A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM A+E NETWORKS

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THE HISTORY CHANNEL | A&E | LIFETIME | LMN | FYI | VICE ON TV

Today’s Premieres
discovery+: Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed
FX: Atlanta at 10p
HBO Max: One Perfect Shot; Queen Stars; Traffickers: Inside The Golden Triangle
Hulu: Have You Seen This Man?
MTV: Becoming a Pop Star at 10p
Paramount+: Halo

Today’s Finale
WE tv: Growing Up Hip Hop at 9p

IN THE NEWS

And the winner is…Disney! Disney announced it has all 60 ad slots for the Oscars telecast on Sunday sewn up. Advertisers span 14 marketing categories, including streamers – Paramount+, CNN+, Peacock and discovery+ join Disney+ in pitching their platforms. The top tier of “proud sponsors” (with four spots apiece during the telecast) are newcomers Crypto.com and Pfizer, and returnees Rolex and Verizon.

Fox Corporation unveiled ATLAS, a new proprietary technology solution bringing contextual alignment to digital video, at the company’s Content Drives Commerce Brand Partnership Summit on Wednesday. Developed by the Fox Ad Technology unit, the video intelligence platform enables enhanced contextual targeting and provides advertisers the ability to connect with relevant content in the right environment in real-time. “ATLAS is another illustration of Fox’s commitment to providing solutions that deliver the necessary impact and outcomes for our ad partners,” said Jeff Collins, EVP of Ad Sales, Fox News Media. “Contextual targeting will continue to grow in importance as third party data targeting options continue to decline.”

Netflix anime series “Pacific Rim: The Black” will end with upcoming season two, launching Tuesday, April 19. The show, produced by Legendary Television, was created by Craig Kyle and Greg Johnson.

Mike Tirico will take over as play by play announcer for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.” He replaces Al Michaels, who left the network to handle Thursday night football duties at Prime Video. The move is not unexpected. “When Mike joined NBC Sports in 2016, it was our plan for him to become our primetime Olympics host and the play-by-play voice of ‘Sunday Night Football,’ said NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua. “We are excited to have Mike join Cris Collinsworth full-time in the booth this season.”

Telemundo is teaming up with the U.S. Soccer Foundation to support their efforts to give underserved Hispanic kids more local opportunities to play soccer where they live and go to school, including the foundation’s Soccer for Success program. As the exclusive U.S. Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup, Telemundo will also team up with the Foundation to jointly host a series of Soccer for Success jamboree celebrations in cities across the country.

Family Entertainment Television has launched FETV and FMC on altafiber (formerly Cincinnati Bell), serving the greater Cincinnati region. The launch provides altafiber subscribers with the ability to catch FETV’s new April lineup, including “Emergency” and the John Wayne Movie Night.

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

ABC has ordered reality competition “Claim to Fame,” hosted by Kevin and Frankie Jonas. The Kinetic Content (“Love Is Blind”) series challenges 12 celebrity relatives to conceal their identities as they live under one roof. Paul Osborne (“Big Brother”) will serve as showrunner and will exec produce alongside Chris Coelen, Eric Detwiler and Scott Teti, with Brian Smith as director and executive producer.

CBS and Australian broadcaster Network 10 have ordered localized versions of “The Real Love Boat,” a reality dating competition series inspired by “The Love Boat,” the 1977-86 scripted series. Production begins summer 2022. Both versions are expected to air in later this year.

Zoe Lister-Jones (“Life in Pieces”) created and will star in “Slip,” a comedy for The Roku Channel. The series comes from TeaTime Pictures, founded by Dakota Johnson and Ro Donnelly, and Boat Rocker.

Bellamie Blackstone has been named Executive Producer of season 40 of “Wheel of Fortune.” Mike Richards, former EP of “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!” was forced to exit after his short stint as “Jeopardy!” host; longtime Supervising Producer Steve Schwartz stepped in for season 39, and will now take on the role of Co-Executive Producer. “We have a terrific team to shepherd this iconic show into the future,” said Suzanne Prete, EVP, Game Shows for Sony Pictures Television. “Bellamie is a creative force with a fresh perspective that will help us extend and expand the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ franchise in exciting new ways.”

TelevisaUnivision has struck a first-look deal with Propagate Fuego to produce Spanish-language original scripted and unscripted content for ViX+, the company’s SVOD tier slated to launch in the second half of 2022. Under the agreement, TelevisaUnivision will have exclusive first-look rights to all content developed by Propagate Fuego, Propagate’s recently launched Spanish-language production division. The deal also includes a development fund for options, writers, formats and scripts. Propagate chairman and co-CEO Ben Silverman (“The Office,” “Jane the Virgin,” “Ugly Betty”) will serve as executive producer on all projects developed and produced under the Propagate Fuego deal.

Author Tess Gerritsen, whose Rizzoli and Isles thrillers were the basis of the TNT series, makes her debut as a documentary filmmaker as co-producer/co-director/narrator of “Magnificent Beast,” investigating our relationship with pigs as food, friend, and foe. The film airs on the PBS World channel Sunday, April 10 at 9p.

The YES Network and sports brand Jomboy Media have entered into a content and marketing partnership by which Jomboy will produce original content exclusively for the YES App and the linear YES Network.

Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New York City” is getting a reboot, executive producer Andy Cohen told Variety. “We are searching for a multicultural group of friends who really best reflect the most exciting city in the country,” said Cohen. “We’re looking for a group of women who are real friends, and who are of diverse backgrounds, races and religions.” A possible spinoff series featuring the originals is in the works.

Gabrielle Union (“Being Mary Jane”) has joined season three of anthology series “Truth Be Told,” starring Octavia Spencer. Union will play an outspoken high school principal caught up in a problematic incident.

Casting notes – pilot edition: Marcia Gay Harden (“Code Black”) is in talks to replace Geena Davis as the female lead in CBS’s untitled Mother & Son Legal Drama Pilot, reports Deadline. Davis departed the project earlier this week…Jimmy Smits has joined CBS drama pilot “East New York” as the male lead opposite Amanda Warren… Cress Williams (“Black Lightning”) landed a lead in NBC drama pilot “Unbroken” (wt)…Misha Collins (“Supernatural”) will play Harvey Dent in CW’s “Gotham Knights” pilot.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

In new Discovery spinoff series “Moonshiners: American Spirit,” the Moonshiners venture out on a search for the legendary lost liquors of America’s past, and pick up tidbits about our nation’s history along the way. The series premieres Wednesday, April 13 at 8p.

Season 18 of Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch” launches Tuesday, April 19 at 8p with the question – what’s a captain to do when red king crab catching is banned for the season?

YouTube stars and friends Rhett McLaughlin & Link Neal (“Good Mythical Morning”) go behind closed doors and into the test kitchens and research & development centers of some of America’s favorite food brands on “Inside Eats with Rhett & Link,” premiering Sunday, April 24 at 10:30p on Food Network.

Among the April premieres on discovery+ are restaurant-set “Serving the Hamptons” (Thursday, April 7) and “All On the Table” (Wednesday, April 20); home series “Repair Shop” (Saturday, April 9) and “High Design with Kim Myles” (Wednesday, April 13); and true crime series “Unraveled: Once a Killer” (Friday, April 22).

“The Hardy Boys” heads back for season two on Hulu Monday, April 4. The action picks up six months after the events of season one.

Fox Nation will debut a new series in conjunction with Warm Spring Productions. “Duck Family Treasure” will star the Robertson family from “Duck Dynasty,” starting in June. Episodes will be released weekly.

Silvergate Media (“Octonauts”) set the launch for its new animated series, “The Creature Cases”, which follows the adventures of a detective duo who specialize in solving animal mysteries. The first season will debut on Netflix on Tuesday, April 12.

Thailand’s T&B Media Global announced its animated series “Tasty Tales of the Food Truckers” will be available for streaming on Kidoodle TV starting this month.

COMING UP

Drew Barrymore and Henry Thomas will be on hand for the 40th anniversary screening of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” during the 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival. The actors join director Steven Spielberg and producer Kathleen Kennedy on the red carpet opening night in Hollywood, April 21.

“The Bad Seed Returns,” a sequel to Lifetime’s “The Bad Seed” (2018), premieres Monday, May 30 at 8p. McKenna Grace (“The Handmaids Tale”) reprises her role as Emma, a woman whose sinister side can only be hidden for so long….

“Life is Shorts: Oscar 2022,” featuring three Academy Award-winning or nominated animated shorts from Disney and Pixar (“Bao,” “Burrow” and “Lou”) will debut Friday, March 25, on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Hosted by daytime talk show host Tamron Hall, the special will kick off Friday, March 25 at 8:30p on Disney Channel and 9p on Disney XD, and air throughout the weekend.

Vanessa Hudgens, Terrence J and fashion designer Brandon Maxwell will host ABC’s “The Oscars Red Carpet Show” on Sunday, March 27 at 6:30p. Once the show begins, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, Reba McEntire and Sebastián Yatra will perform this year’s nominated songs.

Kenn Viselman (“Teletubbies”) announced a partnership with Mondo TV Studios for an exclusive partnership in the US and Canada for “MeteoHeroes.” On April 22 the MeteoHeroes make their broadcast debut on PBS with an Earth Day Special. Companion series “Real Superheroes Don’t Wear Capes” premieres in late summer on PBS.

TECH TALK

605 announced the availability of Advanced Audiences delivered through 605 EXCHAN6E. Advanced Audiences, the first road-mapped deliverable from 605’s new media trading currency, will be available to customers using Xandr’s sell-side and buy-side advanced TV platforms, Monetize TV and Invest TV, to transact on data-driven linear campaigns. “We announced 605 EXCHAN6E in December 2021 with the intention of bringing features to the market throughout 2022,” said 605 Founder and CEO Kristin Dolan. “The launch of Advanced Audiences is a testament to our efforts and marks the first of many industry-leading measurement solutions we have in store.”

Technology companies generated the most positive coverage around the gender pay gap, led by Microsoft, according to data released by Signal AI analyzing media coverage from January 2021 to January 2022. Amazon came in second, followed by Apple, Alphabet, Johnson & Johnson and Meta. “According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, ‘it will now take 135.6 years to close the gender gap worldwide,’ jumping up from 99.5 years before the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Hanna Lindén, Chief People Officer, Signal AI. “This is clearly one of the foremost issues that the business world needs to solve, and this data aims to highlight how leading brands are faring in terms of their efforts to highlight the gender pay gap.”

Charter Communications announced the starting speed of its flagship Spectrum Internet service is now 200 Mbps in all markets, matching the availability of the company’s 400 Mbps and gigabit plans across virtually its entire 41-state service area. The company is doubling the starting speed to 200 Mbps in 33 markets comprising nearly 3 million homes.

Instagram is expanding its eCommerce feature, allowing users to tag products in all their posts. The feature was previously available only to approved creators.

Upwave, the analytics platform for brand advertising, announced the continuation of their collaboration with the Ad Council, partnering with the organization to measure impact on public service campaigns. “Our partnership with Upwave provides us with a cross-media measurement solution to understand the effectiveness of our ads in resonating with target audiences,” said Anne Deo, SVP of Analytics, Ad Council. “Upwave’s team and platform were a valued part of our capabilities on behalf of the COVID-19 Vaccine Education initiative.”

The 94th Academy Awards once again will feature live closed captioning and live audio description during its telecast. VITAC will provide live closed captioning and VITAC accessibility partner Audio Eyes will provide live audio description during the broadcast on Sunday.

STREAMING

YouTube has added full seasons of shows to stream, including “Heartland,” “The Rifleman” and “Hell’s Kitchen,” among others, all free with ads. In addition to 400 library TV episodes, YouTube is adding 1500 movies.

New York esports organization Andbox has rebranded as NYXL. Dedicated to creating experiences and developing content that connects the worlds of esports, gaming culture, and lifestyle for gamers, NYXL is making an investment “in the high-seven figures” into NYC’s gaming community over the next 12 months, including building its headquarters, XLHQ, in Manhattan. The organization will also launch YXL, their Young Creator Project, an annual initiative that discovers, supports and promotes the next generation of New York digital content creators.

UPFRONT CALENDAR

March 24: Nickelodeon at 4p (Palladium Times Square, NYC)
March 28: National CineMedia at 11:30a (Film at Lincoln Center, NYC)
April 5: PlayFronts (NYC): Meta (9:20a), Activision Blizzard (9:40a), Frameplay (10a), Niantic (11:05a), Admix (11:25a), Unity (11:50a), Zynga (1p), Bidstack (1:20p), Riot Games (1:45p), Anzu (2:10p), Twitch (3:15p), IGN (3:35p), SuperAwesome (3:301), and PlayerWON (4:10)
April 5-7: Magna’s Equity Upfront
April 6: Disney’s Sports Summit (virtual); AMC Networks at 6:30p (The Peak in Hudson Yards, NYC); National CineMedia at 11a (Academy of Motion Pictures, LA)
April 12: Black Owned Media Upfront at 1p (virtual)
April 13: FETV (Empire State Building, NYC); TV One (virtual)
April 25: Disney Storyteller’s Showcase
April 26: FETV (Empire State Building, NYC)
May 2-6: IAB NewFronts
May 2: NBCUniversal/Peacock NewFront
May 3: Roku at 11:30a (Caldwell Factory, NYC)
May 16: NBCUniversal (Radio City Music Hall, NYC); Telemundo (Ziegfeld Theater, NYC); Fox (Skylight, NYC)
May 17: Discovery (Jazz at Lincoln Center, NYC); Disney (Basketball City at Pier 36, NYC); YouTube Brandcast at 8p; Univision (Javits Center in NYC)
May 18: Paramount (Carnegie Hall, NYC); WarnerMedia (Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, NYC)
May 19: The CW (New York City Center Theater, NYC)

GOING GLOBAL

In addition to the previously announced partners Newen (founding partner), France Télévisions, and Entreprises et Cités, HBO Max has finalized a three-year agreement and will come on board as one of Series Mania Institute’s founding partners. HBO Max has agreed to invest one million dollars over the next three years. In addition, Taiwan Creative Content Agency announced an agreement with Series Mania to offer a fast track for creators, producers, investors, and distributors from both sides to ensure market access in Asia and Europe.

Format Taboo is set to launch for the first time in Portugal on terrestrial broadcaster SIC, hosted by comedian Bruno Nogueira. The latest local version of the show, which explores the boundaries of what is considered acceptable humor, comes as Taboo receives a second season commission in Denmark on TV2.

Armoza Formats, part of ITV Studios, announced the international launch of “Beat the Average,” a new prime time entertainment format that sees teams of three contestants – friends, family, co-workers – compete in challenges across a variety of categories.

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RATINGS

Nexstar Digital announced that total unique users to its websites and mobile applications in January 2022 increased by more than 45% from the same time period a year earlier, to 133 million, generating 820 million page views, according to Comscore Media Trend. The growth moved Nexstar Digital into the Comscore Top 25 for unique visitors and marked the seventh consecutive month of growth of at least two million unique users across Nexstar Digital’s websites and mobile applications. Collectively, Nexstar Digital’s websites and apps now reach close to 50% of the U.S. internet audience.

Fox News Digital finished February as the top-performing news brand in the competitive set in both multiplatform views and multiplatform minutes, according to Comscore. The digital network delivered 2.9 billion multiplatform minutes and over 1.4 billion multiplatform views, while posting increases in multiplatform unique visitors and multiplatform minutes versus the prior month.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Tuesday, March 22
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Judge Steve Harvey 3.43 (0.5), Abbott Elementary 2.64 (0.5), black-ish 1.67 (0.3), To Tell the Truth 1.83 (0.3)
CBS: FBI 8.03 (0.7), FBI: International 6.12 (0.5), FBI: Most Wanted 5.79 (0.5)
CW: Superman & Lois .46 (0.1), Naomi 0.33 (0.0)
FOX: iHeartRadio Music Awards 2.0 (0.5)
NBC: Young Rock 2.32 (0.4), Mr. Mayor 1.85 (0,3), This Is Us 4.45 (0.8), The Thing About Pam 2.48 (0.3)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos 0.85 (0.2), Heclai: Amor y Venganza 1.17 (0.3), Pasion de Gavilanes 0.65 (0.2)
Univision: Soltero con Hijas 1.48 (0.5), Mi Fortuna es Amarte 1.63 (0.5), Madre 1.81 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

IAB announced three promotions: Sheryl Goldstein to EVP, Chief Industry Growth Officer; Carryl Pierre-Drews to EVP, Chief Marketing Officer; and Michael Hahn to EVP, General Counsel.

Banijay Germany has tapped Panagiota Vafea to serve as Executive Director and and Tom Kühn as Executive Producer for Endemol Shine. At Good Times, Shona Fraser will join Sylvia Fahrenkrog-Petrsen as joint Managing Director, with Creative Director, Cornelia Landgraf, promoted to Deputy Managing Director.

Sarah Bickley has been promoted to head of sales at Beyond Rights, starting April. Joanna Rowley, who has acted as a part-time consultant for the past three months, will be joining the business on a permanent basis on May 1 as VP sales for the UK, Nordics, and Italy.

This Day in History
1932 – The first religious service was telecast in the US.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which short-lived sitcom focused on a man who leaves his job as an insurance salesman to return to medical school? “The Bob Crane Show” (1975). Kudos to: Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA; Ken DuBow-Access Entertainment/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which basic cable network launched in 1980 as a commercial-free premium channel? (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