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Today’s Premieres
Vice: Nightwatch at 10p

Today’s Finales
BET: Tyler Perry’s The Oval at 9p

IN THE NEWS

AMC Networks signed a multiyear deal with Katch, an entertainment data-mapping company, to help the company determine why viewers watch select programs while passing over others. The partnership, which will see the creator of the world’s first “human-powered media genome” for the entertainment industry providing insights about AMC’s linear channels and streaming platforms, marks Katch’s first foray into TV.

It’s Lizzo times two when the “Truth Hurts” singer pulls double duty as both host and musical guest on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” on April 16. The show will mark her first time hosting and second time as music guest. In other April shows, Jerrod Carmichael hosts April 1 with Gunna as musical guest. Jake Gyllenhaal returns for his second host gig April 9, joined by Camila Cabello.

Series Mania and Europe’s Beta Group are teaming on an initiative to encourage filmmakers to segue into television. Two feature film teams will each receive a $55,000 grant to go toward work on a new scripted series, at Series Mania 2023. The two winning teams will then present their projects at the Series Mania forum.

The WICT Network announced the initial program lineup for its Signature Luncheon, Thursday, April 14 in NY. This year’s luncheon program will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark federal civil rights law that prohibits gender-based discrimination in any educational institution that receives federal funding. Jen Neal, EVP, live events & specials, E! News and global board member of The WICT Network, will serve as the event’s honorary chair.

Something new at NAB Show: NABiQ, a creative collaboration series, will take networking to a new level at NAB Show from April 24-27 in Las Vegas. The goal: solve crucial industry challenges with peers – in only 90 minutes. Attendees are encouraged to harness the power of teamwork to innovate around real-world questions in a rapid-innovation process, followed by idea pitches then active networking. “Our community craves engaging and invigorating networking opportunities beyond traditional happy hours and conversations,” says NAB’s SVP and Customer Success Officer Eric Trabb. “This hackathon-type format allows attendees to collaborate and draw on their collective experiences to address challenges in today’s changing media landscape.”

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Betty Gilpin (“Glow”) will topline “Mrs. Davis,” a drama series for Peacock that’s penned and exec-produced by Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof. Housed at Warner Bros. Television, the series will explore faith vs. technology as Gilpin portrays a nun who goes to battle against a powerful artificial intelligence. Emmy-winning director Owen Harris (“Black Mirror: San Junipero”) will direct and exec-produce multiple episodes, including the first; Hernandez serves as showrunner.

Alex Pina, creator of Netflix smash “Money Heist,” renewed his partnership with the streamer and is at work on his next project. The untitled series is inspired by a Spanish newspaper article about the increase of purchasing bunkers after the pandemic.

Stacey Dash is boarding the reality train as star of “A New Thing—With Stacey Dash,” which will follow the “Clueless” star as she leaves LA and heads for New Hampshire to seek reinvention as an interior designer. Currently in preproduction and being shopped around, the series hails from Michael Holstein and The Content Farm. It will follow Dash’s struggles and successes, and document her return to the spotlight after the Trump supporter was dismissed as polarizing.

Christina Ricci is keeping it in the Family. The actress, who portrayed Wednesday Addams in Barry Sonenfeld’s ‘90s feature film franchise, will have a role in Netflix’s live-action “Wednesday” series, written by “Smallville” creators Al Gough and Miles Millar and directed by Tim Burton. The team is keeping her role under wraps for now, but it will be a new character and not an older version of Wednesday.

Shout! Factory scooped up distribution rights in the US and Canada to classic television series “Candid Camera.” The deal includes thousands of episodes from the hidden-camera from 1960-2013, with the first 100 selected eps heading to streaming service Shout! Factory TV later this year.

TelevisaUnivision and Lemon Studios announced four titles that will premiere exclusively on ViX+, the Spanish-language SVOD service set to launch the second half of this year. In development from Lemon Studios are family-friendly horror film “Mi Maestra se Comio a mi Amigo” (My Teacher Ate My Friend); reality show “La Loca de los Perros” (The Crazy Dog Lady); dramedy “Un buen Divorcio” (working title), about a couple, both successful divorce lawyers, who personify the saying that “the cobbler’s wife is the worst shod”; and “No Eres tu, son mis Daddy Issues” (working title), a dramedy about a 27-year-old screenwriter who, after her mother dies, must face the adult world alongside her father, whom she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will star in Amazon Studios’ film “I Helped Destroy People” and will also produce the feature alongside Michael B. Jordan. Based on Janet Reitman’s 2021 New York Times article, the film follows the only Black agent at his FBI bureau, who’s tasked with infiltrating Muslim communities after the 9/11 attacks. Ben Watkins, who created the Amazon series “Hand of God,” will pen the script; Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo will produce for Outlier Society.

Patrick is indeed a star. Nickelodeon gave an early season 2 renewal to “The Patrick Star Show,” the “SpongeBob SquarePants” spinoff that’s halfway through its first run on the network. A new 26-ep season of the animated show will continue to follow the antics of a younger Patrick Star, voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, while he’s living at home with his family.

Aggressive TV is at work on a six-part adaptation of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s sci-fi tome “Escape Attempt.” The show, Aggressive’s first move into longform, will be launched at Mip TV.

Horror streamer Shudder is prepping “Scare Package”sequel “Scare Package II: Rad Chad’s Revenge,” which is set to stream later this year. Co-created by Aaron B. Koontz and Cameron Burns, the comedic horror project brings back many of the first film’s characters, including Rad Chad (Jeremy King), Final Girl Jessie (Zoe Graham) and Rad Chad’s video store foil Sam (Byron Brown). It also features returning director Anthony Cousins, as well as new directors Alexandra Barreto, with her segment “Welcome to the ‘90s”; Australian filmmaker Rachele Wiggins, with the segment “We’re So Dead”; and UK filmmaker Jed Shepherd with his segment “Special Edition.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Lifetime is bringing the romance on Wednesday nights by returning another season of “Married at First Sight: Australia,” to follow new episodes of “Married at First Sight” and “Married at First Sight: Afterparty” beginning Wednesday, March 30 at 10:30p.

Jerrod Carmichael returns to HBO with standup comedy special “Rothaniel” debuting Friday, April 1 at 9p. The special was taped in February before a live audience at NY’s Blue Note Jazz Club, and marks the third HBO standup comedy special for Carmichael.

Hulu will debut romantic drama “Love Me” on Friday, April 1, after picking up streaming rights from UK-based distributor DCD Rights. From Warner Bros. International Television Australia for the Foxtel Group, the series is described as an intimate depiction of the place that love, loneliness, grief, and joy occupy at different stages of our lives and within our own family.

Magnolia Network announced its April programming slate, with series including “Ranch to Table,” “Homegrown,” “Growing Floret,” “From the Source” and “For the Love of Kitchens” set to make their premieres beginning Sunday, April 3. Additionally, new seasons of “Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines,” “Family Dinner,” “Inn the Works” and “Barnwood Builders” are slated to roll out on the streamer next month.

COMING UP

Stephanie Beatriz, DJ Khaled, Jennifer Garner, H.E.R., Tiffany Haddish, Tony Hawk, Bill Murray, Elliot Page, Kelly Slater and Shaun White join the presenters list for the 94th annual Academy Awards, airing on ABC on Sunday, March 27.

Before the main event, ABC News will cover the Oscars with live preshows starting with the three-hour ABC broadcast of “On The Red Carpet Live! Countdown to the Oscars” from 1-4p. ABC News’ “GMA3: What You Need To Know” co-anchors Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes will host the broadcast originating from the red carpet at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, which will feature interviews with Oscars hosts and nominees including Billie Eilish and Finneas, Penelope Cruz, Jessica Chastain and Questlove.

Oxygen delves into the story of Carolyn Warmus, accused of killing her lover’s wife Betty Jean Solomon, in two-night event “The Fatal Attraction Murder” on Saturday, March 26 at 8p and Sunday, March 27 at 8p. The special features an exclusive interview with Warmus, who never testified in her own defense, as well as the investigator who worked the case from beginning to end, along with prosecutors, jurors, and reporters who covered the story.

HBO Documentary Films dropped a trailer for Oscar-nominated documentary short “When We Were Bullies,” set to debut on the network Wednesday, March 30 at 9p. Filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt (“Phantom Limb,” “Human Remains”) tracks down his fifth grade class to see what they remember from a bullying incident that occurred 50 years ago, and weaves together a collage of archival material, found footage, stop-motion animation and interviews with classmates and a teacher from the time to share the story.

STREAMING

Following its launch in the Middle East, North Africa and across Latin America, Genius Brands International’s Kartoon Channel! brand is debuting on Samsung TV Plus in Australia starting March 23.

ADVERTISING & DATA

Ad tech company TripleLift acquired first-party data activation platform 1plusX with the aim of bolstering its ability to help publishers and advertisers address their audiences with privacy-centric solutions.

CASTING

Apple TV+ rounded out the ensemble cast for drama “Dear Edward.” Amy Forsyth (“CODA”), Carter Hudson (“Snowfall”), Idris DeBrand (“MotherFatherSon”), Ivan Shaw (“Nocturne”), Jenna Qureshi (“Just Add Magic: Mystery City”), Anna Uzele (“City on a Hill”), Dario Ladani Sanchez (“Paper Trail”), Eva Ariel Binder (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Brittany S. Hall (“Ballers”), Maxwell Jenkins (“Lost in Space”) and Audrey Corsa (“All Rise”) join previously announced leads Connie Britton, Taylor Schilling and Colin O’Brien.

Meg Donnelly (“American Housewife”) and Drake Rodger (“The In Between”) are in as series regulars in CW’s “The Winchesters” drama pilot… Michael Gaston (“For Life”) signed on for a recurring role in FX’s limited series “Fleishman Is in Trouble.”

Michelle Young is joiningfellow “The Bachelorette” alum Becca Kufrin as co-host for the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast beginning today (March 22).

GOING GLOBAL

Season 2 of “Crime” will be one of the first shows to launch on ITV’s new streamer ITVX. The first season was commissioned by ITV streamer BritBox and will get a free premiere on ITVX ahead of the second series launch.

Indie distributor All3Media International acquired format sales rights for Irish indie producer ShinAwiL’s game show “Last Singer Standing.” The series features contestants battling it out musically and mentally when they take to the stage.

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RATINGS

Shareablee Top 10 Streaming Shows for the week of March 14
Program, Platform, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
Stranger Things (Netflix), 2.1m, 13, 158,508, 26.9m
Bridgerton (Netflix), 959k, 20, 47,954, 2.4m
The Boys (Prime Video), 420k, 22, 29,095, 1.6m
Nanatsu No Taizai (Netflix), 289k, 100, 2,888, 1.1m
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video), 209k, 34, 6,144, 761k
Netflix is a Joke (YouTube), 176k, 51, 3,444, 2.5m
Top Boy (Netflix), 169k, 21, 8,061, 351k
Elite (Netflix), 147k, 6, 24,528, 1.5m
Get Organized With The Home Edit (Netflix), 145k, 27, 5,364, 6m
Trailer Park Boys (Netflix), 142k, 43, 3,312, 3.1m

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Friday, March 18
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: “Shark Tank” 3.43 (0.5), “20/20 Friday” 2.42 (0.3)
CBS: “NCAA Basketball 3.81 (0.8), “NCAA Basketball” 3.06 (0.7), “NCAA Basketball” 4.96 (1.4)
CW: “Charmed” 0.45 (0.1), “Dynasty” 0.28 (0.1)
FOX: “WWE Friday Night Smackdown” 2.15 (0.6)
NBC: “Blacklist” 2.63 (0.2), “Dateline” 2.94 (0.4)
Telemundo: “Exatlon” 0.87 (0.2), “Hercai: Amor” 1.28 (0.3), “Pasion Gavilanes 0.81 (0.3)
Univision: “Soltero Con Hijas” 1.54 (0.5), “Mi Fortuna es Amarte” 1.57 (0.5), “Madre” 1.71 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Jocelyn Sabo will remain at Lionsgate Television. She has signed a new long-term to keep her role as SVP of television at the company.

Rachel Brosnahan’s Scrap Paper Pictures brought in Julie Waters as head of TV and film development. Waters previously was at Temple Hill Entertainment, most recently serving as VP, development & production.

LeBron James’ The SpringHill Co. elevated Devin Johnson To president, and appointed Elise Ben-Yair and Endi Pier to executive posts. Johnson had been the company’s COO.

CBS News tapped Joelle Martinez as its new West Coast bureau chief. Martinez, who takes on the new role April 4, most recently was deputy bureau chief for Vice News in LA.

BBC Studios appointed Rosemary Mercedes as SVP, communications, Americas. Mercedes most recently served as Univision’s EVP/chief communications officer.

Scholastic named Cristina Juvier as chief people officer. Juvier served as head of HR at Reuters since 2019 and head of diversity & inclusion for Thomson Reuters since 2021.

Mike Racic joined Prebid, which aims to bringing conformity and simplicity to the header bidding process, as president. He formerly managed the direct global programmatic and data business at Fandom.

This Day in History
1457 – The Gutenberg Bible became the first printed book.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which Fox series moved to Bravo after seven episodes? “Keen Eddie” (2003-04). Kudos to: Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
In which series did Tim Daly guest as himself in an episode? 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