Friday March 26, 2021

Saturday’s Premiere
Reelz: “Green River Killer: Hunting the Monster” at 8p

Sunday’s Premieres
discovery+: “Signs of a Psychopath”
Showtime: “City on a Hill” at 10p

Sunday’s Finale
Starz: “The Luminaries” at 9:30p

IN THE NEWS

“Warner Bros. Television has relieved ‘All Rise’ executive producer Greg Spottiswood of his duties, effective immediately,” said the studio in a statement following an investigation into allegations of racial insensitivity. Executive producer Dee Harris-Lawrence will continue to serve as showrunner of the CBS courtroom drama. “We remain committed, at all times, to providing a safe and inclusive working environment on our productions and for all employees,” said WBTV.

Joseph Ianniello, who left his job as acting CEO of CBS with a $125 million package after opposing, then supporting the merger in 2019 of Viacom and CBS, denied allegations of unjust enrichment in a shareholder lawsuit contesting the merger. “Ianniello did not breach any fiduciary duty and Ianniello at all times acted reasonably, properly, in good faith, with reasonable care, and in accordance with CBS’s Certificate and Bylaws and applicable law,” said his defense. The main target of the lawsuit is Shari Redstone, for allegedly pushing through a deal against the best interests of CBS shareholders.

The amount of time the average American spent using media each day declined 16% in the third quarter of 2020 versus 3Q19, according to Nielsen’s latest Total Audience Report – a surprising stat, given pandemic stay-at-home orders. Nielsen enhanced how it measures media usage on Android-based smartphones in May 2020, resulting in “a significant decrease in smartphone duration on Android devices and a trend break from data prior to Q2 2020,” said Nielsen SVP-Audience Insights Peter Katsingris in the report. “However, while duration did decrease as a result of these changes, smartphone reach metrics remain unaffected.”

CBS Sports landed exclusive US rights to the Serie A Championship, the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana. Paramount+ will deliver more than 400 club matches live each season through 2024, with select matches televised CBS Sports linear platforms. “We are building critical mass in soccer, and the addition of Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana is another major step in the expansion of CBS Sports’ extensive lineup of live soccer coverage on Paramount+ and across our linear and digital platforms,” said Jeffrey Gerttula, EVP & General Manager, CBS Sports Digital.

Sportscaster Dick Stockton is retiring after 55 years in the business, most recently at Fox Sports. “Dick’s contributions to Fox Sports began on Day 1 of our existence and will be felt for years to come,” said Eric Shanks, CEO & Executive Producer at Fox Sports. “He is a cornerstone of this company whose legacy, talent and hard work helped build the NFL on FOX brand. Growing up as a sports fan, I knew his voice signified a big game, but later working with him, I realized just how big and irreplaceable that voice truly is.”

USA Network ordered a ninth season of “Christley Knows Best,” and a a third round of “Growing Up Chrisley,” both set to debut this summer. “Chrisley Knows Best” is averaging 1.5 million total viewers, while season two of “Growing Up” is averaging 1.1 million viewers.

TV winners at the 32nd Annual Producers Guild Awards include “The Crown” for drama; “Schitt’s Creek” for comedy, “The Queen’s Gambit” for limited series; “The Last Dance” for non-fiction television; “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” for talk; and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” for game & competition.

Anti-poverty organization ONE Campaign has launched animated series “Pandemica,” created to raise awareness of the importance of global vaccine access in ending the pandemic. The series features characters voiced by Patrick Adams, Samuel Arnold, Bono, Connie Britton, Penélope Cruz, Meg Donnelly, Danai Gurira, Nick Kroll, Laura Marano, Kumail Nanjiani, David Oyelowo, Phoebe Robinson, Michael Sheen, Wanda Sykes, and Calum Worthy. “Pandemica’s animated world animates a simple truth – that where you live shouldn’t determine whether you get these life-saving shots,” said Bono, lead singer, U2 and co-founder of ONE and (RED). “Even while many of us still wait our turn, we need to commit to making sure that billions of people around the world aren’t left at the back of the line.”

Univision Communications launched a national bilingual vaccine hotline as part of its Unidos Por Los Nuestros (United For Each Other) COVID-19 campaign, in partnership with Mi Familia Vota. Now through the end of December, viewers can call 1-833-868-2667 to access accurate information about the vaccine and receive personalized assistance on how to sign up for the vaccine once it is widely available.

UPFRONTS

As part of its 2021 Upfronts, Game Show Network announced its position as one of the ten biggest networks for growth in Total Day and Prime. “In a year where television viewing patterns were disrupted and unpredictable, Game Show Network’s audience remained consistent,” said John Zaccario, EVP, Ad Sales. “We provided a reliable platform for our advertisers’ message and further demonstrated why Game Show Network’s audience is uniquely valuable in today’s challenging media landscape. Our clients know what to expect from us and can plan for it.”

On the programming front, new episodes of shows include “America Says,” the #1 original series on GSN among W25-54; “Common Knowledge,” which grew its audience by 3% year-over-year; and trivia show “Master Minds,” which grew its time period by more than 10%. “People Puzzler” premiered as the #1 new show launch since 2017 among W25-54, and “Chain Reaction,” launched last month, garnered nearly half a million viewers in its premiere week. Also coming up is the second season of “Get a Clue,” which netted a season-to-season lift of 11% W25-54. Overall, GSN saw its fourth consecutive year of total viewer growth, garnering the most viewers to the network since 2015 and up 13% year-over-year growth in Total Day, Total Viewers (2020 vs. 2019).

REGISTER NOW

TNT ordered unscripted series “Rhodes to the Top,”

from Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Siren Media. The show will focus on “AEW Dynamite” power couple Cody and Brandi Rhodes. “I’ve witnessed firsthand the passion and dedication that Cody and Brandi put into every facet of their life and know how much that plays an instrumental role in the success and expansion of AEW,” said Sam Linsky, Co-Head of Scripted for TBS, TNT and truTV. “Now the world will get an inside look at how they balance their personal wrestling careers, their training center, and their executive roles at AEW as they venture into one of the most intimidating chapters of life, parenthood.”

OUTtv has greenlit two new commissions and issued two season renewals. New shows include docu-series “The Villberg Chronicles,” from Duo RAW AB, and “Dating Unlocked,” a reality series from Border to Border. “Slo Pitch” from Shaftesbury and “Metreosexual” from Humdrum Comedy will be returning to the LGBTQ+ network for a second season.

David Harewood (“Supergirl”) will write and host BBC Two doc “Blackface With David Harewood,” exploring the origins of blackface in early 19th century America. Historian David Olusoga’s Uplands Television is producing.

HGTV has greenlit a one-hour pilot, “What Not To Design” (wt), starring Raven-Symone. Spun from TLC’s “What Not to Wear,” the show overhauls home design disasters.

An American remake of BBC Two comedy “Motherland” is in early development at Sharon Horgan’s Merman and Lionsgate. Headed for a third season across the pond, the original comes from Merman and Delightful Industries.

The cast of BET+ and Tyler Perry Studios scripted series “All The Queen’s Men,” debuting this summer, received an expanded order of ten episodes. The cast includes Eva Marcille, Skyh Alvester Black, Candace Maxwell, Racqel Palmer, Michael “Bolo” Bolwaire, Keith “Fatal Attraction” Swift, Jeremy “Masterpiece” Williams, and Christian Keyes. Focused on exotic male dancers, the series comes from Tyler Perry Studios’ scripted development arm Pitch Black Development.

Allyance Media Group’s Diga Studios and Madica Productions (“Ginny and Georgia”) are partnering to develop and produce TV, film, digital and podcast porjects. The deal gives each company a stake in the other.

Casting notes: Rebecca Rittenhouse (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”) landed the lead in ABC comedy pilot “Maggie,” centered on a women coming to grips with her psychic powers…Bo Burnham (“Eighth Grade”) will play Boston Celtics superstar Larry Bird in HBO’s series based on the book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s…Peter Outerbridge (“Nikita”) will recur on CW’s “Batwoman” as Black Mask…”Covert Affairs” alum Christopher Gorham has joined the cast of Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Discovery+ shared a slate of new and original programming that will be available in April. Among the highlights: “Endangered” (Thursday, April 22) from executive producer Ellen DeGeneres; “Duff’s Happy Fun Bake Time” (Thursday, April 29) with Duff Goldman; and new documentaries including “Future People: The Family of Donor 5114” (Saturday, April 10), executive produced by Jason Momoa.

Science Channel’s “If We Built It Today” kicks off a new season Sunday, April 4 at 10p with a special episode spotlighting the mysteries of Atlantis.

Multimedia initiative “Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer,” focusing on the history of pandemics and science amid COVID-19, will include a book, magazine special issue and TV series hosted by aforementioned historian David Olusoga (Black & British: A Forgotten History) and science writer Steven Johnson (The Ghost Map). The series will air Tuesdays from May 11 to June 1 at 8p on PBS stations.

The treasure hunt picks up again with the return of “Storage Wars,” airing back-to-back episodes Tuesday, April 20 at 9p. New series “Hustle & Tow,” offering a look at the rugged lives of tow truck drivers, follows at 10p.

Season three of OZY Media’s YouTube talker “The Carlos Watson Show” premieres Monday, March 29. “I cannot wait for people all over the world to see the great conversations we have coming up,” said Watson. “I am talking about love with politicians, politics with musicians and music with athletes. My deep love and curiosity for people helps me deconstruct who they are, how they got here and what their bold ideas are for effecting change in the world.”

ABC Signature showrunner Krista Vernoff (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Station 19”) has inked a new deal for her Trip the Light Productions. “Krista Vernoff is a superstar who makes the almost impossible task of running three shows seem like a reasonable amount of work. I am honestly in awe of her,” said Dana Walden, Walt Disney Television Chairman of Entertainment. “Everyone at the studio and network is grateful for the tremendous job she’s done on the amazing Shondaland shows, and we are proud to be launching Krista’s first creation, ‘Rebel,’ on ABC in two weeks.”

Real-time segments from season 2 of Crackle Original “Going From Broke” premiere Thursday, April 8, following six young people embarking on a journey to a debt-free life. During the six weeks of production, Crackle will take audiences inside the process of financial transformation. The completion of the cast’s journey will be aired during the season 2 premiere on May 20.

“Frank of Ireland” premieres on Amazon Prime Video Friday, April 16. The six-episode comedy focuses on a 32-year-old “misanthropic fantasist in arrested development.”

Fox Nation’s “Tucker Carlson Today,” an expansion of Carlson’s nightly program on Fox News Channel, will air Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, beginning March 29. “We often don’t have enough time to talk about everything that we want to talk about in a single hour,” said Carlson.

COMING UP

Two-hour special “Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days” premieres Monday, April 26 on ABC. In addition to guests W. Kamau Bell, Gloria Estefan, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Whoopi Goldberg, Christopher Jackson, John Legend, Lucy Liu, Olivia Munn, Questlove, Chrissy Teigen and Usher, the special will introduce the first Black Muppet family, the Walkers.

The Paley Center for Media announced Soledad O’Brien is joining its latest PaleyImpact program, “Uncovering Racial Injustice with BET’s Disrupt & Dismantle.” During the event, being held tonight, March 26 at 6p, the journalist and producer will discuss her new BET documentary series with Scott Mills, President, BET.

The 27th Annual SAG Awards will air Sunday, April 4 on TNT and TBS.

Laura Ingraham will host Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle Town Hall: Time for Class” tonight at 10p. Tthe town hall will focus on the impact the pandemic has had on the education community.

LeBron James will receive the President’s Award during the 52nd NAACP Image Awards. Anthony Anderson (black-ish) returns as host of the live special, airing on BET Saturday, March 27 at 8p, and simulcast across ViacomCBS networks including CBS, BET Her, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Paramount, Pop, Smithsonian, TV Land, VH1, BET PLUTO, and CMT.

Estrella Media is bringing boxing back to its EstrellaTV network’s Friday night lineup with the monthly “Boxeo EstrellaTV,” launching tonight at 10p. The two-hour broadcast from the Fit Center in Mexico City main event fight will be the WBC FECARBOX (Federacion Centroamericana de Boxeo Profesional) Latino Flyweight Title fight between Adrian “Gato” Curiel and Cristian “El Chicharito” González.

TECH TALK

Havas Media Group has partnered with social display leader Spaceback to bring the creativity of social advertising to programmatic. The partnership will allow marketers to distribute social experiences using programmatic infrastructure, adapting any posts from across the major platforms in seconds. “In the future, meaningful media will power all media plans, not just social plans,” said Casey Saran, CEO and co-founder of Spaceback. “Our new partnership with Havas unlocks the true potential of programmatic and will inspire brands around the world to revisit their siloed approach to media channels.”

Optimizing addressable TV and other emerging channels is a top priority for brand and agency execs, according to new Forrester research, but using addressable at scale is still an issue. Optimizing strategies for emerging media channels was a primary objective for 46% of the 522 decision-makers surveyed, along with better defining/understanding key audiences for media campaigns (36%), improving or performing attribution on campaigns (34%), and better understanding media investment ROI. All of the respondents said that they’ve experienced at least one challenge in implementing addressable at scale, including convincing other stakeholders of its importance, fragmented platforms/lack of interoperability, lack of adequate measurement, and lack of skilled personnel.

Appearing before lawmakers, along with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Alphabet chief Sundar Pichai, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said big tech didn’t provoke the January 6 attack on the Capitol.”We did our part to secure the election,” said Zuckerberg. “Then the president gave a speech.” The big tech trio were criticized for misinformation and choosing profit over public good, among other things, in a discussion that could mean changes to Section 230, which gives online platforms immunity for content they post.

As the cookie crumbles: Verizon Media announced that CafeMedia, a network of over 2,900 premium content creators, will adopt identity solution Verizon MediaConnectID, enabling publishers to manage, monetize and navigate their audiences without the need for cookies, and connect them to unique advertisers through the Verizon Media Ad Platform. “As we look ahead at a world where third-party cookies will disappear from browsers, working with partners like Verizon Media ensures we are prepared for that future,” said Shobha Doshi, VP Programmatic Strategy & Operations at CafeMedia. “Verizon Media ConnectID protects audience privacy options while enabling addressability for our advertisers and creators.”

STREAMING

Tubi has entered into an AVOD content deal for the US market to bring six seasons of the children’s series “Barney & Friends” to its viewers, beginning Friday, April 9. Tubi will offer Seasons 7-9 of the live-action series, which featured Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato in their younger years, exclusively to its viewers, and also make available seasons 10-12 non-exclusively.

Fuse Sweat, the new, free ad-supported streaming television channel from Fuse Media that’s home to classic workout videos, has launched on VIZIO SmartCast. The channel will also be available on Fuse.tv and Fuse apps, with additional carriage to be announced in the coming weeks. “I am very excited that my groundbreaking fitness series of ‘Sweatin to the Oldies’ still is so relevant and popular and I hope many new fans will discover these timeless classics,” said Richard Simmons.

GOING GLOBAL

More than two-thirds (67%) of UK advertising professionals think connected TV is a more effective ad channel than linear TV, according to new research from Unruly. However, around half of brands (45%) and agencies (50%) wanting a clearer understanding of how CTV fits into their campaigns and more information about measurement and attribution. Brands are much more likely to want training on the benefits of CTV (48%) and audience-specific insights (48%) compared to agencies (23% and 31% respectively).

One Animation has secured linear broadcast sales for preschool series “Oddbods” and the kids’ animated adventure comedy, “Insectibles.” Mexican broadcaster Televisa has picked up “Oddbods,” while for Latin America, WarnerMedia grabbed Halloween special “Oddbeard’s Curse” for its Boomerang and Cartoon Network kids’ channels. In France, teleTOON+ also added the title. Studio N in Poland has picked up “Oddbods,” and Bomanbridge Media sold season three of “Oddbods” and “The Festive Menace,” “Zee Force Five” and “Party Monsters” specials to True Visions Group (Thailand) and Canal+ (Myanmar). Astro (Malaysia & Brunei) has also taken season three for its Astro Ceria channel and Astro GO VOD offering.

Lineup Industries has sold the US version of documentary format “Emergency Call” to Australia’s Nine Network, New Zealand’s TV3 and Talpa TV in the Netherlands. The deals come as further episodes of the series are poised to debut on ABC in the US later this year.

WWE announced a new partnership with Virgin Media Television to broadcast highlights of “Raw” and “SmackDown” on free-to-air television for the first time in Ireland. Beginning March 27, Virgin Media Two will air a one-hour version of “Raw” on Sundays at 10:30a, and a one-hour version of “SmackDown” on Saturdays at 10:30a.

Discovery+ is expanding its reach in India with its launch on Jio set top boxes. “We believe that discovery+ is a product for every Indian household,” said Isaac John, Head of Direct-to-Consumer, APAC, Discovery Inc. “Our partnership with Jio presents a distinct opportunity to take discovery+ and its repository of incredible storytelling to deeper pockets of the country facilitated by Jio’s unparalleled reach and remarkable service.”

Moonbug Entertainment has partnered with UK preschool network Cartoonito to air all available episodes of “CoComelon” starting April 5 and airing on weekdays at 5p.

On Thursday, April 29 at 1:00 PM ET, attend this webinar to hear the experts from Katz Media share strategies you can use to better distribute your digital feeds and partners advertisements to new audiences.

Save Your Seat

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Wednesday, March 24
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: “The Goldbergs” 3.42 (0.6), “American Housewife” 2.72 (0.5), “The Connors” 3.45 (0.6), “Call Your Mother” 2.56 (0.3) “The Con” 170 (0.3)
CBS: “Tough As Nails” 3.18 (0.4), “SEAL Team” 4.00 (0.5), “S.W.A.T.” 3.71 (0.6)
CW: “Riverdale” 0.46 (0.2),“Nancy Drew” 0.42 (0.1)
ION: “Blue Bloods” 1.21 (0.2), “Blue Bloods” 1.36 (0.2), “Blue Bloods” 1.06 (0.2)
FOX: “The Masked Singer” 5.20 (1.2), “Game of Talents” 2.88 (0.7)
NBC: “Chicago Med” 3.49 (0.4), “Chicago Fire” 3.01 (0.3), “Chicago PD” 2.75 (0.3)
Telemundo: Exatlon 1.03(0.3), Suerte de Loli 1.03 (0.3), Buscando Frida 1.11 (0.4)
Univision: Vencer al Desamor 2.05 (0.5), Te Acuerdas De Mi 1.70 (0.5), Hija Del Embajador 1.35 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

IN MEMORIAM

Actress Jessica Walter died March 24. She was 80. In addition to theater and film work, Walter earned Emmy nominations for “Trapper John, M.D.,” “The Streets of San Francisco”and “Arrested Development,” and won the trophy for “Amy Prentiss.” “She was a force, and her talent and timing were unmatched,” tweeted Tony Hale. “Rest In Peace Mama Bluth.”

Actor Richard Gilliland died March 18 after a brief illness. He was 71. Among Gilliland’s numerous television credits were “Designing Women,” “thirtysomething,” “Just Our Luck,” “Heartland” and “Operation Petticoat.”

Poet and actor Craig “Mums” Grant died March 25. He was 53. Grant’s TV credits included “Oz,” “She’s Gotta Have It,” “Luke Cage” and “The Last O.G.”, among others.

This Day in History
1953 – Dr. Jonas Salk announced he had successfully tested a vaccine to prevent polio.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which “American Idol” alum, in addition to Katharine McPhee, had a role on “Smash” (2012-13)? Jennifer Hudson. Kudos to: Sandy Speigel-WTTW/Chicago, Albert Nassour-Access Intelligence/NYC, Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA, Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, Sally J. Maisel-Wienermania/Van Nuys, CA, Frank Costa-CBS Sports/NYC

Today’s Trivia Question
Who was the first woman to own and produce her own talk show? (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.)