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Tuesday March 9, 2021

IN THE NEWS

Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Sunday drew over 17 million viewers and a 2.6 rating among A18-49, according Nielsen fast nationals, the largest primetime audience for an entertainment broadcast since the February 2020 Academy Awards. It was also CBS’ most-live-streamed event outside of the NFL and Super Bowl Sunday this season.

Yesterday, International Women’s Day, Laura Molen, President, Advertising Sales & Partnerships, NBCUniversal, announced the creation of the Empowerment and Inclusion Council. “This new council is an open forum and collaborative space for our leading NBCU teams to look around every corner for our partners and present opportunities that will identify, unify, and amplify messages to both celebrate and support women and diverse audiences,” said Molen. “With this council, we are putting the full power of NBCU’s One Platform behind the causes our marketers and viewers care about, and that will make the world better for women, and for everyone.” Two brands that have jumped aboard are Pure Leaf and Frida Mom.

President Joe Biden will give a primetime address on Thursday, March 11, one year after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the country. “He will discuss the many sacrifices the American people have made over the past year, and the grave loss communities and families across the country have suffered,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. “The president will look forward, highlighting the role that Americans will play in beating the virus and moving the country toward getting back to normal.”

Despite industry backlash, AT&T’s experiment with releasing new Warner Bros. movies simultaneously in theaters and on HBO and HBO Max has “worked out well for all,” said CFO John Stephens. Speaking at the Deutsch Bank Media, Internet and Telecom Conference, Stephens noted, “What we’ve seen is not only good viewership of those movies on HBO Max, but engagement that followed, that’s been encouraging. So real success with it so far.”

The Interactive Advertising Bureau released its “IAB Outlook: 2021 Digital Ad Ecosystem” report, from PwC, building on the theme “The Great Reset.” Major trends to watch, based on interviews with thought leaders, include:
· Consumers no longer think the exchange of free content for ad delivery is good enough – the value exchange must be reset. Free content in exchange for seeing ads is losing its value, as consumers have grown accustomed to content without interruption from streaming services, and advertising pods may feel too long and too disruptive.
· Expect more Walled Gardens with higher walls, as third-party identifiers go away. The industry is ill-prepared for the loss of third-party cookies and identifiers.
· Some retailers, spurred by the pandemic and accelerated changes in digital shopping habits, have already evolved into media companies and are building real strength.
· Attributable business results are now media imperatives. As marketing is redefined and new consumer purchasing paths captured, future innovation will require both human and machine working in tandem.
· For all to thrive, hate speech, fraud, and misinformation must be solved for.
“With new consumer behaviors and needs at the core we have an opportunity to reinvent addressability — balancing personalization, privacy, and safety with emerging technologies,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “We have a rare moment to reset this ecosystem to make it work better for all participants.”

According to one study, half of consumers just want ads…to tell them about the product. And? The GWI report said 40% of respondents said they wanted ads that gave special offers and discounts, 39% wanted ads to entertain them, 33% wanted to learn something new, 29% wanted ads that are relevant, and 29% wanted a laugh.

Americans “continue to leave traditional video services in droves,” said Tony Lenoir, senior analyst at Kagan, which reported traditional US pay-TV subscriptions dropped by 7.2 million in 2020. According to Kagan’s S&P Global Marketplace Intelligence, during 4Q20, traditional pay TV subscription losses were 1.5 million, while vMVPDs gained 223,000 subscribers.

The Producers Guild of America announced nominations in television categories. Going for gold in the drama category are AMC’s “Better Call Saul”; Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” “The Crown” and “Ozark”; and Disney+’s “The Mandalorian.” Up for comedy production are Netflix’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”; HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant”; Pop TV’s “Schitt’s Creek”; Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso”; and FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.” The awards take place virtually on Wednesday, March 24 at 8p. For a complete list of nominees, go here.

The Directors Guild of America also announced a batch of nominations. Up for outstanding director in a drama series are Jason Bateman (“Ozark”), Jon Favreau (“The Mandelorian”), Vince Gilligan (“Better Call Saul”), Lesli Linka Glatter (Showtime’s “Homeland”), and Julia Anne Robinson (“Bridgerton”). Nominees in the comedy category include Zach Braff (“Ted Lasso”), MJ Delaney (“Ted Lasso”), Susanna Fogel (“The Flight Attendant”), Erin O’Malley (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), and Jeff Schaffer (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”). The ceremony will take place Saturday, April 10. For more info, go here.

TNT, TBS and truTV celebrated International Women’s Day with Black Woman Animate, an animation studio powered by Black female talent across the animation pipeline, to create five animated pieces that spotlight issues such as the gender pay gap, body liberation and self-confidence. Samantha Bee (“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee”), Jameela Jamil (“The Misery Index”), Judy Reyes (“Claws”), Kristen Kish (“Fast Foodies”) and Brandi Rhodes have lent their voices to pieces in the project.

In its own nod to International Women’s Day, HBO Max yesterday announced the upcoming documentary film LFG, an inside account of the US women’s national team’s ongoing fight for equal pay. The film is directed by Academy Award-winners Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine, and produced by the Fines and Abby Greensfelder with Howard T. Owens and Ben Silverman serving as executive producers for Propagate Content in collaboration with CNN Films and HBO Max.

Sky, WarnerMedia, and ViacomCBS are teaming for the launch of the “Turn on the Subtitles” campaign, making subtitles available on their most popular episodes of kids’ content. Research has shown subtitles can help improve literacy in children.

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Amazon is developing an anthology series “Women of the Year,” based on the Time 100 Women of the Year project and special issue. Filmmaker Alma Har’el and her company, Jellywolf, Time Studios and P&G have teamed for the series, focused on female visionaries.

The CW went fishing across the pond for new series, and landed two UK unscripted formats. BBC One staple “Would I Lie to You?” is being remade by Truly Original (“Ink Master”), and executive produced by Robert King and Michelle King (“The Good Fight”). The CW also acquired two seasons of the British version. And an American version of “Killer Camp,” which aired on The CW last summer, will be produced by Tuesday’s Child Television.

Women’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai has inked a programming deal with Apple TV+ to help create a slate of original programming. “I believe in the power of stories to bring families together, forge friendships, build movements, and inspire children to dream,” said the Nobel laureate.

CNN and the New York Times are teaming for a docu-series about Rupert Murdoch, according to Bloomberg. At work on the project are Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg, who wrote a profile of the media mogul for the NY Times Magazine.

Animation studio Trioscope Studios (“The Liberator”) inked a co-production partnership with media conglomerate QC Media Holdings subsidiary Quality Films. Under the deal, Trioscope will partner with Quality Control and Quality Films to develop a slate of scripted content.

Founder and CEO of empowerment brand Black Girls Rock! Beverly Bond inked a three-year development deal withBETacross all of its platforms. It’s not new territory – Bond partnered with BET in 2010 to bring the Black Girls Rock! Awards to an international stage. “We are so thrilled to build on our long-standing relationship with Beverly Bond and look forward to collaborating on new content created for and by Black women,” said President of BET, Scott Mills.

FX handed a pilot order to “Kindred,” from Branden Jacobs-Jones (“Watchmen”), Courtney Lee-Mitchell (“The Reluctant Fundamentalist”) Darren Aronfsky and Protozoa Pictures (“Black Swan”), Joe Weisberg (“The Americans”), and Joel Fields (“Fosse/Verdon”). Based on the novel by Octavia E. Butler, the adaptation centers on a young Black woman and aspiring writer who goes back and forth between the past and present.

Casting notes: Mark Pellegrino (“Dexter”) landed a series regular role in Showtime’s upcoming family drama “American Rust.”…Brandy (“Cinderella”) has joined the cast of ABC hip-hop drama pilot “Queens.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

“Queen of the South” returns for a fifth and final season on USA on Wednesday, April 7 at 10p. The drug trafficking drama ranks as USA’s #1 original series among A18-49 and A25-49.

Peacock released all nine episodes of “Dime Quién Soy: Mistress of War” yesterday, in celebration of International Women’s Day. Streaming in both English and Spanish, the drama series tells the story of a Spanish socialite plunged into the world of international espionage in 1934.

“Home & Family” is coming home to Hallmark Channel on Monday, April 5, after a pandemic-related production hiatus. Hosts Debbie Matenopoulos and Cameron Mathison are back, but the lifestyle show’s timeslot has changed. The show will now air Monday through Wednesday from 10-11a, versus its weekdays-from-10a-to-noon schedule prior to the hiatus.

Season 24 of EstrellaTV’s “Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento” will feature an all-female lineup of contestants, starting Monday, March 29 at 8p. The show is the longest-running talent competition in the US.

HGTV’s “My Lottery Dream Home” expands with spin-off “My Lottery Dream Home International,” following dream home hunters in Europe. British interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen helps the lucky winners find spectacular new places to live, starting Friday, April 2 at 8p.

STREAMING

AVOD platforms are expected to pull in $17.8 billion in ad revenue by 2025, according to MoffettNathanson Research. Hulu will have the biggest grab ($4.4 billion), predict the analysts, followed by Roku ($2.3 billion), Peacock and Pluto ($2.3 billion apiece),Tubi ($1.9 billion), and HBO Max ($500 million), which does not have an ad option yet.

Peacock will begin rolling out WWE Network content on March 18, ahead of “Fastlane,” the first WWE pay-per-view event on the service. The new WWE destination on Peacock will feature content at launch, including all past WrestleManias leading up to WrestleMania 37. WWE will have a dedicated page on Peacock where fans can access every PPV event in the last calendar year, as well as current or most recent season episodes of WWE original series.

NBC News Now, which added a morning show last fall, is at it again. The streamer is adding two live hours on weekdays, from noon-2p, anchored by Aaron Glichrist. “With NBC News Now’s continued growth, we’re thrilled to be able to expand programming during the day to reach an even larger streaming audience,” said Janelle Rodriguez, SVP of NBC Nightly News, NBC News Now & Breaking News Specials.

FuboTV is testing pricing plans with a small group of users. The Starter (formerly Family) tier costs $64.99/month, and a Pro plan is being added for $69.99/month. The Elite plan remains $79.99/month.

Newsmax TV is now available on AT&T TV. The channel is offered on AT&T TV and TV Now in Choice, Xtra, Ultimate and Premier packages.

COMING UP

The lineup of stars set to appear on Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards includes Kim Kardashian, Gal Gadot, Robert Downey Jr., Millie Bobby Brown, Charli D’Amelio, BTS, Hailey Bieber, Addison Rae, Sofía Vergara, David Dobrik, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tiffany Haddish, Anna Kendrick, Liza Koshy, Jennifer Garner, Heidi Klum, Terry Crews, Tyler Perry, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Marsai Martin, Joshua Bassett, Anthony Anderson, Dani & Dannah Lane and Iain Armitage. “SNL” and “Kenan” star Kenan Thompson hosts the show, airing live on Saturday, March 13, at 7:30p.

Women’s lifestyle site Popsugar announced a new event, “Girl Talk,” featuring Former First Lady Michelle Obama with the Girls Opportunity Alliance in support of girls’ education. The one-hour virtual rally takes place Thursday, March 25, at 9p, featuring performances and conversations by leading female voices, including a keynote conversation with Mrs. Obama and girls from the Girls Opportunity Alliance, moderated by Lilly Singh.

Michelle Obama will also be making the late night rounds (virtually), as she promotes Netflix children’s show “Waffles and Mochi.” Obama first pops up on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday, March 16, the day of the “Waffles” launch. On Thursday, March 18, she’ll guest on NBC’s “Tonight Show.”

Murder mystery “Blue Ridge” will have its television premiere on INSP Saturday, March 13 at 8p.

MAVTV Motorsports Network live event broadcast schedule for 2021 includes a total of 226 race broadcasts, featuring 11 competitive racing series and the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.

“17 Year Locust,” a short film about the unlikely crossing of paths between two people, makes its TV debut on TV5Monde USA on Thursday, March 18 at 11:05p.

TECH TALK

Data Axle, provider of data and real-time intelligence solutions, is partnering with Tru Optik, a TransUnion company, to make Data Axle’s consumer, business and specialty data available in the Tru Optik Data Marketplace, which enables brands, agencies, media organizations, and technology companies to engage consumers across a variety of digital channels. “Combining business data sets and consumer purchase behaviors provides a powerful source of knowledge for advertisers and brand marketers when developing media plans,” said Michelle Swanston, Chief Client Officer at Tru Optik. “The combination of our patented Household Graph and Data Axle’s proprietary data assets empowers marketers to buy or publishers to sell targeted premium inventory across OTT/CTV, streaming, audio, and gaming campaigns.”

GOING GLOBAL

Free movie streaming and social platform Filmzie struck an integration deal with Netgem TV, the TV service powering the UK’s community of “Altnets” and challenger ISPs. The deal allows homes with a Netgem TV box or connected TV to access the full slate of Filmzie series and films for free.

Rainmaker Content announced sales of the second season of “Staged,” as well as new sales. Renewal deals for “Staged 2” have today been confirmed with Hulu (SVOD in the US), ABC in Australia for TV and to Huanxi Media Group for all rights in China, with a new deal with the UK’s BritBox for season 2. Rainmaker has struck new deals for both Season 1 and 2 with Canal+ France, DirecTV Latin America, BBC UKTV New Zealand, HOT Israel, Canal+ Poland, Russian Report and BBC Studios Home Entertainment in the UK.

UK’s Children’s Media Conference will be virtual again for 2021, running from July 5-9. With the theme “Together,” the conference will tackle the issues facing the children’s media industry and the young audience.

Alfred Haber, Inc. has finalized a number of sales for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, airing March 14 on CBS. Broadcasters who have signed on include Rogers (Canada), Turner (Latin America), Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific Limited (Southeast Asia), Network Ten (Australia), WOWOW (Japan), Okko TV (Russia), Telefonica (Spain), CStar (France), Telekom Deutschland (Germany), Electronic Media (South Africa), TV2 (Denmark) and NRK (Norway).

Mediafisch and Elysian Fields are developing a new unscripted television series, “My Perfect Supercar,” in association Supercar Owners Circle, headquartered in Switzerland.

The event is back by popular demand & expanded to 2 days to feature sports and esports companies! If you’re from a Fortune1000 company or an agency which supports a Fortune1000 brand, join us for a virtual experience on how to activate your brand with the highly-prized fanbase watching and engaging in sports & esports.

The 2021 presentation line-up will be announced soon!

REQUEST YOUR INVITE >

Amazon Prime’s “Coming 2 America” was the most-watched streaming film since movie theaters were shuttered a year ago, said Amazon and research firm Screen Engine/ASI. Originally headed for a Paramount theatrical release, the Eddie Murphy sequel landed at the streamer during the pandemic.

INSP just had its highest 24-hour ratings monthly average to date. HH ratings averaged 0.275, up 6% percent over January 2021, and 11% over February of 2020. The net also established a new record for weekly viewership for the week of February 15, with its highest-ever weekly and 24-hour ratings averages.

Shareablee Top 10 Streaming Shows for the week of March 1
Program, Platform, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
Get Organized With The Home Edit (Netflix), 569K, 42, 13,554, 5.5M
The Mandalorian (Disney+), 378K, 10, 37,840, 2.5M
Nanatsu No Naizai (Netflix), 348K, 68, 5,121, 739K
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+), 312K, 13, 23,984, 245K
Black Clover (Funimation), 299K, 14, 21,335, 904K
Bridgerton (Netflix), 288K, 4, 71,878, 2.3M
The Crown (Netflix), 237K, 3, 79,021, 1.8M
One Piece (Hulu), 208K, 6, 34,709, 3.4M
Trailer Park Boys (Netflix), 202K, 25, 8,077, 3M
Netflix is a Joke (YouTube), 195K, 47, 4,142, 2.4M

Shareablee Top 10 TV Shows for the week of March 1
Program, Network, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
Ellen DeGeneres (WB/Syndicated), 2.9M, 58, 49,211, 207M
The Flash (The CW Network), 2.7M, 54, 50,284, 12M
Hannity (Fox News), 2M, 276, 7,269, 10.5M
Entertainment Tonight (WB/syndicated), 1.8M, 740, 2,479, 9.2M
The Daily Show (Comedy Central), 1.8M, 136, 13,153, 27.7M
Today Show (NBC), 1.8M, 922, 1,919, 13.8M
American Idol (ABC), 1.4M, 186, 7,344, 17.5M
Good Morning America (ABC), 940K, 830, 1,132, 14.3M
The Walking Dead (AMC), 930K, 89, 10,446, 46.9M
Fox & Friends (Fox News), 688K, 62, 11,102, 4.6M

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Friday, March 5
Show, P2+ millions, (A18-49)
ABC: “Shark Tank” 4.62 (0.7), “20/20” 3.54 (0.6)
CBS: “MaGyver” 4.50 (0.5), “Magnum P.I.” 5.63 (0.5), “Blue Bloods” 6.30 (0.4)
CW: “”Whose Line Is It Anyway” 0.72 (0.2), “Whose Line Is It Anyway” 0.76 (0.2), “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” 0.69 (0.1)
FOX: “WWE Friday Night Smackdown” 2.25 (0.6)
ION: “Hawaii Five-0” 1.30 (0.2), “Hawaii Five-0” 1.11 (0.2), “Hawaii Five-0” 1.04 (0.1)
NBC: “The Blacklist” 3.22 (0.4), “Dateline NBC” 2.66 (0.4)
Telemundo: “Exatlon Estados Unidos” 0.98 (0.3), “La Suerte de Loli” 0.96 (0.3), “Buscando a Frida” 1.04 (0.3)
Univision: “Vencer al Desamor” 1.687 (0.4), “Te Acuerdas de Mi” 1.20 (0.3), “Hija del Embajador” 1.15 (0.3)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Deborah Turness is leaving her position as President of NBC News International to become CEO of UK’s ITN. Turness was editor of ITV News, produced by ITN, before joining NBC News in 2013 as the first woman in the US to be president of a network news division.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has tapped Ravi Ahuja to serve as Chairman of Global Television Studios. Ahuja was previously President of Business Operations and CFO at Walt Disney Television and CFO of Fox Networks Group.

Helen Estabrook has been appointed Head of Development and Production for Features and Scripted Series at Conde Nast Entertainment. Most recently, Estabrook worked at her own company, A Thousand Ships.

Studio 100 Media named Fabrice Laventure-Darival as Sales Executive Global Distribution. Fabrice Laventure-Darival most recently worked at Autentic GmbH as Sales Executive.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who played Dr. Roland on “Accidentally on Purpose” (2009-2010)? Larry Wilmore. Kudos to: Rev. Mark Wajda/Clermont, FL, Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL, Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, Joe Leydon-Cowboys & Indians Magazine/Houston, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA, David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
In which series did Morgan Fairchild and Bo Derek play rivals? (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.)