Friday March 12, 2021

Today’s Finales
Disney+: “Secrets of Sulpher Springs”
WE tv: “Love After Lockup” at 9p

Saturday’s Premieres
discovery+: “SuperSoul”
Nat Geo WILD: “Dr. Oakley,Yukon Vet” at 9p
The Weather Channel: “World’s Deadliest Weather” at 8p

Sunday’s Premieres
HLN: “How It Really Happened” at 9p
ID: “The Clown & The Candyman” at 9p

Sunday’s Finale
HBO: “Allen v. Farrow” at 9p

IN THE NEWS

CNN’s news and sports employees will likely be heading back to the office in a few months. In a company email, CNN President Jeff Zucker said the network is targeting September 1 as the day to open offices and studios in New York, San Francisco and LA locations, with safety protocols in place. “We have operated in a way that most of us never would have imagined possible,” Zucker told staffers. “That is a true credit to every single one of you.” Zucker’s email was just one that went out to alert WarnerMedia employees of a slow return to offices starting in September.

Over at ViacomCBS, the goal is to give US employees the option of returning to the office right after July 4th weekend, at the earliest. In a memo to employees, CEO Bob Bakish said the return would be limited and “completely voluntary.”

Not only is ad inventory for the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament “virtually sold out,” but there were price increases in all rounds through the championship weekend, said John Bogusz, EVP,CBS Sports Sales in a call with reporters. New corporate partners include Aflac, Invesco and Great Clips.

Cable TV saw its highest share of time spent in the second half of 2020 versus the year prior, with 71% of that attributed to consumption of cable versus broadcast and premium networks in Q3, according to Effectv’s latest Television Viewership Report. Key findings include:
· Comcast households saw a shift toward live TV in 2H 2020, accounting for 89% of daily viewership.
· Over the last three full years of viewing data, time spent with cable networks and live viewing has been up or flat year-over-year every quarter.
· Cable TV news drove a large percentage of the increase in time spent with live TV in 2H 2020 at 25%, up from 16% the same time the previous year.
“TV viewing in the second half of the year was impacted dramatically by the unique circumstances of 2020, and it was particularly interesting to see how live viewing surged as a result of some of those factors,” said James Rothwell, VP, Global Agency, Brand and Industry Relations at Comcast Advertising, Effectv’s parent company. “Time spent with cable news…was the most dramatic driver of that increase in live viewing and illustrates the continued importance of TV for advertisers, as well as audience-based tactics to adapt to media consumption trends.”

Both the New York Times and Fox News have weighed in on FNC host Tucker Carlson’s mocking NY Times reporter Taylor Lorenz, who had tweeted about online harassment. Calling Carlson’s multiple criticisms of Lenz “calculated and cruel,” the paper said, “Journalists should be able to do their jobs without facing harassment.” Responded Fox News, “No public figure or journalist is immune to legitimate criticism of their reporting, claims or journalistic tactics.”

Carlson also got backlash for comments about accommodations for women in the US military. “So we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits,” said Carlson. “Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the US military.” Responded the Sergeant Major of the Army, Michael A. Grinston, via tweet: “Women lead our most lethal units with character. They will dominate ANY future battlefield we’re called to fight on.”

Former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and George W. Bush and their wives are featured in an Ad Council campaign, “It’s Up To You,” to encourage COVID-19 vaccination. The PSAs are airing nationally in space donated by media outlets. Shortly before the campaign went live on Thursday, former president Trump, who was not a participant, released a statement saying, “If I wasn’t president, you wouldn’t be getting that beautiful ‘shot’ for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldn’t be getting it at all. I hope everyone remembers!”

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An untitled romantic comedy inspired by the music of Huey Lewis

(“Power of Love”) landed a script-to-series commitment from Fox. The project is a co-production of Fox Entertainment and Kapital Entertainment.

HBO Documentary Films is in production on a two-part documentary about the life of Paul Reubens, creator of Pee-wee Herman. The HBO Documentary Films and Elara production is being directed by Matt Wolf (“Spaceship Earth”) and produced by Emma Tillinger Koskoff (“The Irishman,” “Joker”), Sebastian Bear-McClard (“Uncut Gems, “Good Time”), and Josh and Benny Safdie (“Uncut Gems, “Good Time”). “I’ve been working with HBO since they were called Home Box Office!” said Herman. “I’m honored and excited to continue my long history there. I love HBO, but I’m not going to marry them.”

“Fleishman Is in Trouble,” based on the debut novel of the same name by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, scored an order from FX. Brodesser-Akner will serve as the writer of the nine-episode limited series, and executive produce it along with Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Susannah Grant. “Produced by ABC Signature, “Fleishman” will be available exclusively on FX on Hulu.

OWN ordered to series “The Kings of Napa” from showrunner/writer/producer Janine Sherman Barrois (“Claws,” “Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker”), who will serve as executive producer along with Michelle Listenbee Brown (“Love Is__,” “Real Husbands of Hollywood”) and Oprah Winfrey. The series was created by Sherman Barrois under her exclusive multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. Matthew A. Cherry (“Hair Love”) is set to direct the first two episodes of the drama, centered on the power struggle between the wealthy King family siblings in Napa Valley. Warner Bros. Television and Harpo Films are producing, for an early 2022 premiere on OWN.

Casting notes: Claire Foy (“The Crown”) and Paul Bettany (“WandaVision”) will star in season two of the BBC and Amazon series “A Very English Scandal,” focused on the 1963 sex scandal involving the Duchess of Argyll…Katrina Law (“Hawaii Five-0”) will appear in the last two episodes of season 18 of CBS’ “NCIS.”…Snoop Dogg (“Dolemite Is My Name”) will recur on Starz drama “Black Mafia Family,” along with La La Anthony (“Power”) and Serayah (“Empire”)…Jaz Sinclair (“The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”) landed a lead role in Amazon’s “The Boys” spin-off…Dakota Fanning (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) has joined Showtime drama “Ripley.”…Patti LuPone and Erinn Hayes (“The Goldbergs”) will star in HBO Max comedy pilot “OK Boomer.”

Marc Anthony and his Magnus Studios team will partner on Sofia Vergara’s animated feature comedy, “Koati,” produced by Upstairs Animation, Latin WE Productions and Los Hijos de Jack.

“Saturdays,” a comedy about a girl and her competitive roller skating crew, nabbed a pilot order from Disney Channel. The project comes from “black-ish” star Marsai Martin via her Genius Entertainment, and writer/EP Norman Vance Jr. (“Roll Bounce”). Danielle Jalade (“Yes Day”) will star.

NEW + RETURNING SERIES

Freeform psychological mystery “Cruel Summer” premieres with a two-hour event on Tuesday, April 20 at 9p. The series follows a popular girl who goes missing, and the nerdy wannabe who is accused of being connected to her disappearance.

“90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After?” kicks off a season six Sunday, April 25 at 8p on TLC. Special “Pillow Talk” episodes air at 11p.

ITV sitcom “Kate & Koji” arrives on BritBox Tuesday, April 13. The series follows the unlikely friendship between Kate, a working-class woman who runs an old fashioned seaside cafe, and Koji, an African asylum seeker.

“The Devil You Know” returns to Vice for a new season on Monday, March 29 at 10p, investigating cult leader Sherry J. Shriner and her New Age Alien Agenda.

Over 30 years ago, the world’s biggest art heist took place in Boston. Barnicle Brothers Inc. produced a four-part docu-series premiering on Netflix Wednesday, April 7, “This Is a Robbery,” chronicling the still-unsolved case. Colin Barnicle talks about why he turned to true crime in Cynsiders.

As the Roku Channel prepares to add hundreds of hours of exclusive, licensed content, it’s starting with crime drama “Cypher,” premiering Friday, March 19. “We’re constantly looking for ways to elevate the streaming experience for our viewers and get them to great entertainment easily and for free,” said Sweta Patel, VP of Engagement Growth Marketing.

COMING UP

The 2021 “MTV Movie & TV Awards” are set for Sunday, May 16 honoring the best in movies and television. The following night, MTV will air the inaugural “Movie & TV Awards: UNSCRIPTED” (wt), focused on reality TV.

Production Designer Stuart Wurtzel (“Hannah and Her Sisters,” “Angels in America”) will receive the Art Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th Annual ADG Awards, set for Saturday, April 10 on a virtual platform,

Circle Network has launched on Peacock as the service’s first channel dedicated to country lifestyle and music programming. The net is partnering with “The Voice” coach Blake Shelton for a “Spring Blake” takeover airing Saturday, March 13 that will include Blake-themed episodes, as well as performances from some of Shelton’s country star friends.

MIP Cancun take place in person at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun from November 16-19. “The television industry is eager to get back to business in person and we welcome the opportunity to bring everyone together in the uniquely relaxed yet business-efficient environment of MIP Cancun, said Bénédicte Touchard de Morant, Director of MIP Cancun, says. “Last year’s online market was very well received but overwhelmingly the feedback tells us there is nothing like meeting in person and forging relationships face-to- face.”

TECH TALK

Facebook announced product updates aimed at helping content creators build a business on Facebook. Noting that in-stream ad payouts grew over 55% from 2019 to 2020, the company shared new ways content creators can monetize Facebook, including making it possible for them to monetize all video types and test sticker ads in Stories; updating in-stream ad eligibility so more video creators can access the program, opening access to in-stream ads for Live and expanding paid online events and fan subscriptions to more countries; and making it easier for creators to get access to fan support while growing consumer adoption via free Stars giveaways to viewers.

Global data and technology company Spherex unveiled a technology solution that enables media and entertainment companies to adapt their content to be compliant, relevant, rated, and culturally appropriate for any global market. Using AI and machine learning in addition to human curation, the Spherex solution assesses and recommends a course of action on each individual title in a company’s library. “We’ve taken ten years of deep insight and research on culture and how it applies to film and television and we’ve successfully embedded our knowledge into this technology solution,” said Spherex CEO Teresa Phillips. “Beginning with local age ratings for over 100 markets, Spherex will apply its AI technology to auto-generate culturalized listings and unique title DNA that will fuel international expansion and content recommendations around the world.”

Integral Ad Science announced that Xandr’s buying platform, Xandr Invest, now offers IAS’s contextual targeting and contextual avoidance capabilities across all programmatic buying. Advertisers using the Invest DSP can access IAS’s list of 300+ contextual segments to target suitable content and optimize their programmatic campaigns on a pre-bid basis. “Context has never been more relevant for marketers in the current ad landscape, and now they have more control to ensure the most suitable contextual adjacencies for their campaigns directly within the Xandr’s Invest DSP,” said Lisa Utzschneider, CEO, IAS.

HBO Max is introducing interactive digital experience HBO Max Orbit at SXSW Online. The experience will respond to facial movements and voice prompts to allow viewers to interact with characters and stories in a personalized way. “The pandemic has forced brands from all sectors to reimagine experiential marketing and devise new ways to engage and delight users with content,” said Jason Mulderig, SVP Brand Marketing, HBO Max. “HBO Max Orbit is an impressive technical feat, and we’re so pleased to use this technology to create fun, meaningful connections with people from the comfort of their homes.” SXSW Online takes place March 16-20.

STREAMING NEWS

Crackle Plus has entered into an agreement streaming media platform Plex, to represent Plex’s US advertising inventory in the direct ad sales market. Plex and Crackle began working together in May 2020, followed by the launch of a Popcornflix VOD offering on Plex in November 2020 and the launch of the first linear channels from Crackle and Popcornflix in the US in December 2020 and January 2021.

FilmRise has entered into a distribution deal with Nelvana to offer about 800 hours of Nelvana’s children’s programming to SVOD and AVOD platforms across the US, UK. Ireland and Germany. FilmRise plans to offer Nelvana’s content to AVOD platforms including IMDb TV, Tubi, Pluto, Rakuten, Joyn and TV NOW.

Netflix is testing a system aimed at making it harder for people in different households to share passwords, reports Streamable. Some Netflix subscribers were told, “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.” To continue, they needed to verify the account with a E-mail or Text Code, or create a new account with a 30-Day Free Trial. Netflix terms prohibit password sharing outside the household.

GOING GLOBAL

Screenwriter and executive producer Patrick Harbinson (“Homeland”) is adapting Kate London’s first novel for ITV. “The Tower” is based on Post Mortem, the first in London’s Metropolitan series of novels. Harbinson will executive produce alongside Mammoth Screen’s founder and CEO Damien Timmer (“The Serpent”) and Karen Thrussell (“Poldark”).

MTV International announced a UK version of “Catfish: The TV Show.” Produced by ViacomCBS International Studios UK (VIS UK), “Catfish UK” is the first international iteration of the show, following the real-life stories of individuals in online relationships with partners they’ve never met in person.

Shine Iberia, a Banijay company, is bringing “Não te Esqueças da Letra” (“Don’t Forget the Lyrics”) to Portugal in a first series deal with RTP1.

Drive, the production-funding and distribution agency, announced sales of premium factual content to global broadcasters and SVOD services, including multiple acquisitions of two-part ITV documentary series “The Diana Interview: Revenge of a Princess.” Channel Nine in Australia, REELZ in the US, TV 2 in Norway, Servus TV in Austria, RTL Netherlands and TVNOW in Germany have picked up the 2 x 60’ series to broadcast this year.

AMC UK will premiere “Before We Was We: Madness by Madness”, a three-part original docu-series chronicling the rise of British band Madness, on May 1 at 9p, exclusively on BT TV. All three episodes of the show will simultaneously be available on demand through BT Player.

UK indie Woodcut Media has been commissioned by Sky Crime UK to produce true crime series “The Killer Within.” Currently in production, the first episode is scheduled to broadcast on the channel in April.

Blue Ant International, has acquired the international rights to “Search and Rescue: North Shore,” a five-part series about the daring rescue missions of an elite volunteer rescue squad as they find and save people in distress on the Northwest Coast of North America.

EndemolShine Netherlands is developing a Domino competition for RTL 4. “Domino Effect,” originally developed by EndemolShine North America and in collaboration with the YouTube Domino sensation Lily Hevesh, focuses on the most creative and impressive Domino masterpieces.

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Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Wednesday, March 3
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: “The Goldbergs” 3.36 (0.6), “American Housewife” 2.64 (0.5), “The Connors” 3.48 (0.5), “Call Your Mother” 2.32 (0.4) “The Con” 1.80 (0.3)
CBS: “Tough As Nails” 3.42 (0.4), “SEAL Team” 4.02 (0.5), “S.W.A.T.” 3.51 (0.4)
CW: “Riverdale” 0.31 (0.1),“Nancy Drew” 0.23 (0.0)
ION: “Blue Bloods” 1.15 (0.1), “Blue Bloods” 1.09 (0.1), “Blue Bloods” 0.94 (0.1)
FOX: “Name That Tune” 2.46 (0.5), “Name That Tune” 2.68 (0.6)
NBC: “Chicago Med” 3.40 (0.4), “Chicago Fire” 3.0 (0.4), “Chicago PD” 2.72 (0.4)
Telemundo: Exatlon 1.10 (0.3), Suerte de Loli 1.03 (0.3), Buscando Frida 1.03 (0.3)
Univision: Vencer al Desamor 1.85 (0.5), Te Acuerdas De Mi 1.45 (0.4), Hija Del Embajador 1.31 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

PBS Distribution has promoted Andrea Downing to President. Prior to joining PBSd, Downing served as Vice President, Home Entertainment and Partnerships at PBS.

This Day in History
1973 – “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” ended its six-season run on NBC.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
For which series did Wanda Sykes win an Emmy? Sykes won an Emmy for writing in 1999, for “The Chris Rock Show.” Kudos to: Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, Greg Moloznik-GLM Media/Scottsdale, Paul Gluck-TUTV/Philadelphia, David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA, Sandy Spiegel-WTTW/Chicago, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
Aside from Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, which cast members of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” (1968-73) were part of the cast every season? 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.)