conference at 11a (30 Rock Studio H)
March 23: Fox’s Content Drives Commerce Brand Partnership Summit (Fox Lot, LA)
March 24: Nickelodeon at 4p (Palladium Times Square)
April 1: Black Owned Media Upfront at 1p (virtual)
April 6: Disney’s Sports Summit (virtual); AMC Networks at 6:30p (The Peak in Hudson Yards)
April 26: Disney Storyteller’s Showcase
May 2-6: IAB NewFronts
May 2: NBCUniversal/Peacock NewFront
May 3: Roku at 11:30a (Caldwell Factory)
May 16: NBCUniversal (Radio City Music Hall); Telemundo (Ziegfeld Theater); Fox (Skylight)
May 17: Discovery (Jazz at Lincoln Center); Disney (Basketball City at Pier 36); YouTube Brandcast at 8p; Univision
May 18: Paramount (Carnegie Hall); WarnerMedia (Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden)
May 19: The CW (New York City Center Theater)

OTT VIRTUAL CONFERENCE = FIVE DAYS OUT!

First Look: OTT Virtual Conference takes place next week! Don’t miss your chance to hear from the OG’s on the opportunities and risks involved in spending your advertising dollars with OTT.

FIND OUT MORE

PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

As interest in Pamela Anderson continues to soar, a new doc on the pop culture icon is headed to Netflix. From director Ryan White (“Ask Dr. Ruth”), the film will feature exclusive access to Anderson, never before seen footage and takes from her personal journals that offer an intimate portrait of Anderson as she reflects on her professional and personal journey. Anderson shot back into the spotlight recently after the debut of Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy. White is producing for Netflix with Jessica Hargrave, Julia Nottingham and Brandon Thomas Lee, with Josh Braun exec-producing.

Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. is the subject of a limited scripted series in the works at Lionsgate Television, which optioned Gabriel Sherman’s Vanity Fair article on Falwell Jr. Sherman is adapting and exec-producing his story with Michael London and Shannon Gaulding of Groundswell Productions. The article, published last month, details how Falwell Jr. was brought down by a sex scandal.

Artist, actress, producer and recent Super Bowl halftime show performer Mary J. Blige is back in business with Lifetime. Blige will serve as exec producer for the romantic drama “Real Love” through her production banner Blue Butterfly, alongside Ashaunna Ayars and Nicole Jackson. Blige previously co-exec-produced Lifetime’s top-rated original movie of 2020, “The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel,” and starred as Dr. Betty Shabazz in her first movie role in the Lifetime civil rights biopic “Betty & Coretta.”

Lots of headliners are headed to the History Channel. Leonardo DiCaprio, Ray Liotta, Peyton Manning, Pierce Brosnan and Robin Roberts are all on board for the network’s latest slate of non-scripted programming. DiCaprio is helming docuseries “Sitting Bull,” which delves into the life of the legendary Hunkpapa Lakota chief; Liotta is helming eight-part series “Five Families,” about the rise and fall of the NY mafia’s five families; Manning and his Omaha Productions are behind “The Einstein Challenge” and “History’s Greatest of All-Time with Peyton Manning”; Brosnan is hosting “History’s Greatest Heists,” from the Wilcox train robbery of 1899 to Boston’s Great Brink robbery in 1950; and “Good Morning America’s” Roberts is behind WWI series “Harlem Hellfighters,” a four-part series that details the story of the Hellfighters through the eyes of band leader James Europe and Privates Henry Johnson and Horace Pippin.

A+E Network is bolstering its lifestyle programming with the commission of 200 new hours of original content for Home.Made.Nation that will live across A&E Network, the History Channel, Lifetime and FYI. The first tranche of programs will air on A&E, which will expand the Home.Made.Nation block to Sundays and broaden its offerings to include food content.

Five-part unscripted doc series “Murder Inc.” (wt) is in the works at BET. Detailing the untold tale of the rise, sudden fall and redemption of Murder Inc. Records, and Irv Gotti Lorenzo, the mastermind behind the label, the project is exec-produced by Gotti and music artist Ja Rule. It’s scheduled to premiere this summer.

Charley and Vlas Parlapanides, writer/producers behind “Immortals” and Netflix animated series “Blood of Zeus,” are teaming with screenwriter Dan Gordon (“The Hurricane”) and writer/artist John Stanisci (“Batman Beyond”) to develop “Gladiatrix.” The property, based on the gladiator battles of 5th century Rome, is being simultaneously developed as a graphic novel and television series.

ADD Content, the company behind the HBO’s smash “Euphoria,” and Blue Ant Studios forged a scripted format development deal for a North American remake of “The First Family.” The companies will co-develop and co-produce a local version of the original Israeli series co-created by Shachar Magan (“Possessions”) and Noa Rotman, granddaughter of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

WarnerMedia Kids & Family picked up new eps of “Jellystone!” ahead of the animated series’ season 2 premiere Thursday, March 17 on HBO Max.

Skydance Sports, the sports-content division of Skydance Media, and Religion of Sports, helmed by Tom Brady and Michael Strahan, are teaming to develop, finance and produce sports-related content for scripted television, documentary and audio. The first project in development is “The Owl,” a scripted, rags-to-riches story about an orphaned, American-born boxer with Mexican lineage who travels across the border to locate his family and is thrust into the world of Mexican boxing.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

New episodes of TV One’s original docuseries “Unsung” return Sunday, March 6 at 9p followed by the season debut of “Uncensored,” featuring R&B singer Keyshia Cole, at 10p.

“La Mesa Caliente,” Telemundo’s newest talk show, will debut Monday, March 7 at 3p. The series features four empowered women, each representing different perspectives and opinions, who discuss the biggest stories and entertainment news of the day, as well as the most controversial real-life issues affecting the US Hispanic community.

“Street Outlaws: America’s List” races back to Discovery on Monday, March 21 at 8p, complemented by companion series “Street Outlaws: America’s List – After Hours,” debuting Tuesday, March 15 at 9p. Twenty-five street racers compete in the ultimate head-to-head competition to claim the No. 1 spot in the new season.

Hulu’s “The Girl From Plainville,” starring Elle Fanning, got a new trailer this week in advance of the series’ debut on Tuesday, March 29. Inspired by the true story of Michelle Carter’s unprecedented “texting-suicide” case, the series is based on the Esquire article of the same name by Jesse Barron and explores Carter’s relationship with Conrad Roy III and the events that led to his death and, later, her conviction of involuntary manslaughter.

Apple TV+ unveiled the trailerfor “Slow Horses,” the Gary Oldman-starring espionage series that debuts Friday, April 1. The darkly humorous espionage drama follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 known un-affectionately as Slough House.

The official trailer is out for the first season of “The Outlaws,” premiering on Amazon Prime Video Friday, April 1. From writer/director Stephen Merchant (“The Office”) and Elgin James (“Mayans M.C.”), the six-ep series is a comedy thriller about a disparate group of lawbreakers thrown together to complete a community service sentence.

Paramount+ set Friday, April 8 for the return of “iCarly.” The series reunites Miranda Cosgrove with Josh Peck, as seen in the latest trailer. Season 2 picks up right after the season 1 ended, as Carly refocuses on her friends and family and works to amp her revived web channel.

Showtime docuseries “Couples Therapy” will return for a third season in May. Further details on the new season and official premiere date are to come.

COMING UP

Amazon Studios dropped a trailer for “Master,” slated for release Friday, March 18 on the streamer. Starring Regina Hall, Zoe Renee and Amber Gray, the film follows three women striving to find their place at a prestigious New England university where the prevalent elitism may disguise something more sinister.

STREAMING

In a $72 million deal, Netflix will purchase Next Games, the Finnish games developer whose credits include the mobile game “Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales.” The company has approximately 120 employees, and 95 percent of its revenues are generated from in-game purchases.

Allen Media Group’s free streaming platform Local Now is the new home of PBS Digital Studios’ content. PBS Digital Studios’ original series and short-form programming including “Be Smart,” “Eons” and “Sound Field” average 29 million users and 50 million views monthly on YouTube. Local Now offers more than 420 free streaming channels.

Disney is expanding its Self Service business in a bid to democratize access to streaming inventory across its portfolio of brands. Disney Advertising is opening Self-Serve Platform, known as Hulu Ad Manager, to agencies, and launching an on-demand curriculum to empower underrepresented-owned small businesses. Additionally, advertisers will have turnkey access and seamless setup through the self-serve solution, with a faster time from sign-up-to-launch campaigns.

TECH TALK

In a first for TikTok, the platform will debut a fully produced sketch comedy series, “Stapleview,” today (March 3). The Sam Grey-backed series will stream along with a dedicated channel on TikTok Live, with subsequent distribution planned across social media. “Stapleview” cast members, including Dylan Adler, Sydney Battle, Sarah Coffey and Gray Fagan, have amassed more than 7 million social media followers among them. The series is exec-produced by Grey and Stoney Sharp (“Comedy Bang! Bang!”).

The newly established Fox Audio Network, which combines all of Fox’s news, sports, and entertainment podcasts into one portfolio, announced an advertising and distribution deal with Spotify company Megaphone as its exclusive hosting platform.

KIDS NEWS

Disney Junior will stage the inaugural Fun Fest, a one-day event celebrating the music and stories of the preschool network’s series, Friday, April 29 at California Adventure park in Anaheim. Fun Fest will include sneak peeks at upcoming Disney Junior series plus stage shows and surprise appearances.

CASTING

Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld”) will star opposite Daniel Radcliffe in Roku’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” in the role of Madonna… Robin De Jesus has joined the cast of Hulu’s “Immigrant” in a recurring role… Billy Burke (“Maid”) and Kevin Alejandro (“Lucifer”) will topline alongside Max Thieriot in CBS drama pilot “Cal Fire.”

AND THE SPORTS MEDIA AWARDS BRAND OF THE YEAR IS…

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RATINGS

President Biden’s inaugural State of the Union address drew just over 32.3 million viewers across broadcast and cable. Fox News Channel drew the most viewers during the time period, with 6.9 million, followed by ABC (5.9 million) and CBS (4.6 million). NBC and CNN were tied for fourth place with 4.5 million watching.

Hallmark Channel’s inaugural “Loveuary” programming event concluded this weekend, propelling the network to become the most-watched entertainment cable network on weekends in February among W18+, as well as in Weekend Prime among HHs and W18+. The three new original movie premieres ranked as the most-watched entertainment program of the day and of the week on their respective air dates and averaged 2.5 million Total Viewers.

For the week ended February 20, the two top syndicated Disney talkers “Live with Kelly and Ryan” and “Tamron Hall” were among the very few shows able to gain ground in the second week of the Beijing Winter Olympics. “Live” took over first place in talk with a guest lineup beginning with a Valentine’s Day “Love Show” featuring George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth, his wife of more than 20 years. “Dr Phil” was second. Further back, newcomer “The Good Dish” had the largest weekly decline in talk. Most of the major syndicated programs were retitled to reflect the Olympic competition and thus their ratings during the games will not be included in their regular full season averages. For example “Extra” was the only one of the seven magazines that was not renamed but still snared an additional 29,000 viewers each day and held its ground at its second-highest household level of the season. “Entertainment Tonight” led the category, jumping into a tie with “Inside Edition.”
All game shows were retitled. “Family Feud” finished first, followed by “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune.”

Broadcast Nielsen Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of February 14, ranked in order by HH Rtg
Family Feud (CMV) 5.6 AA
Jeopardy (CMV) 5.4 AA
Wheel of Fortune (CMV) 4.9 AA
Judge Judy (CMV) 4.5 AA
The Big Bang Theory (WB) 2.1 AA
Inside Edition (CMV) 2.0 AA
Entertainment Tonight (CMV) 2.0 AA
Live With Kelly and Ryan (DAD) 1.7 AA
The Dr. Phil Show (CMV) 1.5 AA
Last Man Standing (DAD) 1.5 AA
Hot Bench (CMV) 1.4 AA

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Tuesday, March 1
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: “Judge Steve Harvey” 3.01 (0.4), “State of The Union” 6.30 (1.1), “Analysis” 5.07 (0.8)
CBS: “FBI” 4.67 (0.4), “State of the Union” 4.86 (0.6), “Analysis” 3.61 (0.5)
CW: “Superman & Lois” 0.76 (0.1), “Naomi” 0.48 (0.1)
FOX: “The Resident” 1.29 (0.2) “State of the Union” 1.86 (0.4)
NBC: “American Auto” 2.06 (0.3), “Grand Crew” 1.47 (0.3), “State of the Union” 4.71 (0.9). “Analysis” 3.75 (0.7)
Telemundo: “Exatlon” 0.97 (0.3), “Estado de la Nacion” 1.16 (0.3)
Univision: “Rosa de Guadelupe” 1.54 (0.4), “Soltero Con Hijas” 1.52 (0.5), “Not Uni Presenta” 1.35 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

ABC News promoted Stacia Philips Deshishku to the newly created position of executive editor and SVP.

Kyle Davies, the former Paramount Pictures chief, joined Bleecker Street as president of distribution.

Stephanie Ito heading back to Paramount as president, post-production & innovation less than a year after departing the studio. Ito returns from her stint as head of production at Epic Games Studios.

Anonymous Content is elevating five managers and producers—Alex Goldstone, Carolyn Govers, Kim Hodgert, Duncan Millership, and Heather Nunn—to partner status. Goldstone has been a manager in Anonymous’ literary division; Govers, Hodgert, Millership and Nunn are all housed in the talent division.

The Diner, a production music library for commercials, TV and film, promoted Christian Celaya to creative director.

Julia Sinkevych, co-founder of the Ukrainian Film Academy, has been named jury president for this year’s Series Mania. Sinkevych is also a member of the European Film Academy.

IN MEMORIAM

Veteran film producer Alan Ladd Jr., who won a Best Picture Oscar for “Braveheart” and commissioned George Lucas to pen Star Wars, died March 3. He was 84. Ladd, who also held executive roles at Fox and MGM/United Artists, was also behind such Hollywood hits as “Alien,” “Blade Runner,” ‘Chariots of Fire,” “The Omen,” “Thelma & Louise” and “Young Frankenstein.”

Farrah Forke, the actress known for her co-starring role on NBC sitcom “Wings,” died February 25 of cancer. She was 54. The Corpus Christi, Texas native, made her feature debut in 1991’s “Brain Twisters.” Her other credits include films “Disclosure” and “Ground Control,” and TV movies “Journey to the Center of the Earth, “Complex of Fear” and “Abandoned and Deceived.” She also voiced the character Big Barda on the animated series “Batman Beyond” and “Justice League Unlimited.”

This Day in History
1931 – The “Star Spangled Banner,” written by Francis Scott Key, was adopted as the American national anthem.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
On which show did Halle Berry win her first series regular role? “Living Dolls” (1989) Kudos to: William Anthony King-NBC Universal/Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NY; Anthony Salerno-Horizon Media/NY; Anne Thomason-Canvas Worldwide/Atlanta; Greg West-WATC TV/Atlanta; Sandy Spiegel/Chicago; Dan Whitford-WTTW/Chicago; Randall Bosley-Studio Talent Group/Santa Monica

Today’s Trivia Question
On which series did Uma Thurman make her TV debut? 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.)

Cynopsis Team