Tonight’s Finale
CW: Dynasty at 9p

Saturday’s Premieres
Cleo TV: Heart of the Batter with Jordin Sparks at 1p
Design Network: Commissioned at 8p
Oxygen: Accident, Suicide or Murder at 6p

Sunday’s Premieres
Food Network: Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition at 9p
HBO: I Know This Much Is True at 9p
TLC: Find Love Live at 11p
WWE Network: Undertaker: The Last Ride

Sunday’s Finales
ABC: The Rookie at 10p
Starz: Outlander at 8p

IN THE NEWS

NBC’s Saturday Night Live will air its season 45 finale on May 9. The “At Home” episode will not have a host or musical guest.

History canceled UFO drama Project Blue Book after two seasons. The show’s sophomore run ended March 24. The net also confirmed it won’t be picking up a third season of medieval drama Knightfall, which ended season two in May 2019.

Megyn Kelly landed an interview with Tara Reade, who has accused presidential candidate Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993. In a clip from the interview, produced by former NBC News producer Richard McHugh, Reade tells Kelly she wishes Biden would drop out of the race, and that “it’s a little late” for an apology.”

ViacomCBS reported revenue for 1Q20 slipped 6%, to $6.7 billion, but beat Wall Street expectations. Ad revenue declined 19% year-over-year, to $2.5 billion, thanks to the cancellation of sports. But streaming subscription and digital video advertising revenue was up 51% year-over-year, to $471 million, with domestic streaming subscribers surpassing 13.5 million, a 50% jump. “ViacomCBS delivered solid results in our first full quarter, including sequential improvement on key financial metrics, as well as clear operating momentum. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we also took decisive action to fortify our balance sheet, protect our employees and help communities in need. And through new creative strategies and production models, we continue to deliver must-watch content that big audiences love,” said CEO Bob Bakish. “Importantly, we are just beginning to tap into the potential of our combined assets, and our growing scale, audience reach and earnings power will become even more apparent as the market rebounds and we put the power of our portfolio behind our streaming strategy.”

Roku added 2.9 million active accounts and reported sales of $321 million for 1Q20, an increase of 55% year-over-year and beating estimates of $307 million. More than 72% of revenue came from its advertising business.

TEGNA reported 32% revenue growth in 1Q20, driven by strength in subscription and political revenues. Net income increased by 17% and Adjusted EBITDA increased 39%, the beneficiary of high-margin political revenues and recent acquisitions. Excluding political advertising, first quarter revenue grew 24% compared to last year, in line with guidance of mid-twenties percent. “Near-term macro dynamics clearly remain uncertain, but our first quarter results reflect continued momentum in subscription and political revenue streams,” said Dave Lougee, President and CEO. “This allows us to better weather the current downturn in non-political advertising, while we continue to invest in the future and execute on our strategy for TEGNA shareholders over the long-term.”

Univision Communications Inc. is joining Nielsen’s Addressable TV platform beta program. “We firmly believe the use of audience targeting will accelerate and be easier with the development of industry-wide solutions such as Nielsen’s Addressable TV platform,” said Steve Mandala, President of Advertising Sales and Marketing at Univision.

Nielsen has launched Gracenote Audio On Demand, a standardized dataset enabling navigation, search and discovery of more than 37 million podcast episodes across digital entertainment platforms, allowing streaming music platforms, consumer electronics companies, MVPDs and automakers to create personalized listening experiences. “A big challenge for podcast listeners today is the ability to easily navigate all the audio-on-demand content across different platforms and services,” said Greg Gentschev, SVP of Product Management, Gracenote Music and Auto at Nielsen. “This is due to the sheer volume of content and lack of descriptive metadata and identifiers used to power search and discovery algorithms. With Gracenote Audio On Demand, we are applying the same rigor, methodology and approach to podcasts that currently underpins next gen search and discovery of today’s TV shows, movies and music.”

There is a significant divide between small and large (500+ employees) research companies when it comes to department structures, according to a report from the Advertising Research Foundation. In its Organizational Benchmark Study, the ARF found two-thirds of large research companies have decentralized departments (65%) with multiple centers for research and insights, while only 9% have a fully centralized structure. In comparison, half of small research companies (49%) cite a completely centralized model, while 29% say they are decentralized. “Respondents from research companies also report sales as the most important KPI (68%), but interestingly, at a much higher rate than advertisers (54%) and agencies (54%) as found in our earlier benchmark reports,” said Paul Donato, chief research officer, the ARF.

Newsmax and Mediacom Communications inked a new distribution deal to carry Newsmax TV’s new 24/7 cable news channel to Mediacom customers. The cable news net will be available in Mediacom’s expanded basic package, known as Variety TV.

ViacomCBS, costume designer Michael Woll and Eye Productions have been hit with a racial discrimination and workplace retaliation lawsuit by a former Blue Bloods costumer, which alleges she “often left the set crying” due to a hostile work environment. “CBS is currently looking into the claims raised in the filing and takes all allegations of discrimination and harassment by its employees very seriously,” said a CBS Studios spokesperson.

Litton Entertainment’s Mission Unstoppable, in partnership with Lyda Hill Philanthropies’ IF/THEN initiative, is launching #StaySafeForScience, a pro-social digital campaign designed to generate awareness and youth engagement for best public health practices.

UPFRONTS UPDATES

A+E Networks announced an upfront slate including high-profile projects with President Bill Clinton, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Lee Curtis, as well as 2200 hours of new series programming and over 50 movies in the pipeline. “With so many unknowns at this critical time, A+E Networks remains a stalwart in the industry, ready to meet advertisers’ current needs with a stable of balanced content across top-performing genres,” said A+ E Networks Group President Paul Buccieri. “We are well-positioned to meet the challenges of this dynamic marketplace.”

A History documentary series with President Clinton will explore the history of the American presidency, and new miniseries events Lincoln (wt) from Nutopia and Pastimes Productions, and Theodore Roosevelt (wt), from Radical Media, Appian Way and Pastimes Productions, were greenlit. In addition comes the second installment of The Men Who Built America 2 (wt), from Appian Way Productions and Stephen David Entertainment. Executive produced by DiCaprio, the three-part miniseries will profile titans such as Du Pont, Boeing, Chrysler and JP Morgan.

At A&E., Live PD was renewed for 160 more episodes, while What’s It Worth? Live, hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy and produced by Thinkfactory Media, incorporates on-air and online components to bring hidden personal treasures to consumers. The net is also expanding its partnership with WWE Studios with The Quest for Lost WWE Treasures (wt).

Lifetime will premiere 50 new movies from May through the end of 2020, including new originals for the network’s annual It’s a Wonderful Lifetime holiday slate, which has Betty White joining the Lifetime holiday family for an untitled Christmas movie in which she helps whip would-be Santas into shape. The net’s 2021 movie pipeline includes Salt-N-Pepa and Wendy Williams biopics, and the V.C. Andrews Ruby Landry Movie Series. Jamie Lee Curtis will executive produce, star in and direct the new film, How We Sleep at Night: The Sara Cunningham Story, the true story of a devout Christian mother coming to terms with her son being gay, and Lifetime and Robin Roberts reteam for the next title under the Robin Roberts Presents banner, A Home of Their Own. The movie and accompanying documentary reveal the true story of Jolene Schlander and Calvin Wield, who turned their lives upside down to foster children of opioid addicts. Lifetime is also currently in development on a third installment of the Harry & Meghan movie franchise, Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace(wt).

Discovery, Inc. announced the launch of its new Discovery US Ad Sales Content Hub. Part of the company’s #HomeTogether initiative, which seeks to connect with and support clients and agency partners remotely, the Hub will contain consumer and industry insights driven by Discovery’s networks, aggregate Discovery’s brands in one location, and showcase how Discovery’s networks help advertisers reach and engage with their customers. “Viewers and advertisers have always turned to our brands for real life entertainment and talent, particularly in the areas of cooking and home improvement, but never more so than during this unprecedented moment,” said Jon Steinlauf, Chief US Ad Sales Officer, Discovery, Inc. “Now more than ever, it is important for us to meaningfully communicate with the advertising community and our clients to provide a service. The new Content Hub is one of the many ways we are offering that support during this time.”

Disney+ has ordered horror/comedy anthology Just Beyond from writer Seth Grahame-Smith and produced by 20th Century Fox Television. Based on the BOOM! Studios graphic novel series from children’s writer R.L. Stine (Goosebumps), the eight-parter was created by Grahame-Smith, who has a history of moving between horror and comedy as author of the bestselling novels Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. “I grew up watching Twilight Zone reruns and the original Amazing Stories with my parents,” said Seth Grahame-Smith. “I’ve always wanted to make a genre anthology series that families could enjoy together, and do it in a way that delivered for kids and adults alike.”

Freeform has ordered the limited scripted series Love in the Time of Corona, from executive producers Joanna Johnson (The Fosters), Christine Sacani (Good Trouble, The Fosters) and Anonymous Content’s Robyn Meisinger. The four-part romantic comedy series will follow several interwoven stories with an ensemble of characters who are sheltering in their homes. “This is the perfect show for a generation who is learning to love and be loved in a time when the entire world is telling them to stay six feet apart,” said Lauren Corrao, EVP, Programming and Development, Freeform.

Executive producer and TV personality Brian Balthazar has partnered with producer Nancy Glass to launch production company Balthazar Entertainment in a joint venture with Glass’s Glass Entertainment Group. Balthazar has a history with GEG, having served as the HGTV network executive for multiple GEG projects including the upcoming HGTV series Frozen in Time starring Maureen McCormick. Balthazar will create, develop, and produce unscripted content with a focus on character-driven programming for premium cable networks and digital platforms. Previously, he served as VP of Programming and Development at Discovery Networks.

AMC Studios has entered into separate exclusive, multi-year overall deals with Rolin Jones (Friday Night Lights, Weeds), Gina Mingacci (Killing Eve, Orphan Black) and Ray McKinnon (Rectify, Deadwood) to develop and produce new series for AMC Networks’ Entertainment Group as well as other content companies. The deals expand AMC Networks’ ongoing or previous creative partnerships with Jones, Mingacci and McKinnon. ‘Our writers and producers are the center of everything we do and achieve, and I could not be happier to welcome (back) this massively talented triumvirate to AMC Networks,” said Sarah Barnett, President of AMC Networks’ Entertainment Group and AMC Studios. “

History renewed The Food That Built America, produced by Lucky 8, for season two. TV personality Adam Richman will be onboard for the sophomore run, looking at iconic brands like Oreos, Cheetos, and Pizza Hut. Richman will also host new History series American Made, from Six West Media, delving into the making of All-American products like cheese, cookies and more.

POV Spark announced the launch of Public Update, a new online home for exploratory content about the world, driven by and curated for nontraditional voices. The interactive arm of the PBS series, POV Spark will use the platform to acquire and distribute works from independent artists.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime, starring David Walliams (Little Britain) and Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) launches on Ovation TV on Saturday, June 13 at 7p. The six-parter is based on the 1922 novel The Secret Adversary and the 1941 novel N or M?.

Artificial will be back for season three on Twitch – this time called Artificial: Remote Intelligence – on Thursday, May 21 at 9p. The remote production will follow a new artificial intelligence being guided by an idealistic young scientist.

HGTV’s Renovation Island follows home renovation experts as they pack up their family and move to a tropical island to renovate a resort. Series premieres Sunday, June 7 at 8p.

COMING UP

For four consecutive Wednesdays starting May 20, films currently available on Disney, will be shown in prime time on ABC. First up: the broadcast world debut of Moana at 8p. Additional titles include Thor: The Dark World, Up and Big Hero 6.

Noggin, Nickelodeon’s interactive learning service for preschoolers, in partnership with Common Sense Media, is offering Navigating the New Normal: Parents Edition, a 20-minute special to answer help parents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Comedian/actor Patton Oswalt will be back to host the annual Webby Awards on May 19 – only this time around he’ll be working from home. The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences is going remote after canceling its planned ceremony in NYC. “The Webbys have always been a blast, and I was honored to accept the invitation to come back and host,” said Oswalt. “Then, the honor turned to glee when I realized it’s going to be the same as every other night lately — sitting around in my pajamas, marveling at amazing stuff on the Internet… except I won’t even have to find it myself.”

Country artist Kane Brown, viral superstar Doja Cat and Season 18 Mega Mentor James Taylor are set to perform on The Voice Top 9 remote performance show airing Monday, May 11 at 8p on NBC.

Comedian and actress Yvonne Orji (Insecure) celebrates her Nigerian-American upbringing in her first hour-long HBO comedy special, Yvonne Orji: Momma, I Made It!, premiering Saturday, June 6 at 10p.

Cooped Up, an Australian romantic comedy focusing on a bitter semi-professional wrestler who must live in quarantine after coming into contact with a potentially fatal coronavirus, launches on Crackle on Thursday, May 14. It wasn’t a project inspired by COVID-19 – the prophetic film was produced in 2016.

Filmmaker Andrew Goldberg explores the infectious nature of antisemitism in Viral: Antisemitism in Four Mutations, premiering Tuesday, May 26 at 9p on PBS (check local listings). Interviewees include former US President Bill Clinton, Former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, Journalists Fareed Zakaria and George Will, and Professor Deborah Lipstadt.

In observance of the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, National Geographic is programming a full day of World War II content on Thursday, May 21. The day is underscored by two primetime original premieres, beginning at 8p: WWII in Europe: Voice From the front, and Heroes in the Sky: The Mighty Eighth Air Force. The specials combine thousands of hours of research, interviews and original footage.

Smithsonian Channel has partnered with the US Department of Defense to commemorate Victory in Europe Day with Victory in Europe 75th Anniversary. On Friday, May 8 at 8p, the special will salute the remaining World War II veterans while celebrating America’s resolve and the resolve of our World War II veterans.

Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, OneRepublic, Ellie Goulding, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, Sam Smith, James Taylor, Meghan Trainor and Adrienne will perform for NBC’s Red Nose Day special on Thursday, May 21 at 9p. Jim Gaffigan, Tony Hale, Ray Romano and Lilly Singh will showcase their comedic stylings, while Bryan Cranston, Mario Lopez, Milo Ventimiglia and Noah Jupe will make appearances during the evening. The two-hour telecast aims to raise awareness of and donations for children living in poverty.

STREAMING SCOOP

CBS All Access will be rebranded this summer, adding content from ViacomCBS sister nets like Nickelodeon and BET. Over 100 films from Paramount, including The Godfather, Terms of Endearment and An Inconvenient Truth, were added Thursday. “Expanding CBS All Access’ library of films with these iconic titles from Paramount Pictures is just one of the many ways we’re integrating the phenomenal catalog of IP available to us within the ViacomCBS family,” said All Access programming head Julie. “The service is on a growth trajectory with two record-breaking months in March and April, and we look forward to bringing even more premium content and value to our subscribers in the coming months.”

ViacomCBS and Google inked a multi-year distribution agreement to deliver more content from ViacomCBS’ portfolio for YouTube TV subscribers. In addition to continued carriage of CBS broadcast stations, CBS Sports Network, Pop TV, Smithsonian Channel, and The CW, the expanded agreement introduces 14 more channels. BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land and VH1 will launch on YouTube TV this summer; BET Her, MTV2, Nick Jr., NickToons, TeenNick and MTV Classic will arrive at a later date.

Netflix continued to dominate among streamers during the month of April, scoring the most average household viewing minutes, according to 7Park Data. Viewers spent 50% more time on the platform than in January, and Ozark was the most popular show, with 27% of all Netflix viewers watching at least one episode during the month. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness was second, followed by The Office, Unorthodox, and All American. Amazon Prime surpassed Hulu to take 2nd place, thanks to new original content, while Hulu (3rd place) and Apple TV+ (5th place) each saw a slight decline in living room viewership numbers.

Family-friendly wildlife and nature brand Love Nature announced its launch on ad-supported streaming service XUMO, its debut in the US market as a linear channel and VOD destination. The partnership is an extension of Blue Ant Media’s existing relationship with the streaming service, which includes the recently-launched gaming channel, Arcade Cloud and children’s nature channel, ZooMoo, on the platform.

Comcast’s Xfinity Watchathon Week, May 11-17, will included episodes of Hulu Originals Castle Rock, Dollface, The Handmaid’s Tale, High Fidelity, Little Fires Everywhere, Ramy and Shrill, along with EPIX’s Godfather of Harlem and Belgravia; STARZ’s Outlander, Power, and Hightown, and Showtime’s Billions, among others. Free programming will be available across Xfinity platforms including X1, Flex and Xfinity Stream. “Over the past month, with so many customers still at home, we’ve not only seen a 50 percent increase in Xfinity On Demand viewing across genres of programming from drama and comedy to reality but we’re noticing other interesting trends like a more than double-digit growth for discovery-related voice commands such as ‘what to watch’ and ‘surprise me,’” said Rebecca Heap, SVP, Video & Entertainment, Comcast.

NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock will have an app on Xbox One and Xbox Obe S game consoles when it launches nationally in July 15. Peacock has also hatched distribution deals with Apple and Cox Communications.

All seven seasons of Scandal will begin streaming on Hulu on May 20, after the expiration of ABC Studios’ deal with Netflix. The DC political drama aired on ABC from 2012-2018.

Alamo Drafthouse, Screen Plus and Vista Cinema are teaming for VOD platform Alamo on Demand. “Many of us learned about movies thanks to the staff picks at our local video stores. That’s the spirit of what we’re trying to do with Alamo On Demand,” said Henri Mazza, Alamo Drafthouse VP of Content, Sponsorship, and Events. “Even though we can’t gather in theaters right now, our programmers will still be curating new and classic films for our nationwide community of fellow movie lovers.”

HBO Max and anime destination Crunchyroll are teaming to bring dubbed and subtitled anime to the upcoming streamer. When it launches on May 27, HBO Max will offer subscribers access to 17 anime titles.

ADVERTISING

In the past two weeks, 14% more advertisers have canceled a campaign pre-launch (for a total of 50%), 17% more advertisers have held back a campaign launch (total 73%), and 20% more advertisers have paused all new advertising until later in the year (total 42%), according to “The Coronavirus Effect on Advertising,” a biweekly report from Advertiser Perceptions. When do we hit bottom? Looks like third quarter, according to the report, which says 26% of advertisers expect to be spending more again by June 30, 52% say they will resume or ramp up this summer – 18% in July, 15% in August, and 19% in September. Only 5% plan to wait until 1Q21. And “90 days is the new long term” – advertisers have cut their planning horizons in half, only committing to media less than three months out.

Programmatic video and advanced TV platform Tremor Video has extended its partnership with DoubleVerify in a two-year deal to expand its brand protection solutions. “At a time when CTV is our main focus, DoubleVerify’s proven reputation among our clients, coupled with their comprehensive CTV fraud filtering solution, gives us confidence that this partnership will provide brands with the safest environment for reaching and engaging consumers,” said Amy Guenel, VP of Product Marketing, Tremor Video.

Total OTT ad spend went up by 83% year-over-year in 2020, according to ZypMedia’s State of Local OTT Advertising Report, showing strong growth in what is traditionally the weakest quarter in advertising. The number of campaigns increased by 81% as businesses continued to leverage OTT as a means to reach customers in their local markets. “As the year progresses and the country continues to adapt, it is no surprise that COVID-19 will tell a different story in Q2, as many local businesses are being impacted by the ‘shelter in place’ restrictions that each state,” noted the report. “However, as we flatten the curve and society slowly starts returning to normal the economy will improve, we expect to see continued growth in OTT in the latter half of the year.”

GOING GLOBAL

TV Studios announced sales of natural history specials India’s Wild Karnataka and Wild Tokyo. BBC America has opted to pick up both documentaries for its natural history strand “Wonderstruck”, while the titles were acquired by Bilibili and Huanxi Media in China and TVNZ in New Zealand.

Friday Fun Fact
Before toilet paper was invented, Americans used corn cobs.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
In which 1970s series was half the cast replaced every six months? Zoom (1972-78). Kudos to: Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, Rev. Mark Wajda/Lakeland, FL, Errol Da-Re-CRO,TLN Media Group/Toronto, Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA, David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA, Kyle Krebs-Intersection/Dallas, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Who played the title character’s only convicted client on Perry Mason (1957-1966)? (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.)