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Today’s Premieres
BET: The Porter at 10:30p
Netflix: Meltdown: Three Mile Island; The Circle; El Marginal; Summertime
TLC: My Feet Are Killing Me at 9p

Today’s Finale
CBS: Good Sam at 10p

IN THE NEWS

Paramount Global added 6.3 million global streaming subscribers in 1Q22 for a total of 62 million, according to the company’s 1Q22 earnings report, beating expectations for streaming numbers. Paramount+ added 6.8 million subscribers for the quarter, for a total of almost 40 million, while there were declines in direct-to-consumer services subscriptions due to timing of programming. Revenue at the company dipped about 1% to $7.33 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $7.38 billion, according to IBES data.

During Paramount Global’s earnings call, CEO Bob Bakish was bullish on upcoming international launches that will set Paramount+ in over 60 markets by year’s end. In 2023, the streamer will hit India via its Viacom18 platform. “We’re going to enter in 2023 in a very capital-efficient, hard-bundled way,” said Bakish. “We think that’s a great route into that market. India will be incremental to our 100 million sub guidance.”

Facebook is shutting down its podcast offerings, including Soundbites and its general audio hub. Podcasters can no longer add shows, and shows will be removed on June 3. Live Audio Rooms will fold into Facebook Live. A spokesperson for Meta said the podcast purge will help the metaverse-focused company “focus on the most meaningful experiences.”

Former cable news anchor Greta Van Susteren will host a Newsmax debate with the top contenders for the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania’s US Senate seat. Dr. Mehmet Oz, David McCormick, Ambassador Carla Sands, Kathy Barnette, and Jeff Bartos will be grilled tonight at 8p.

Roku and private equity firm Apollo Global Management have teamed to bid for a minority stake in Starz, reports The Wall Street Journal. Lionsgate, which acquired Starz in 2016 for $4.4 billion, announced in November it was considering selling or spinning off the streaming and pay-TV service.

MEASUREMENT & DATA CONFERENCE

New session alert for June 7th:

Modern Methodologies in Cross-Screen Measurement

Presented by: Trevor Hamilton,
Managing Director, Americas,
Kochava

FIND OUT MORE

PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

A revival of “Jackass” is in the works at for Paramount+. Bob Bakish broke the news during his company’s earnings call, saying, “Based off the success of [feature film] ‘Jackass Forever,’ we’re working with the creators to continue the partnership with a new series, bringing even more ridiculous antics straight to Paramount+.”

Netflix has greenlit dark comedy “Good Deed,” from Liz Feldman (“Dead to Me”), about three families vying to buy the same house. Feldman will EP with Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum and Brittney Segal for Gloria Sanchez Productions, as well as Christie Smith and Silver Tree. “’No Good Deed’ was inspired by my many late nights during the early pandemic maniacally searching Zillow listings for a way out of my house,” said Feldman. “I’m endlessly grateful to Netflix for being such a supportive creative home and for continuing to allow me to turn my crippling anxiety into entertainment.”

Production is slated to begin this summer in Iowa on a series adaptation of 1989 Kevin Costner movie “Field of Dreams,” from “The Good Place” creator Michael Schur. Universal Television is launching a local Production Assistant Bootcamp training program to provide select Iowa residents with an opportunity to gain skills, knowledge and a foundational understanding of television production. “We are excited to begin production on ‘Field of Dreams’ in the location where this momentous journey began… Iowa,” said Erin Underhill, President of Universal Television. “We look forward to giving back to the community with our new training initiative and knocking this series out of the park!”

A docuseries exploring the rise and fall of music label Stax is in the works for HBO. Jamila Wignot (“Axios”) is directing, with Ezra Edelman (“OJ: Made in America”) and Caroline Waterlow exec producing. “In both the sound that fueled its rise and the events that triggered its demise, Stax Records manifested the soul of America,“ said Edelman. “There is no better person to bring this quintessential American story to HBO’s viewers than Jamila Wignot, whose work I’ve long admired.”

Allison Janney (“Mom”) will star with “SNL” alum Kristen Wiig in Apple TV+ comedy series “Mrs. American Pie,” executive produced by Laura Dern. Janney will play a member of the Palm Beach social group Wiig’s character is trying to break into.

Alycia Debman-Carey (“Fear the Walking Dead”) is replacing Victoria Pedretti (“You”) as the lead in Hulu’s upcoming “Saint X.” Pedretti exited the psychological drama last week over creative differences.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

HBO has renewed the weekly late-nighter“Game Theory with Bomani Jones” for season two. The series, executive produced by Adam McKay and Todd Schulman from Hyperobject Industries, concluded its first season last month. “Game Theory has been a dream, the most creatively thrilling thing I’ve ever done, with the best team I’ve ever had,” said Jones. “I couldn’t be more excited to apply what we learned from Season One and turn a good show into a great one.”

“Sharon Osbourne: To Hell & Back” will launch on Fox Nation in September. “We are excited to be the place that Sharon chose to tell her incredible story,” said Jason Klarman, President of the streaming platform. “From her remarkable career as a music manager, to creating television’s first celebrity reality show, to her dramatic exit from ‘The Talk,’ Sharon will take viewers behind the scenes of it all.”

Season three of “Accused: Guilty or Innocent?” kicks off Thursday, May 26 at 9p on A&E. The docuseries follows stories of people facing trial for serious crimes they are alleged to have committed, from the perspective of the accused.

HBO late night series “Pause with Sam Jay” returns for season two on Friday, May 20 at 11p.

Sci-fi comedy series “Mystery Science Theater 3000” is back for season 13 starting Friday, May 6. Thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, “MST3K” will be released directly to fans, on indie streaming platform the Gizmoplex. The series, launched on KTMA-TV in Minneapolis in 1988, most recently streamed on Netflix.

New toons are on the way to Netflix’s animated slate. In a blog post, John Derderian, VP, Animated Series, announced upcoming series “Sonic Prime,” “Daniel Spellbound” and “My Dad the Bounty Hunter,” along with returning favorites including a new “Jurassic World” interactive special and new episodes of “The Cuphead Show!”, “Sharkdog,” and “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.” “We want to create a safe and trusted space where your children can relax, play, learn, and explore alongside their favorite characters,” said Derderian. “This goes beyond our shows to our easy-to-use parental controls like pin protections and the kids activity recap to help caregivers make the right decisions for their families.”

UPFRONT/NEWFRONT UPDATES & CALENDAR

Amazon executives and talent unveiled a slate of content and technologies at its Amy Poehler-hosted NewFront at Lincoln Center. Programming on Amazon Freevee (formerly IMDb TV) includes a new cooking competition series “America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation,” coming-of-age drama “Beyond Black Beauty,” family competition series “Play-Doh Squished,” and music documentary “Post Malone: Runaway.” Freevee also picked up a second season of “Bosch: Legacy” and a third and fourth season of UNINTERRUPTED’s “Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers.” Amazon Freevee has also secured a short-term film licensing agreement with Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution for a limited selection of titles.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appeared onstage along with play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and Emmy analyst Kirk Herbstreit, to talk up Amazon’s partnership with the NFL, which will provide enhanced experiences for fans and opportunities for advertisers, and Amazon unveiled a new Virtual Product Placement open beta program, which enables approved products to be seamlessly inserted into participating Prime Video and Amazon Freevee Original content after filming has wrapped. “Virtual Product Placement is a game changer,” said Henrik Bastin, CEO of Fabel Entertainment and executive producer of “Bosch: Legacy.” “It creates the ability to film your series without thinking about all that is required with traditional placements during production. Instead, you can sit with the final cut and see where a product could be seamlessly and naturally integrated into the storytelling.” Amazon’s presentation also highlighted Amazon Ads products that, together, offer advertisers an end-to-end planning, measurement, and optimization solution.

Roku has struck co-producing deals with Marquee Brands and Milk Street Studios to develop seven series starring Martha Stewart (“Martha Cook,” “Martha Holidays,” “Martha Gardens”), Emeril Lagasse (“Emeril Cooks,” “Emeril Tailgates”) and Christopher Kimball (“Milk Street’s Cooking School,” “Milk Street’s My Family Recipe”). “We are thrilled to bring our viewers this standout content from culinary and cultural powerhouses…for free,” said Rob Holmes, VP of Programming at Roku. “These exciting first-of-their-kind partnerships…showcase our unique ability to drive value across the streaming ecosystem.”

Vizio has launched Vizio Analytics, enabling brands to develop tailored approaches to reaching audiences based on affinities, geographies, or demographics. “We’ve built a custom analytics platform that gives brands the ability to leverage our massive TV footprint and data infrastructure for cross-platform campaigns,” said Travis Hockersmith, VP of Vizio’s Platform Plus Business. “This makes it easier to connect their customer management and measurement services of choice with our analytics support to achieve their goals. The result provides consumers with more relevant ads and gives clients outcome-based accountability with their investment decisions.” Vizio reported one media and entertainment client used Vizio Analytics to get a 94% lift in audience engagement and found that 96% of Vizio viewers who engaged with the Vizio campaign would not have otherwise been exposed to it on linear TV.

May 4: Digitas at 9:25a; Blavity at 9:50a; Revolt Media at 10:05a; Black Enterprise at 10:25a; Diversity in the Creator Community at 10:40a; TikTok at 4:30p; Twitter at 6p (Pier 17)
May 5: A+E Networks at 9a; Nielsen at 9:20a; fuboTV at 9:30; Dotdash Meredith at 9:50a; Comscore at 10:10a; LG Ads at 10:20; Innovid at 10:55a; GSTV at 11:05a; Crackle Plus at 11:25a; Estrella Media at 12:45p; Vevo at 4:30p (Hammerstein Ballroom), Canela Media at 1p (virtual) and CincoDeFront at 5:30p (NYC)
May 10: Screenvision at 6p (Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC)
May 16: NBCUniversal (Radio City Music Hall, NYC); Telemundo (Ziegfeld Theater, NYC); Fox (Skylight, NYC)
May 17: Univision at 11:30a (Javits Center in NYC); Disney (Basketball City at Pier 36, NYC); YouTube Brandcast at 8p
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)

STREAMING

TEGNA will be rolling out new OTT streaming apps and 24/7 streaming channels for its 64 stations in 51 markets. 11Alive+ in Atlanta and WTHR13+ in Indianapolis are piloting their new apps now; updated streaming apps will initially be available on Roku and Fire TV, with additional platforms slated to launch later this year. TEGNA stations’ newly redesigned apps feature a local twenty-four-hour “Watch” stream, which will include live local news, newscast replays, extended live coverage, weather, and station specials and investigations.

TECH TALK

Digital Advertising Alliance is rolling out a certification program for companies that issue “addressable media identifiers.” Companies issuing identifiers will be required to notify consumers via an icon about online behavioral advertising and obtain their consent. At launch, TrustArc will manage the review and attestation process for the ad industry self-regulatory group, with LiveRamp signed on to go through the certification process.

Spectus has partnered with SafeGraph to make the company’s point of interest data available for use in Spectus’ data clean room. SafeGraph provides instant ground-level insight into global places. “Integrating with Spectus will allow for an even broader range of use cases for our data, particularly in the industrial sector, which has grown significantly over the last several years, especially as the pandemic impacted supply chain management,” said Ross Epstein, VP, New Projects at SafeGraph. “SafeGraph’s coverage of industrial places amounts to over 200K data points that are now available for use in the Spectus platform.”

Future Today is teaming with Integral Ad Science’s Publica to serve ads on its CTV channels. “Publica has quickly become the standard for CTV SSAI ad insertion, serving some of the biggest streaming publishers and smart TV manufacturers globally,” said Vikrant Mathur, CEO of Future Today. “This integration not only delivers structured, dynamic, and hybrid advertising pods for our brand partners, but also enables these features in a true TV-like experience which today’s viewers demand.” Future Today’s channels include Fawesome, HappyKids and iFood.

Adobe announced a new partnership with Meta to provide small business owners with creative and marketing skills. Training program Express You Brand, kicking off May 17, provides free education and tools to help small business owners easily grow their businesses online. Each session will offer hands-on learning with Adobe Express, then Meta experts will highlight how to use their newly designed creative to market their business across Instagram and Facebook.

Brands should consider leveraging overlay ads as an additional touchpoint when advertising on CTV, advises “Breaking Through: Moving Beyond the Commercial Break on CTV,” a study from MAGNA Media Trials in partnership with GumGum. The study finds that overlay ads are four times more memorable than video ads and drive 72% more savings for advertisers. Additional findings include:
· Ad frequency fatigue is creeping up on CTV: 65% of people perceived an increase in the number of ads shown per show.
· Higher frequency of CTV ads is especially apparent to younger generations: 71% of those in the 18-24 age range feel ad frequency on CTV isn’t going away any time soon.
· CTV isn’t immune to ad attention challenges: 70% of those in the 18-54 age range report almost always avoiding video ads on CTV.
“How we’ve been advertising to people simply just doesn’t work anymore. People have second screens, skip buttons, and are just conditioned to avoiding ads when possible,” said Phil Schraeder, CEO, GumGum. “Creating new ad formats, like an overlay ad, gives advertisers the opportunity to connect with people where they are at and in a way that doesn’t disrupt what they are there to do – enhancing the overall experience for them and boosting brand recall and favorability for advertisers.”

GOING GLOBAL

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports is launching a magazine show, premiering today, May 4 on digital platform Eurosport 1. “The Power of Sport” will run for 18 weeks.

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RATINGS

In syndication, Michelle Obama was a huge draw for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” The former First Lady’s guest spot caused the show’s ratings to jump 50% from the prior Tuesday, to 1.2 in Live + Same Day Nielsens. The week of April 18, “Dr. Phil” (1.6, up 14% from the week before) rose to a first place dead heat among talk shows with recent leader “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (1.6, down 6%). “Dr. Phil” was also 14% ahead of the same week last year.

With an assist from new addition “Emergency!”, FETV recorded its best Prime (7p-12a) ever last week with a Live+SD average of 173,000 Households and 30,000 A25-54.

True crime network Law&Crime has drawn a record-breaking number of viewers tuning in across its platforms for its coverage of the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial. To date, the network has seen more than 330 million viewers.

Spectrum News averaged more than 2.5 million daily viewing households across its 12-state local news footprint in April, and the Spectrum News App reached a total of 2 million downloads with 348,000 unique visitors in April.

Nielsen Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of April 18 ranked in order by HH Rtg
Jeopardy (CMV) 5.6 AA
Family Feud (CMV) 5.1 AA
Wheel of Fortune (CMV) 5.0 AA
Judge Judy (CMV) 4.6 AA
Inside Edition (CMV) 2.3 AA
Entertainment Tonight (CMV) 2.1 AA
The Big Bang Theory (WB) 2.0 AA
Live With Kelly and Ryan (DAD) 1.6 AA
The Dr. Phil Show (CMV) 1.6 AA
Hot Bench (CMV) 1.5 AA

Basic Cable Top 10 for the week of April 25
Network, P2+ AA (000s)
Primetime
Fox News 2319
TNT 2202
ESPN 1562
MSNBC 1179
HGTV 1029
INSP 783
TLC 774
CNN 774722
History 796
Hallmark Channel 714

Total Day
Fox News 479
TNT 732
MSNBC 686
ESPN 617
HGTV 567
CNN 541
Hallmark Channel 434
INSP 431
Food Network 429
TV Land 399

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Monday, May 2
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: American Idol 5.89 (0.7), Shark Tank 3.56 (0.5), The Good Doctor 3.68 (0.4)
CBS: The Neighborhood 5.47 (0.6), Bob Hearts Abishola 5.40 (0.5), NCIS 7.27 (0.6), NCIS: Hawai’I 5.21 (0.4)
CW: All American 0.45 (0.1), All American: Homecoming 0.348 (0.1)
FOX: 9-1-1 5.12 (0.7), 9-1-1: Lonestar 4.27 (0.5)
NBC: American Song Contest 1.61 (0.3), Endgame 1.45 (0.2)
Telemundo: Exatlon 1.03 (0.3), Hercai: Amor 1.24 (0.3), Pasion Gavilanes 0.74 (0.3)
Univision: Soltero Con Hijas 1.43 (0.4)), Mi Fortuna es Amarte 1.74 (0.5), Madre 1.81 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Devika Chawla is joining Disney Streaming as SVP of Lifecycle Engineering, and Arun Chandra is boarding as SVP of Viewer Experience. Chawla was most recently Director of Engineering, Messaging and Contact at Netflix; Chandra was previously VP of Scaled Operations at Meta.

A+E Networks Global Content Sales has named Carlos Sanchez as Senior Vice President of Digital Distribution for Global Content Sales. Sanchez was previously Vice President of Global Distribution and Co-Productions at Legendary Television.

FanDuel Group has appointed David Jennings as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Jennings joins FanDuel from parent company Flutter Plc, where he served as Group Director of Investor Relations and FP&A.

IN MEMORIAM

Actor David Birney died April 29 of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83. Birney was perhaps best known for starring in 1972-73 sitcom “Bridget Loves Bernie,” which was canceled after one season despite being a top 10 program amid protests over its depiction of interfaith marriage. Birney also played John Quincy Adams in “The Adams Chronicles” and a doctor on “St. Elsewhere,” along with numerous theater roles.

Actor Jerry Ver Dorn died May 1 of cancer. He was 72. Ver Dorn played Ross Marler on “Guiding Light” for 26 years, and Clint Buchanan on “One Life to Live” for eight years.

This Day in History
1959 – Perry Como and Ella Fitzgerald won at the first Grammy Awards ceremony.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which reality show featured the Mulligan Challenge? Golf Channel’s “The Big Break” (2003-15). Kudos to: Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Larry Kahn-Datanautix/Orlando, FL; Rev. Mark Wajda/Clermont, FL; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
What was the first Norman Lear sitcom to flop after a string of winners that started with “All in the Family”? (1971-79) (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