Thursday April 8, 2021

Today’s Finales
HBO: “Exterminate All the Brutes” at 10p
WE tv: “The Ts Madison Experience” at 10p

IN THE NEWS

YouTube remains the most prevalent social media platform in the US, according to a new Pew study – and it’s still growing. Eighty-one percent of adults surveyed said they use YouTube, up from 73% in 2019. Facebook was number two, with 69% of Americans citing its usage (unchanged from 2019). Instagram (40%) and Pinterest (31%) each rose three percentage points YoY, while LinkedIn (28%), Snapchat (25%) and Twitter (23%) rose 1%. Reddit rose seven points, to 18%. TikTok joined the ranking for the first time, with 21% of US adults citing usage. “Despite a string of controversies and the public’s relatively negative sentiments about aspects of social media, roughly seven-in-ten Americans (72%) say they ever use any kind of social media site,” noted the report.

That said, trust in US online sharing and networking brands suffered as brands attempted to balance their role as platforms for free expression with the need to prohibit objectionable content, according to a BrandZ analysis issued by Kantar. Social media brands ranked 67th, just below tobacco and business banking, out of 68 categories measured for level of trust in the US. (Number one? Diapers.) Multiple factors, including the pandemic, the presidential election and the drive for racial justice, served as catalysts for change in the online networking space, with brands being impacted by changes in consumer perceptions of them. “The online networking landscape is rapidly changing,” said Nicole Jones, SVP, Growth and Strategy, Kantar. “Media and entertainment brands will need to understand in greater depth the diversity of their audiences and develop content that resonates with the audiences they’re cultivating.”

Peter Dunn, President of the CBS Television Stations, and David Friend, SVP of News for the Stations group, “will not return to their positions and will be leaving the Company,” said CBS. Dunn and Friend had been placed on administrative leave in January, following allegations of abusive workplace behavior. CBS added that its external investigation into CBS Television Stations management is “ongoing.” Bryon Rubin will continue to run the Stations group on an interim basis, while Kim Godwin will continue her oversight of Stations’ news operations until new leadership is in place.

With schedules massively disrupted by the pandemic, broadcast prime-time ratings among A18-49 in 1Q21 were down 24% in Nielsen Live+SD numbers, following a 20% drop in the 4Q20, according to Bernstein Research. Seven non-sports prime-time series delivered 10 million+ Nielsen Live+7 viewers this season, versus 14 last year.

Internet ad spending during 2020 jumped 12.2%, to $139.8 billion, according to a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC. The first half of the year took a hit because of the shutdown, but advertisers came out spending in 2H20. “The second half of 2020 made up for the rather abrupt drop in advertising revenue experienced toward the end of the second quarter,” said IAB SVP, Research and Analytics Susan Hogan. “We not only had a rebound, we also had double-digit growth.” Hogan attributed the bump to “fourth quarter holiday season sales, typical use-it-or-lose-it year-end spending of media budgets, and revenue from political advertising.”

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group and Verizon are partnering for a new diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative to increase media spending with US Black-owned media companies. The summit event will occur next month. “Increasing our financial commitment to Black-owned media companies and partnering with Allen Media Group to host a summit that will provide these companies with resources to help enable long term growth is a crucial part of our responsible marketing action plan,” said John Nitti, Chief Media Officer, Verizon. “It is also an important step in creating the equity the industry needs.”

With France in lockdown due to the pandemic, Cannes Lions announced the advertising and marketing event will once again go virtual, from June 21-25. “Over the last year, we’ve been consulting with our customers and working on our plans, including the development of Cannes Lions Live as part of the new Lions Membership platform,” said Cannes Lions Chairman Philip Thomas. “We are now able to move fully to this format for 2021 – which will have all the celebration, inspiration and participation of Cannes Lions – to unite the global community virtually during Cannes Lions Live this June.”

ABC is bringing back game shows “The Chase” and “The Hustler” for second seasons this summer, along with reboots “Celebrity Family Feud,” “To Tell the Truth,” “Press Your Luck,” “The $100,000 Pyramid,” “Holey Moley” and “Card Sharks.” Also returning will be “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise,” as well as “Emergency Call” episodes carried over from last summer. New series premiering include “The Celebrity Dating Game” (Monday, June 14 at 10p); “When Nature Calls” (wt; Thursday, June 17 at 8p); and “The Ultimate Surfer” (Monday, August 16 at 10p).

Not coming back to ABC is “Don’t.” The comedic physical game show, hosted by Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation”) has been canceled after one season.

Fox renewed “Duncanville” for a third season, ahead of its season two launch on Sunday, May 23. The animated comedy comes from Amy Poehler and her Paper Kite Productions, and “The Simpsons” alums Mike Scully and Julie Scully.

Children’s rights organization Plan International is teaming with Nickelodeon International’s Together For Good to extend Nickelodeon International’s multiplatform interstitial series “Extraordinary Me.” The gender equity pro-social campaign kicked off across Nickelodeon platforms, celebrating girls who are defying stereotypes and excelling in male-dominated disciplines.

We hear these words a lot. But what do they mean? There are people behind these words who truly are breaking ground and blazing trails. And Cynopsis wants to honor the Top Women in Media deserving of these titles.

Nominations are now open for

Cynopsis’ Top Women in Media Awards so send us your best in marketing, PR, on-air talent, tech, production—including yourselves.

NOMINATE BY 4/6
(sponsored by TurnkeyZRG)

Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly (“Justified,” “Elementary”) inked a deal with Lionsgate for their Timberman-Beverly Productions to produce scripted series for streaming, cable and broadcast networks. They had been under a deal with ABC Signature.

Joel McHale (“Community”) will host “Crime Scene Kitchen,” set to premiere Wednesday, May 26 at 9p on Fox. In the cooking competition, bakers have to use clues to figure out what kind of a dessert was made, then try to recreate it. “It’s a truly original format with amazing baking creations, a brilliant play-along guessing game for the whole family, and Joel at the center of it all bringing hilarity at every turn,” said Rob Wade, Alternative Entertainment and Specials, Fox Entertainment. “Just don’t watch it if you’re feeling hungry!”

Shudder ordered season four of drag competition series “The Boulet Bothers’ Dragula.” The 10-episode season will feature drag artists competing in challenges, with the winner taking home a $100,000 grand prize. The acquisition follows the launch of Shudder Original “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Resurrection,” a two-hour film – part horror movie, part documentary and part reality competition – which was one of the service’s most watched premieres of 2020.

Casting notes: Samantha Morton (“The Walking Dead”) will star as Catherine de Medici in Starz series “The Serpent Queen,” from writer and executive producer Justin Haythe (“Revolutionary Road”)…Paul Schneider (“Tales from the Loop”), Angela Sarafyan (“Westworld”) and Jacob Lofland (“Maze Runner”) lead the cast of Epix film “A House on the Bayou,” premiering in late 2021…Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation”) joins Lily James, Sebastian Stan and Seth Rogen in Hulu’s “Pam and Tommy,” about the theft of Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee’s sex tape.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Apple TV+ current affairs series “The Problem with Jon Stewart” will debut in the fall. Hosted and executive produced by Stewart, the show is the first project to come out of a multi-year partnership between the former “Daily Show” host and Apple.

“Tyler Perry’s Sistas” returns for season three Wednesday, June 9 on BET. The scripted series’ season two finale delivered a .617 rating among P18-49 in Live+3 and 1.3 million total viewers.

CNBC’s daily show TechCheck makes its debut Monday, April 12 at 11a, focused on tech-centric stories. The program will be the first CNBC broadcast anchored from multiple locations, including Jon Fortt and Carl Quintanilla on the East Coast, and Deirdre Bosa on the West Coast.

Season eight of “Bar Rescue” premieres Sunday, May 2 on Paramount Network, with host Jon Taffer helping Las Vegas locals this time around, rather than traveling across the country to resuscitate businesses. “This season is very personal,” said Taffer. “This is my hometown, I can’t fail.” The reality show had been slated to move to another ViacomCBS network as Paramount rebranded to Paramount Movie Network, but the rebrand stalled due to the pandemic.

Smithsonian Channel steps back in time with “Murderous History,” making its debut Sunday, April 25 at 9p. The true crime series delves into gruesome murder mysteries over the past 200 years.

Acorn TV landed exclusive SVOD and US premiere rights to the new season of “Midsomer Murders” from all3media international. The long-running mystery series is one of Acorn TV’s top performing franchises. Season 22 two launches Monday, April 19 on the streamer.

Arts net Ovation has acquired US broadcast rights for season two of “Riviera,” set to premiere Saturday, May 8 at 7p.

PBS is teaming with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit for “Life at the Water Hole,” a new three-part series that explores the daily drama of African wildlife at a waterhole rigged with weather-proofed cameras. The series premieres Wednesdays, May 19-June 2 at 8p (check local listings).

“RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under” will air in the US on WOW Presents Plus, day-and-date with Stan (Australia) and TVNZ On Demand (New Zealand) local airings, starting Saturday, May 1.

STREAMING

In 2020, connected TV accounted for 40% of all video impressions, up from 31% the year before, according to Innovid’s Globa Omini-Channel Benchmarks Report. The data highlights the consumer shift from linear to CTV during the pandemic. Key takeaways include:
* Global CTV impressions saw a 60% year-over-year increase. Mobile held on to its top position, with 43% of global video impressions and 68% of global display impressions, while PC impressions continue to dip, resulting in a 16% share of global video impressions and a 32% share of global display impressions.
* Programmatic impressions served to CTV increased by over 200% year-over-year.
* In H2, Innovid recorded a 100% growth in dynamic creative video impressions as brands swapped out messaging quickly as situations changed.
* Advanced creative video formats generated a 309% lift in engagement and an average of 34 additional seconds earned.
* For display, dynamic creative generated a 37% lift in CTR over standard display – a number that jumps to 82% on mobile devices.

ScreenHits TV, a content aggregator for streaming services, has launched its new mobile platform on Apple’s iPad, Android TV, Chromecast and Fire TV Stick platforms. ScreenHits TV allows subscribers to integrate and manage many of their TV/online streaming subscriptions, AVOD and live channels in tablet app and desktop versions. Consumers can see what is trending, share recommendations with friends and discover content across all their streaming subscriptions. “With the opportunity to now view live TV and to consume recorded content (VOD) online, it makes it easier for consumers to integrate all their channels and streaming services into one curated app,” said founder and CEO Rose Adkins Hulse.

Streaming of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on the Roku platform rose 75% over 2019 numbers, according to the streamer. It’s “the latest example of the transformation shift occurring in TV viewing behavior,” said Kristina Shepard, National Brand Team Lead, Roku, “What we’re seeing is reflective of a change taking place across all the major sports as they returned from a pandemic induced pause. Marketers looking to continue reaching mass audiences through live sports must shift their focus towards TV streaming.”

Tubi has entered a content deal with Shout! Factory for a collection of anime films. New titles include “In This Corner of the World” and Eleven Arts Anime Studio’s “Millennium Actress,” as well as “Liz and the Blue Bird,” “Penguin Highway” and more. The films will be available free to viewers, with most available in subtitled and dubbed versions, beginning today, April 8.

Ownership of a smart TV set is at 70% of TV households this year, according to Hub Entertainment Research’s Connected Home report, Overall, 52% of all TV sets are now reported to be smart TVs, up from 45% in 2020, indicating accelerated replacement of older, non-smart TVs with smart TVs. Homes with kids or younger adults are more likely to own smart TV sets; greater proportions of smart TV ownership are found in homes with children under age 18 (59% of all sets are smart TVs), or in homes where the oldest person is under age 35 (61%).

COMING UP

“The Crime of the Century,” filmmaker Alex Gibney’s two-part indictment of Big Pharma, premieres on HBO Monday, May 10. The expose posits that drug companies are largely responsible for the drug crisis they profit from.

E! will mark the end of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” with a reunion special hosted by Andy Cohen. The 20th and final season of the reality show, which launched in 2007, premiered March 18.

National Geographic is holding an Earth Day Eve virtual concert on Wednesday, April 21 at 8:30p, on its YouTube page and online. Hosted by travel expert Jessica Nabongo, the concert will feature performances by Angélique Kidjo, AURORA, José González, Maggie Rogers, Rostam, Valerie June, Willie Nelson, Yo-Yo Ma and Ziggy Marley, as well as a world premiere new music video from My Morning Jacket. The event will also include announcements by the brand and be followed by a virtual afterparty on the new National Geographic TikTok account at 10p.

MeTV’s “The Month of Mayberry” event celebrates series that featured the iconic small TV town and its characters. The stunt kicks off Sunday, May 2, with thefirst episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” and the backdoor pilot of “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”, airing from 5p-6p, followed by a special episode of “The Love Boat” starring Andy Griffith at 6p.

One element of a content partnership between A+E Networks and Land Rover North America airs Sunday, April 18 at 10p on FYI. Documentary “All You Need Know: Overlanding” explores the burgeoning trend of overlanding, an outdoor adventure rooted in travel and exploration. Developed in partnership with the Land Rover brand’s media agency of record, dentsu X, the special features the capabilities of the new Land Rover Defender and is hosted by outdoor enthusiast Christian Murphy. In addition to the 60-minute special, the Land Rover media campaign includes additional short-form content, social assets, on-air promotion, and custom integrations.

Youth Media Alliance is giving its Outstanding Achievement Award to Michelle Melanson Cuperus and its Emerging Talent Award to Rennata and Georgina Lopez of Lopii Productions. The duo will be honored at a virtual gala to be streamed live from Toronto on May 26.

GOING GLOBAL

Omens Studios has secured new broadcast deals for preschool animated series “Counting With Paula. TV3 (Catalonia) has acquired rights to seasons 4 and 5 of the MediaCorp Singapore-commissioned show, while pay-tv channel ZooMoo Networks has picked up worldwide rights for season 3. Future Today Inc has picked up rights to season 5 for Happy Kids TV in the US, Canada and the UK, and Me Interactive Inc has secured rights to season 4 and season 5 for Enfan TV in Japan.

“Lucy the Human Chimp,” produced by KEO Films for UK’s Channel 4, has jumped to HBO Max. The film focuses on a chimpanzee raised as a human in the 1960s, who then must adapt to the wild.

Sinéad Keenan (“Little Boy Blue”), Lola Petticrew (“Bloodlands”), Amy James-Kelly (“Gentleman Jack”) and Genevieve O’Reilly (“The Dry”) have been cast in BBC One drama “Three Families,” exploring the issues around abortion in Northern Ireland.

Cineflix Rights has partnered with Nutopia to distribute its upcoming science series for PBS, “Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer,” examining the advances in medicine that have helped the global population to live much longer.

Beyond Rights has acquired the one-hour documentary “Caroline Flack: Her Life and Death,” for international distribution. The film focuses on the popular “Love Island” host who took her own life.

Live entertainment doesn’t just take place on TV anymore. Join us on Thursday, April 29 at 1:00 PM ET, for a webinar on how you can distribute digital feeds to new audiences while helping advertisers expand their reach.

Save Your Seat

The debut of Fox News late-nighter “Gutfeld!” averaged a strong 1.7 million viewers and 318,000 among A25-54.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Tuesday, April 6
Show, P2+ (millions), (A18-49)
ABC: “Pooch Perfect” 2.82 (0.4), “black-ish” 1.66 (0.3), “mixed-ish” 1.66 (0.3), “Soul of a Nation” 1.29 (0.2)
CBS: “NCIS” 10.26 (1.0), “FBI” 8.07 (0.8), “FBI: Most Wanted” 6.44 (0.7)
CW: “The Flash” 0.97 (0.3), “Supergirl” 0.69 (0.2)
FOX: “The Resident” 1.36 (0.3), “The Masked Singer” 1.24 (0.3)
ION: “NCIS: New Orleans” .63 (0.1), “NCIS: New Orleans” 0.71 (0.1), NCIS: New Orleans” .71 (0.2)
NBC: “Young Rock” 2.63 (0.5), “Kenan” 2.01 (0.4), “This Is Us” 4.53 (0.8), “New Amsterdam” 3.60 (0.4)
Telemundo: “Exatlon Estados Unidos” 1.04 (0.3), “La Suerte de Loli” 0.99 (0.3), “Buscando a Frida” 1.27 (0.3)
Univision: “Rosa de Guadalupe” 1.45 (0.4), “Te Acuerdas de mi Ton”1.40 (0.4), “Hija del Embajador” 1.43 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Guy Beach has been promoted from Global CFO to Global President at IPG Mediabrands. Succeeding Beach is Marlene Pelage, former CFO of Schwab.

Jason White has been named CMO of MTV Entertainment. White was previously Global Head of Marketing for Beats by Dr. Dre. Amy Campbell, who has served as interim CMO, has been promoted to EVP of Marketing.

Lifted Entertainment has announced three senior development appointments. Ramy El-Bergamy is joining the label to spearhead development at its northern base in MediaCityUK, and Sean O’Brien and Susannah Haley have joined as Development Producer and Development Executive, respectively.

Paper Entertainment has hired Caroline Amer, co-founder of Double Yay, as Development Executive.

Banijay Iberia announced the local management team for its footprint in Spain and Portugal: CFO and COO, Javier García; International and Business Affairs Director, María Pinilla; Director of Communication, Pilar Serrano; Director of Digital Strategy, Felipe Jiménez Luna; Legal Director, Marta Ferrando; Systems Director, Miguel Ángel Hernández; and Commercial Director, Jaume Vilalta.

Gordon Smith is stepping down as President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcaster at year’s end, continuing in an advisory capacity through 2024. NAB COO Curtis LeGeyt will succeed Smith.

IN MEMORIAM

Legal analyst Midwin Charles died April 6. She was 47. Charles, the founder of a law firm, made regular appearances on CNN, MSNBC, HLN, TV One and Bloomberg TV. “What a terrific analyst and a kind soul,” tweeted MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart. “May she rest in peace.”

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which TV series by the same name each lasted one season on CBS, in 1995-96 and 2016? “American Gothic.” Kudos to: Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which 2002-2003 comedy was a remake of a sitcom that premiered in 1966? (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.)