Thursday April 14, 2022

IN THE NEWS

Nationally syndicated daytime talk show “Karamo,” starring reality TV personality/producer/activist Karamo (“Queer Eye”), has been sold in 90% of the US for its fall 2022 debut. “Karamo has done an incredible job guest hosting ‘Maury’ many times over the past two seasons,” said Tracie Wilson, EVP, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios & E! News. “Karamo is a true fan of the genre who will bring that passion, along with his unique skill set and life experiences to guide his guests through life’s dramatic crossroads and build a lasting connection with the daytime audience. “Karamo” is produced and distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and Stamford Media Center Productions.

Fashion series “Making the Cut” was renewed by Prime Video for season three. Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn host and executive produce. “After watching the success of our past designers, including winners Andrea Pitter and Jonny Cota, I’m tremendously excited for fans to see what this season’s enormously talented group of designers has in store,” said Gunn.

The social media ad market is projected to hit $262.62 billion by 2028, up from $103.20 billion in 2020, according to Million Insights, which cites the increasing internet penetration rate, coupled with the rising number of social media users across the globe, as drivers. “Social media has become a great tool for companies to improve their communication with customers and a fully integrated marketing platform for marketers, which, in turn, is accelerating the market growth,” says the report. Social media advertising is rapidly gaining popularity across industry verticals such as automotive, financial services, consumer goods, media and entertainment, retail, telecom, and other sectors, notes the report. Also expected to accelerate growth is the adoption of technologies like VR and AR.

Synergy alert: Paramount Pictures’ “Top Gun,” the 1986 blockbuster starring Tom Cruise, will air as the “CBS Saturday Night Movie” on May 14 at 8p. That’s ahead of the May 27 release of Paramount’s sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Save the date: Sept 29-30th

Calling all senior executives interested in discussing how to navigate the constant fluctuations in consumer behavior. Who should attend? Networks, agencies, brands, tech and research companies.

FIND OUT MORE

HGTV has greenlit six new series. In the pipeline are “Revealed,” focused on customizing homes using a family’s ancestry as inspiration; “Renovation 911” and “Fix My Frankenhouse” (wt), following experts who help desperate homeowners; “Luxe Less,” about designing on a budget; UK-set “Saving the Manor” (wt); and “Small Town Potential,” showcasing a design business in New York’s Hudson Valley. In total, the series make up 45 new episodes.

Seth MacFarlane (“The Orville”) will reprise his role as a foul-mouthed teddy bear in Peacock’s live-action comedy series based on the “Ted” film franchise. Giorgia Whigham (“13 Reasons Why”), Max Burkholder (“Parenthood”) and Scott Grimes (“The Orville”) also star. The series comes from MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door and will be executive produced by Erica Huggins; Alana Kleiman and Jason Clark will also serve as executive producers.

Jesse L. Martin, a series regular on CW’s “The Flash” for eight seasons, has been cast as the lead in NBC pilot “The Irrational.” Martin is dropping to recurring for the superhero series’ season nine.

Paramount+ handed a series order to “The Turkish Detective,” set in Istanbul and produced by Miramax and Turkish production company Ay Yapin in association with Paramount’s VIS.

Hulu renewed “Life & Beth” for a second season. The series is written, directed, executive produced by Amy Schumer, who also stars.

“The Sticky,” based on the real-life theft of 3000 tons of maple syrup in Canada in 2011-12, has been ordered by Prime Video. The comedy comes from Blumhouse Television, Comet Pictures, Megamix and Sphere Media.

“Representation is crucial to believing you can overcome adversity and pursue your dreams through adverse times,” says professional soccer player Samantha Johnson in the latest SeeHer blog. “For this generation coming up, it’s critical to understand that even in the pros you must continue to do the work.” For more from Johnson, go here.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Peacock’s “Queer as Folk” revival debuts Thursday, June 9. The first US version of the series, based on a UK show of the same name, aired from 2000-05 on Showtime. Why go back to the well? “I wanted to create a new groundbreaking version of this show for this moment,” said creator executive producer, writer and director Stephen Dunn. “Our new ‘Queer as Folk’ is set in New Orleans – one of the most unique queer communities in North America – and I am immensely proud that the new series is comprised of an electric ensemble of fresh characters that mirror the modern global audience.”

Late night series “The Nightcap with Carlos King” premieres on OWN Saturday, May 14 at 10p, following the series debut of “Love & Marriage: D.C.” In each episode of “The Nightcap,” King will welcome guests from OWN shows, as well surprise guests from his “little black book” of celebrity friends. King is CEO of Kingdom Reign Entertainment, and creator and EP of “Love & Marriage.”

Season two of HBO Max’s “Made for Love” premieres Thursday, April 28. Two episodes will each week.

A new season of sketch series “The Kids in the Hall,” from the Canadian comedy troupe, premieres Friday, May 13 on Prime Video, followed on May 20 by two-part companion docuseries “The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Pranks.” “The Kids in the Hall” first ran from 1989-1995.

IN BRIEF

A trial date of April 17, 2023 has been set for Dominion Voting System’s defamation suit against Fox News. Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion from the network, alleging it falsely claimed the voting machine company rigged the 2020 election to boost ratings. FNC has called the lawsuit “baseless.”

Elon Musk is being sued by Twitter investors in a class-action lawsuit claiming the Tesla CEO made “materially false and misleading statements and omissions” by failing to reveal his stake in Twitter by March 24, the cut-off date required by US securities law. The shareholders claim that Musk’s delay in acknowledging his 9.2% stake in Twitter caused them to miss an increase in the stock price.

STREAMING

National Geographic announced the launch of National Geographic Premium with Disney+, a subscription offering that features Disney+ along with Nat Geo original shows, documentaries and print products, starting at $10.99/month. Disney is Nat Geo’s majority owner.

Filmzie, the free movie and TV streaming platform, is launching its first US FAST channel, available on TCL TVs. Filmzie’s original programming focuses on full-length feature films.

FlmRise has acquired North American rights to stream TV episodes of anime franchise “Yu-Gi-Oh!”. The deal includes all FilmRise owned and operated apps and FAST channels.

Amazon streaming service IMDb TV will be rebranded as “Amazon Freevee,” effective April 27. The service, which blends AVOD offerings and FAST linear channels, launched in January 2019 as IMDb Freedive, then was rechristened as IMDb TV, named after 1998 Amazon acquisition Internet Movie Database.

TECH TALK

IAB Tech Lab announced an update to the ads.txt specification which they have opened for public comment for 60 days. The update includes two new values for publishers to declare within their ads.txt files, “ownerdomain” and “managerdomain,” which helps increase the transparency into seller relationships via sellers.json and further strengthens ads.txt as a tool to reduce fraud in buying and selling of advertisements on websites, mobile apps and connected TV. The “ownerdomain” value is used to specify the domain of the business that owns the website that the ad is being served on, while the “managerdomain” enables the publisher to declare the primary or exclusive monetization partner of that sites inventory.

COMING UP

AMC+ celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May with “Asian Americans Amplified,” a curated collection of original series, specials and films from across the company’s portfolio highlighting stories and perspectives of the AAPI community. Programming includes original series such as “Killing Eve” and “True Terror with George Takei,” as well as a lineup of films, indies and documentaries.

Shudder has acquired the rights to zombie horror film “The Sadness,” set to debut Thursday, May 12.

UPFRONT CALENDAR

At family friendly FETV, the upfront story is all about growth – including just-closed distribution deals that bring the network to over 50 million homes. Year-over-year, FETV’s A35-64 impressions have increased 19% in Daytime and 12%in Prime, helped by the fact that FETV ranks number one in Primetime Length of Tune for A35-64, with 34 minutes. And it’s an audience appealing to advertisers. “Viewers are homeowners – many own second homes – and pet owners. People who watch us have multiple dogs, multiple cats, horses,” said Karen Bressner, EVP of National Advertising Sales, during the presentation.

As for FETV programming, “Classic television works because people love the shows,” said Bressner. Westerns like “Rawhide” and “Wagon Train” have lured more younger male viewers; “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” which will be added to the slate in October, is expected to appeal to both male and female fans of Westerns.

Bressner also noted the network’s support of Feed the Hungry, currently assisting in Ukraine, saying, “Clients want to work with a network that lives what they say.”

TV One Networks announced its slate of programming across linear and digital networks at a virtual upfront presentation, touting ratings wins. “Ratings across both linear and digital channels remain strong, and TV One and CLEO TV are continuing to expand original programming and make content distribution deals to increase access to our viewers,” said Michelle Rice, President of TV One and CLEO TV. Pointed out Walter Evans, Vice President, Advertising Sales and Marketing of the increased distribution, “you don’t hear that much anymore.”

TV One saw Prime and Fringe increases across key demographics. The network’s portfolio of programming will include an addition to its true crime lineup with “Payback,” a new investigative series that examines revenge. TV One is also producing and co-producing several new films which include “Safe Room,” “Stalker,” “Stranger Next Door,” “Lineage,” and Marvin Sapp biopic “Never Would Have Made It.”

CLEO TV, which launched in 2019, continues to see growth in all day parts. The women’s lifestyle channel shares less than half of its audience with its sister network, TV One, and distribution continues to rise with a presence on AT&T U-verse and plans for YouTube TV and HULU Live.

April 19: SeeHer SheFront (virtual)
April 26: Disney Storyteller’s Showcase (virtual); FETV (Empire State Building, NYC)
May 2-6: IAB NewFronts
May 2: NBCUniversal/Peacock NewFront
May 3: Samsung Ads at 9a (Samsung 837, NYC), Roku at 11:30a (Caldwell Factory, NYC)
May 5: Canela Media at 1p (virtual) and CincoDeFront at 5:30p (NYC)
May 16: NBCUniversal (Radio City Music Hall, NYC); Telemundo (Ziegfeld Theater, NYC); Fox (Skylight, NYC)
May 17: Disney (Basketball City at Pier 36, NYC); YouTube Brandcast at 8p; Univision (Javits Center in NYC)
May 18: Paramount (Carnegie Hall, NYC); Warner Bros. Discovery (Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, NYC)
May 19: The CW (New York City Center Theater, NYC)

GOING GLOBAL

Banijay Rights has acquired global distribution rights to singing dating show format “Romeo & Duet” ahead of its UK on ITV April 16.

This year’s Top Women in Media Awards celebrate creativity and collaboration. Honorees are innovators and risk-takers who help design and execute strategy in categories that span entertainment, tech, and sports media.

Nominate yourself and/or a colleague for this industry distinction. It’s your turn to be in the spotlight!

Enter Now!

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Tuesday, April 12
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Judge Steve Harvey 3.62 (0.5), Abbott Elementary 2.78 (0.6), black-ish 2.17 (0.4), To Tell the Truth 2.16 (0.3)
CBS: FBI 7.39 (0.6), FBI: International 5.79 (0.5), FBI: Most Wanted 5.43 (0.5)
CW: Superman & Lois .37 (0.0), Naomi 0.296 (0.0)
FOX: The Resident 3.13 (0.4), Name That Tune 1.65 (0.3)
NBC: Young Rock 2.30 (0.4), Mr. Mayor 1.62 (0.3), This Is Us 4.56 (0.8), The Thing About Pam 2.92 (0.34)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos 0.99 (0.4), Hercai: Amor y Venganza 1.30 (0.3), Pasion de Gavilanes 0.72 (0.2)
Univision: Soltero con Hijas 1.57 (0.4), Mi Fortuna es Amarte 1.66 (0.5), Madre 1.74 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Tiffany Sam Chow has been named Senior Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, NBCUniversal News Group. Chow previously served as VP of Strategy & Business Development for CNBC.

Sean Galligan has joined CTV ad platform Publica as Chief Revenue Officer. Galligan recently led Twitter’s Enterprise Sales and Partnerships org for their developer platform business

Comscore has appointed Michael Vaine as Head of Global Revenue for Comscore Movies. Vaine most recently served as Co-President of Theatrical Distribution at STX Entertainment.

Emily Feingold has been promoted to VP Communications at Netflix. Feingold had previously been Director.

Webtoon announced the hiring of Sandy Resnick as Head of Rights. Resnick was previously Director of Global Affiliated Publishing & Business Development at DC Comics.

IN MEMORIAM

UK animation producer Jan Rogowski passed away suddenly on April 6. He was 41. Rogowski was co-founder of Red Star.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which Chicago-set 1998 dramedy lasted one season, and was revived with a new cast and location (NYC) in 2009? “Cupid.” Kudos to: Andrew Goldman-Grooveee/NYC; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; John Kukla-KDFW/Dallas; Adam Leston-Weigel Broadcasting/Milwaukee; Kristi Kohl-Scripps Networks/Atlanta; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-M and S Entertainment/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
On “Murphy Brown” (1988-98), where had producer Miles worked before he joined “FYI”? (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.)