Today’s Premieres
Nat Geo: Restaurants at the End of the World at 10p

Today’s Finale
HGTV: Fixer to Fabulous at 9p

IN THE NEWS

More layoffs at Amazon. “We intend to eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks—mostly in AWS, PXT [People Experience and Technology], Advertising, and Twitch,” said CEO Andy Jassy in a memo to employees. “This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term.” Amazon also made cuts in November and January.

Julianne Hough is taking on a new job at an old stomping ground. Days after Tyra Banks announced she is leaving Disney+’s “Dancing With the Stars,” which she has hosted since 2020, comes word that Hough will co-host with the returning Alfonso Ribeiro. Hough appeared on “DWTS” as a pro dancer from 2007-2009, and a judge from 2014-17 and 2021.

NBCUniversal Checkout, part of NBCU’s One Platform Commerce Suite, is now powering the NBC Today shopping experience for “Jill’s Steals & Deals.” The segments, featured on “Today” for 13 years, have been enhanced to offer viewers the ability to make purchases by scanning on-screen QR codes. “Enabling NBCUniversal Checkout as our shopping cart platform for Steals & Deals not only preserves the seamless viewing experience, but demonstrates the power of NBCUniversal’s properties and technologies,” said Ashley Parrish, SVP, NBC News Group Commerce.

Hulu’s “How I Met Your Father” will get a linear run. While season two episodes continue to roll out on Hulu, season one will air on Freeform starting with two episodes on Tuesday, April 25 at 10p; weekly back-to-back eps will continue to air until the season finale on May 23.

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

HGTV has greenlit “Building Paradise,” documenting the overhaul of a rickety motel into a boutique hotel in the Costa Rican surf town of Jacó. The series is slated to premiere in 2024.

Big Media has ordered a second season of “Truthseekers: Greatest Mysteries.” The historical/investigative series explores the disappearance of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, the impossibly advanced construction of the ancient Incan city Machu Picchu, the controversy around the Shroud of Turin, and why it took nearly 2,200 years to discover the vast tomb site in China housing the Terracotta Warriors.

“Superchef Grudge Match” is headed for a sophomore run on Food Network. The series has reached more than 8 million P2+ viewers to date and is currently Food Network’s highest-rated freshman launch of the year.

Marti Noxon (“UnReal”) has inked a two-year first look deal with eOne. Noxon worked with the studio on “Sharp Objects.” “Building upon our previous partnership with Marti, whose talent and passion spans across multiple genres, is an incredible moment for us, and we look forward to all the exciting things to come,” said Pancho Mansfield, President, Global Scripted TV at eOne.

ITV Studios America struck an acquisition deal for three novels from Roselle Lim, a Canadian author of Filipino-Chinese heritage whose romantic comedy-style books explore the Chinese-American experience. ITV Studios America will adapt for television Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune (2019), Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop (2020) and Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club (2022). The books were optioned through ITV Studios America’s development deal with Laurie Zaks (“Castle”) and her newly established Rosewood Television.

Creative marketing agency 19th & Park has launched 1Park9, a production company for commercials, branded content, experiences, film, and TV. Tahira White and Whitney Headen set up 1Park9 break to down barriers for emerging and underrepresented creators. “Production has been a part of 19th & Park’s DNA from day one,” said White. “But five years into our journey, we’ve evolved into something bigger than a production unit executing campaigns; we are dreaming up the ideas behind them, working hand-in-hand with extraordinary talent to reshape the cultural narrative with a digitally-native mindset.”

FilmRise has acquired the exclusive rights to over 200 hours of content from National Black Television Media’s library. The territories include the US, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. In addition to linear, TVOD, SVOD and AVOD, FilmRise will curate and distribute programs as single series FAST channels. The deal features 331 episodes across 14 series.

Casting notes: Michael Chiklis (“The Shield”) has been tapped to star in upcoming MGM+ crime thriller “Hotel Cocaine,” set in the 1970s Miami cocaine scene….Ciaran Hinds, Rory Kinnear and Tanya Moodie have been added to the season two cast of Prime Video’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” in recurring roles….Matt Borlenghi (“Cobra Kai”) has joined the casts of two TV pilots, “Letters to Addy” in a recurring role and “Townsend” in the title role.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Paramount+ competition series “The Fashion Hero: A New Kind of Beautiful” premieres Friday, March 31 in Canada. The series filmed in South Africa and is hosted by Backstreet Boy AJ McLean.

New AXS TV music series “Vinyl Obsession,” following musicians as they discuss their careers and biggest influences while picking out the five albums that have impacted them the most on vinyl, joins the net’s “Sunday Night Rocks” lineup on April 2 at 8:30p.

“Casa Grande” starts streaming on Amazon Freevee on Monday, May 1. The bilingual limited series follows the lives of families in the farmlands of Northern California.

Disney+ docuseries “Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All,” spotlighting how an unlikely child with a stutter rose to fame, is set to premiere Wednesday, May 3.

“Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” is back for season 10 on BET starting Wednesday, March 22 at 9p, followed by the season four kick-off of “Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living.”

COMING UP

Leanne Morgan’s first Netflix stand-up special premieres April 11. “It’s been such a wild time traveling the country sharing my stories and experiences with so many of you,” said Morgan. “I just want to straddle all of you, kiss you on the mouth, and do your laundry.”

STREAMING

Netflix is adding 40 games in 2023 and 2024, including “Monument Valley” titles. The streamer has struck a deal with Ubisoft for three exclusive games and is working with developer Nanobit on a game based on the show “Too Hot to Handle.” Netflix said over 70 additional games are in early development, 16 of which are part of its internal studios; new games will be released every month in 2023.

When it comes to streaming habits, both the general market and diverse audiences show no preference for SVOD or AVOD apps, according to App Science’s “2023 US Audience Trends report: Life of a Streamer.” All groups have an even distribution of both SVOD and AVOD apps in their top streaming apps. Additional findings include:
· Streamers continue to access linear-first content and channels through streaming platforms across CTV and mobile devices. Top 10 linear channels skew broadcast channels on CTV and cable network channels on mobile.
· There’s a strong likelihood that SVOD viewers are also AVOD viewers, but the opposite is less likely. In a comparison of AVOD and SVOD viewers, the SVOD group and their top choices were more likely to over index. AVOD viewers had fewer top indexed apps and their top choices were more on par with the SVOD group.
· The AVOD viewer is likely to be more budget conscious in their purchasing habits. They highly index on ad-free supported platforms and apps and are also likely to use cost-free services.
· The SVOD viewer is more likely than the AVOD viewer to pay for membership payment models, such as other SVOD subscriptions and membership programs. They’re also more likely to travel with loyalty and credit card programs.

In a streaming first, Eva Longoria’s feature directorial debut, “Flamin’ Hot,” will be released Hulu and Disney+ simultaneously, on June 9. The film made its world premiere at SXSW with sold-out screenings.

TECH TALK

Warner Bros. Discovery has partnered with Comscore and VideoAmp to enable alternative currencies for national advertisers transacting across its linear inventory and data-driven advanced advertising solutions in the 2023-2024 Upfront. “Optionality has always been a key part of our approach to measurement and currency, and we are excited to operationalize against multiple currencies at scale and unlock more value for our partners this Upfront season,” said Andrea Zapata, EVP, Head of Ad Sales Research, Measurement and Insights at Warner Bros. Discovery.

DoubleVerify announced that DV’s measurement solutions are now available for all Netflix advertisers, enabling them to ensure that their video ads are safe from fraud and invalid traffic and are fully viewable by real people. “Our partnership ensures that campaigns on Netflix fulfill essential quality standards that drive optimal outcomes,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify. The integration was announced in October.

Netflix is also teaming with Integral Ad Science, which launched Viewability and Invalid Traffic verification for the streamer’s ad-supported plan. “Marketers now have powerful new tools to ensure that the ads they run on Netflix are engaging viewers,” said Lisa Utzschneider, CEO, IAS. “By launching this partnership, advertisers can invest with confidence as they look to expand their media strategies to Netflix’s premium inventory.”

The same ad yields twice the attention on low-clutter vs. high-clutter pages, according to new research from Magna in partnership with eyeo titled “Reaching & Influencing Ad-Filtering Users.” Ad-filtering users are more likely to influence purchase decisions, across tech (81% ad-filtering users vs 74% non-filtering users); grocery (78% vs. 75%); financial services (74% vs. 64%) and auto (69% vs 64%). “There is a growing audience of young consumers who advertisers should be paying close attention to – consumers who are opting for an ad filtered-online experience,” said Kara Manatt, EVP, Managing Director, Intelligence Solutions, MAGNA. “Interestingly, they don’t flat out reject ads but rather want to avoid intrusive formats and ad clutter on the web pages they visit. GenZ and Millennial audiences are not only a critical customer base for many industry verticals, but the reduced number of ads on webpages creates a premium environment for any advertiser, with better awareness, favorability, impact and sustainability metrics.”

Mobile marketing analytics suite Adjust has unveiled Pulse, a monitoring and alerting solution that offers insights enabling marketers to know when to optimize their mobile campaign performance. “The sheer amount of data available and the constant stream of updates mobile marketers have to wade through can be overwhelming when running multiple campaigns simultaneously. It’s easy to miss essential updates amidst all the noise,” said Katie Madding, Chief Product Officer at Adjust. “Pulse is a direct result of our ongoing dialogue with our customers who want freedom and flexibility to focus on what matters.”

OOH media agency Talon has acquired Novus Media Canada. “The addition of Novus Canada marks another important step in our growth strategy,” said Talon Group CEO Barry Cupples. “We’re delivering best-in-class services, data and technologies that enable brands to take advantage of a resurgent Out of Home market.”

Market Research Institute International, in cooperation with the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel, announced a formal supporting agreement with QRCA. QRCA joins other industry organizations and associations in supporting the mission of MRII to offer continuing education programs for the practice of market research and insights.

Google’s YouTube has been invited to participate in the video measurement JIC formed to certify new cross-media advertising vendors/currencies for premium video advertising. “The JIC’s initial focus is on long-form video and while we believe content quality and brand safety matters, it does not present a barrier for any platform to participate in the JIC,” said the group in a statement. “The JIC has officially extended an invite to Google, and continues to have ongoing conversations with several media companies and streaming platforms who have all proactively reached out to add their voice to the conversation as we define the future of video measurement.”

SPORTS ROUNDUP

Steve Rosenberg’s last day as President of Diamond Sports was Sunday. CFO David DeVoe is taking on added COO responsibilities. Rosenberg’s exit follows the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filed by Diamond Sports’ Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks last week. Diamond has said it is in the process of working out deals with the NBA and NHL to emerge from bankruptcy as an intact company; Diamond and MLB do not appear to be closing in on a deal.

Infront and World Athletics have extended their worldwide media rights partnership for the World Athletics Indoor Tour until the end of the 2029 season. The six-year agreement covers international rights to all World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold series meetings.

The Washington Wizards, in partnership with Nike and team retail partner Fanatics, announced the “D.C. Sports Cherry Blossom Headquarters” at Capital One Arena. The pop-up store will be open around four upcoming Wizards Cherry Blossom games where the team will display their City Edition uniforms, court and branding – including Cherry Blossom Theme Night on March 24. The Wizards debuted their Cherry Blossom look on November 10, the day all NBA teams launched their City Edition.

Sports nutrition company Ready® (@ready nutrition) is launching a light version of Ready® Sports Drink, with 20 calories. Ready Light’s “Lean and Clean” mobile tour will include over 100 multi-state sampling events from now through mid-May.

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RATINGS

Top 10 Streaming Shows for the week of March 13
Program, Platform, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
Outer Banks (Netflix), 5.5m, 12, 460,692, 6.6mi
Shadow and Bone (Netflix), 2.6m, 72, 36,323, 900k
The Last of Us (HBO Max), 2.3m, 46, 49,126, 1.7m
The Mandalorian (Disney+), 980k, 34, 28,822, 2.8m
Bridgerton (Netflix), 873k, 6, 145,556, 3.8m
Wolf Pack (Paramount+), 700k, 59, 11,861, 123k
You (Netflix), 600k, 21, 28,566, 2.1m
Daisy Jones & The Six (Netflix), 591k, 63, 9,374, 117k
Get Organized with the Home Edit (Netflix), 375k, 31, 12,107, 7.1m
Power Book II: Ghost (Starz), 321k, 62, 5,183, 406k
Source: Comscore powered by Shareablee

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Friday, March 17
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Shark Tank 3.51 (0.4), 20/20 3.03 (0.3)
CBS: NCAA Basketball 3.89 (0.8), NCAA Basketball 3.35 (0.8), NCAA Basketball 2.99 (0.7)
CW: Penn & Teller: Fool Us 0.56 (0.1), Whose Line Is It Anyway 0.55 (0.1), Whose Line Is It Anyway 0.47 (0.1)
FOX: WWE Friday Night Smackdown 2.26 (0.6)
ION: Hawaii Five-0 1.01 (0.1), Hawaii Five-0 1.06 (0.1), Hawaii Five-0 1.06 (0.1)
NBC: Lopez vs Lopez 1.97 (0.2), Grand Crew 1.19 (0.1), Dateline 2.16 (0.3)
Telemundo: La Casa de los Famosos 1.12 (0.3), El Señor de los Cielos 0.93 (0.4), Juego de Mentiras 0.71 (0.2)
Univision: Perdona Nuestros Pecados 1.33 (0.3), Mi Camino es Amarte 1.57 (0.4), Cabo1.41 (0.4)

EXECUTIVE MOVES

WideOrbit has appointed Toni Coonce as Chief Revenue Officer. Coonce will continue in her role as EVP of Sales.

Hello Sunshine announced the launch of Solar, an in-house social agency helping brands connect with women through story-driven advertising. Overseen by Maureen Polo (Hello Sunshine’s Head of Direct to Consumer), Solar is being led Jennifer Wiener (SVP, Solar) in close collaboration with new creative leadership, Teneille Craig (VP, Creative, Solar).

Two executives are joining Direct Digital Holdings. Calvin Scharffs, most recently VP of Global Marketing at Pixalate, is boarding as the Company’s first VP of Marketing. Michael Ivancic, who was previously Product Director of the Exchange at EMX by Big Village, is coming onboard in a newly created position, as Direct Digital Holdings’ Head of Product.

Hello Sunshine announced the launch of Solar, an in-house social agency helping brands connect with women through story-driven advertising. Overseen by Maureen Polo (Hello Sunshine’s Head of Direct to Consumer), Solar is being led Jennifer Wiener (SVP, Solar) in close collaboration with new creative leadership, Teneille Craig (VP, Creative, Solar).

Rosemary Mercedes will take on the role of SVP of Communications, Global Distribution for BBC Studios starting April 1. Mercedes was most recently SVP, Communications, North America & LatAm.

This Day in History
1910 – The US Senate granted ex-President Teddy Roosevelt a yearly pension of $10,000.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was Freddie Washington’s nickname on “Welcome Back, Kotter” (1975-1979)? Boom Boom. Kudos to: Jeff Fisher-The Fisher Company/LA; Squirrel Rippley-Dark Horse Media/Tucson, AZ; Dave Braxton-DaveBVO/Las Vegas; Larry Hutchings/San Luis Obispo, CA; Frank Nicotero/Sherman Oaks, CA; Lisa Fikeys-Nissan United/Chicago; Tom Boyd-WGN/Chicago; Julie Houston-Tom Scott Agency/Boise, ID; Creed Heilsklov-ImOn Communications/Cedar Rapids; Jason Brist-Outdoor Sportsman Group/Chicago; Vern Calhoun-Vertical Productions/NYC; Glen Freyer/NYC; John Carlo-UP Entertainment/NYC; Karen Yaldoo-Effectv/Southfield, MI; Adam Leston-Weigel Broadcasting/Milwaukee; Jeff Erdel-Erdel Public Relations/Island Park, NY; Dan Whitford-WTTW/Chicago

Today’s Trivia Question
What was the first drama to be shown on PBS anthology series “Masterpiece”? (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