Tonight’s Finales
AMC: Better Call Saul at 9p
HBO: The Plot Against America at 9p
HLN: Sex & Murder at 9p
ID: Torn From the Headlines: New York Post Reports at 10p
Nat Geo: Cosmos: Possible Worlds at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Disney’s new live-action film Artemis Fowl will stream exclusively on Disney+ beginning Friday, June 12. From director Kenneth Branagh, the fantastical adventure was scheduled to be released in theaters, but moved to the small screen due to the pandemic. “Artemis Fowl is a true original. In challenging times, a twelve year old criminal mastermind is one heck of a travelling companion,” said Branagh. “His own family is everything to him, and (although he’d never admit it), he’d be as proud as I am that families around the world will now be able to enjoy his first amazing screen adventures together, on Disney +.”

Party’s over for Freeform – the net is not renewing its Party of Five reboot for a second season. The series averaged 252,000 total viewers in Live+SD, declining from 442,000 for the premiere to 143,000 for the finale.

Global Citizen and Lady Gaga announced $127.9 million in commitments to date in support of healthcare workers fighting in the COVID-19 pandemic, after Saturday’s eight-hour One World: Together at Home global special. Among many highlights were performances by Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, as well as “The Prayer” with Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Lady Gaga and John Legend. One show-stealing act that had delighted viewers a-Twitter: the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” with Charlie Watts playing air drums.

Bill Cosby is not eligible for a temporary reprieve for vulnerable and non-violent prisoners serving time in Pennsylvania who may be susceptible to coronavirus. While a representative for the 82-year-old actor argued he is blind with underlying medical conditions and therefore at risk, as a convicted sex offender Cosby does not meet the criteria for early release, said a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.

By the third week of March, live viewership of local weekday news was up 50% among adults 35+, reports the Television Bureau of Advertising in an analysis of Nielsen broadcast TV viewership data. Which means local broadcast TV will be a key player in political campaigns, noted TVB President/CEO Steve Lanzano. “Now more than ever, the most effective way for campaigns to reach voters is through local broadcast television,” said Lanzano. “Local TV viewership is growing, which presents political campaigns and ad buyers with a terrific opportunity to engage likely voters.”

Netflix has made documentary programming available for free via its YouTube channel, in an effort to help teachers looking for additional resources during a time of remote learning. In addition to the docs, there will be more educational content, including Q&A sessions with some projects’ creators.

Amazon is also looking to help, with an #AtHome section that offers free content on Fire TV devices and tablets for homebound families. Content comes from AVOD and SVOD services, news channels, health and wellness apps, kids programming and educational tools. “We will be updating the content in the #AtHome experience regularly as more free content, live events, apps, and content are added,” said Sandeep Gupta, VP of Fire TV, in a blog post. “We hope this makes your time at home a little more enjoyable.”

For the first time in 50 years, San Diego Comic-Con canceled the convention. “While we are saddened to take this action, we know it is the right decision,” said a spokesperson. “We eagerly look forward to the time when we can all meet again and share in the community we all love and enjoy.” The convention was scheduled to take place July 23-26 but was taken off the calendar due to COVID-19 fears; badge holders can ask for a refund or transfer their badges to next year’s event, scheduled for July 22-25, 2021.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild of America have agreed to begin negotiations on a new contract on May 11. Talks were originally slated to start March 23, but were delayed due to the health crisis.

Call for judges: Nominations are flooding in for the Cynopsis Top Women in Media Awards – if you think you’d be a good fit for the judging panel, please fill out this brief application and we’ll be in touch if you’re selected. Judging is done entirely online and will take place in mid-May. Questions? Reach out to Cynopsis’ Marketing Manager Cathy Pearson for more info.

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HBO Max ordered Hot Dog (wt), a dog grooming competition series from Jax Media and Making It’s Nicolle Yaron. The 12-parter was inspired by the social platforms and coffee table book from celebrity dog groomer Jess Rona.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights, excluding domestic television, to the upcoming Julia Child documentary from filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West (RBG). Julia (wt) is currently in production, produced by West, Cohen and Imagine Documentaries’ Justin Wilkes and Sara Bernstein, and executive produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Michael Rosenberg, Amy Entelis and Courtney Sexton of CNN Films, as well as Oren Jacoby of Storyville Films. CNN Films will retain US. domestic broadcast rights to the feature.

Blink Films is making X-Ray Earth for National Geographic Channels worldwide. The three-part series follows the field work of the world’s top geologists, and uses cutting edge graphics technology to x-ray the deep interior of the planet.

ITV has commissioned a series of four 15-minute episodes from writer and producer Jeff Pope inspired by true stories reflecting life in lockdown across the country. Isolation Stories will be produced by Pope’s Factual Drama label, part of ITV. Pope (Philomena) is executive producing the series along with Tom Dunbar (A Confession) and has also written one of the episodes. Gaby Chiappe (The Level), Neil McKay (The Moorside, Appropriate Adult) and William Ivory (Torvill & Dean, Burton and Taylor) have each written one episode. The series will be filmed observing the strict rules of lockdown with actors and their families filming the scenes themselves, watched remotely by the directors.

An annual must for all sports media innovators, the Cynopsis Sports Media Awards Breakfast (August 12 in NYC) has been honoring the best in production, marketing and tech as well as the leading digital marketing execs for 8 years running. Check out the full list of category finalists here.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Accident, Suicide or Murder returns to Oxygen for season two on Saturday, May 9 at 6p. Series explores suspicious deaths and families anxious for the truth to come out.

Film historian and prop collector Dan Lanigan is on the hunt for lost Disney artifacts and the stories behind iconic pieces in Prop Culture, dropping on Disney+ Friday, May 1. First up: Mary Poppins loot.

Trackers debuts on Cinemax on Saturday, June 6. Based on the crime novel by Deon Meyers, the drama, shot in South Africa, tells a story of conspiracy, organized crime, smuggled diamonds, terrorism and black rhinos.

Globe-spanning Apple TV+ series HOME dropped Friday, exploring the world’s most innovative dwellings, and the boundary-pushing visionaries who dared to build them. Doug Pray, an executive producer of the docu-series, talks about what will surprise viewers, what it was like working with Apple, and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the show’s debut, in Cynsiders.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama teams with PBS KIDS and Penguin Young Readers, Random House Children’s Books for Mondays with Michelle Obama, a four-part story time series kicking off today at 12p on PBS Kids’ Facebook and YouTube Channel.

COMING UP

CBS has set a one-hour special featuring viral home video moments taken during quarantine. Cedric the Entertainer will host the show, #Homevideos: A Global Phenomenon, to be broadcast next month. “This special is a true celebration of the human spirit,” said Jodi Roth, SVP Specials at CBS. “The ingenuity and creativity displayed in these videos is impressive, while also highlighting our spirit and resilience as a community during this unique moment in time.” Said JUMA President and Executive Producer Robert Horowitz, “In all our years producing clip shows, we have never seen user-generated content go viral so quickly. The global vault of content created since this #homevideo phenomenon began last month is incredible.”  

Anthony Anderson joins Kelly Rowland, Terrence J, and Regina Hall as a host for Saving Our Selves: A BET Vovid-19 Relief Effort. BET, BET Her and Bounce are simulcasting the two-hour broadcast, set to air Wednesday, April 22 at 8p.

SeriesFest announced the renewal of its partnership with Shondaland for a second cycle of the “Women Directing Mentorship,” competition. SeriesFest is also introducing the “Executive Elevation Mentorship Program,” an initiative to encourage diversity in the television landscape and “Creator Hangout: Focus on Female Filmmakers,” a live, streaming roundtable discussion discussing the current state of gender parity. SeriesFest takes place June 18-24 with virtual events.

STREAMING SCOOP

The NBA and Microsoft announced a partnership that will include a direct-to-consumer streaming service built on Microsoft Azure, using machine learning and AI to customize and localize experiences. “This partnership with Microsoft will help us redefine the way our fans experience NBA basketball,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “Our goal, working with Microsoft, is to create customized content that allows fans – whether they are in an NBA arena or watching from anywhere around the world – to immerse themselves in all aspects of the game and engage directly with our teams and players.”

Cinedigm has teamed with Bob Ross Inc. for a digital channel featuring the late artist’s 1983-1994 Emmy-winning art instruction series, The Joy of Painting. The Bob Ross Channel is live on Samsung, with more platforms to come.

GOING GLOBAL

UK independent producers have lost $312 million in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey trade organization Pact. Twenty-one percent of producers said their cash reserves would last for two months at most. “The survey shows the worrying financial impact this crisis is having on our members and particularly smaller indies,” said Pact CEO John McVay. “It’s encouraging that broadcasters are still commissioning, although it remains to be seen how their smaller budgets impact on revenues during the pandemic.”

Disney India is premiering Guddu, Bapu and Gadget Guru Ganesha, three new shows produced by India and Singapore-based animation studio Cosmos-Maya.

Hoho Rights is partnering with Chinese VOD platform Tencent to broadcast animated preschool series Chickpea and Friends.

From outstanding ad & brand safety solutions to deft achievements in strategy, Cynopsis is shining a well-deserved spotlight on those who are making a difference in the digital media supply chain. Categories include: Best Addressable TV Collaboration, Best Audience-Based Buying Platform, Best Use of Blockchain and Cryptography, Most Innovative Implementation of Addressable, Outstanding Advance in Transparency, Outstanding Attribution Measurement, Outstanding Brand Safety Strategy and more.

TLC was the top destination for women the week of April in Live+3, ranking as the #1 cable network among W25-54/18-49/18-49. The net also had the #1 program on cable among women, 90 Day Fiance: Before The 90 Days, which also posted the highest rating ever among key demos for the 90 Day franchise (2.7 P25-54 rating, 3.6 W25-54 rating, 3.1 W18-49 rating, 2.5 W18-34 rating and 4.2 million P2+ viewers).

Food Network’s quarantine edition of The Pioneer Woman: Staying Home on April 11 scored a .6 P25-54 rating and .8 W25-54 in Live+3, a gain of +26% versus the prior six weeks and +40% versus year-ago. Cooking Channel notched its highest-rated week ever in Total Day, up 47% versus year-ago, reaching more than 8.3 million viewers.

More Live +3 Discovery Inc. highlights: For April to-date, HGTV is the #3 (#1 non-news) cable network in Total Day and #7 (#5 non-news) in Prime among W25-54, while ID is a top 10 cable network for W25-54 in Prime and is in the top 3 for W25-54 in Total Day…. Through the first 2 weeks of April, OWN’s If Loving You Is Wrong is the #1 scripted cable series among African-American W18+ and Households… On DIY, the week of April 6 now ranks as the highest-rated week in network history in Prime among P25-54 and in Total Day among HH, W25-54, and P2+ (tied with the week of 5/26/14 among P25-54 in Total Day).

ABC Disney Family Singalong topped Thursday night with a 2.6 rating among A18-49 and 10.44 million viewers.

Netflix’s 7-part Tiger King docu-series has nabbed over 5.3 billion streaming minutes, according to Nielsen’s SVOD Content Ratings, with a Joel McHale-hosted added episode drawing an average 4.6 million viewers on its first day. Overall streaming minutes the week of April 6-12 increased by 8.5 billion.

During the launch of Oxygen’s “12 Dark Days of Serial Killers” stunt the week of April 6, the net saw its highest-rated week in 5 years for Total Day among P18-49. On NBCU sib Bravo, last Thursday’s episode of Top Chef: All Stars LA was the most-watched episode in over 2 years with nearly 2 million total viewers.

UPtv’s four-day Easter Celebration drew 10 million viewers and was the second-highest-rated Easter Celebration on record for the network. Yea-over-year ratings were up +75% in W25-54 and +65% in HH.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Thursday, April 16
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Disney Family Singalong 10.44 (2.6), Station 19 6.72 (1.2), How to Get Away With Murder 2.81 (0.5)
CBS: Young Sheldon 9.56 (1.0), Man With a Plan 6.56 (0.7), Mom 7.14 (0.8), Broke 5.59 (0.7), Tommy 5.16 (0.5)
CW: Katie Keene 0.49 (0.1), In the Dark 0.41 (0.1)
FOX: Last Man Standing 3.86 (0.6), Last Man Standing 2.66 (0.4), Mental Samurai 1.60 (0.4)
NBC: Superstore 2.29 (0.5), Brooklyn Nine-Nine 2.05 (0.6), Will & Grace 2.46 (0.6), Indebted 1.56 (0.4), Law & Order: SVU 4.07 (0.6)
UNIVISION: Te Doy la Vida 1.77 (0.5), Amor Eterno 2.09 (0.6), Sin Miedo a la Verdad 1.46 (0.5)
TELEMUNDO: Cennet 1.35 (0.4) La Dona 1.04 (0.4), Operacion Pacifico 0.95 (0.3)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

IN MEMORIAM

Veteran writer/director Roger Beatty died April 6 after battling prostate cancer. He was 87. Beatty won five Emmy Awards for his work on The Carol Burnett Show.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was the name of Joey’s stuffed penguin on Friends (1994-2004)? Hugsy. Kudos to: Melissa Friedman/LA, Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA, Katherine Naugher-Discovery Inc./Knoxville, TN, Eric Dunefsky-CrossMedia/NYC, Megan Wordsworth-INSP/Charlotte, NC, LaKendra Kennedy-Sinclair Broadcast Group/Baltimore, Katie Baker-ICF Next/Minneapolis, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which 1987 film was initially intended as a story for a TV series? (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.)