A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM FETV

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FETV Delivers YOY Growth in Key Demos
A25-54 (+14%), W25-54 (+34%) and HH (+34%)

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Today’s Premieres
Cartoon Network: Mecha Builders at 9p
Food Network: BBQ Brawl at 9p
FX: Breeders at 10p
Hulu: Candy

Today’s Finales
History: I Was There at 10p
NBC: American Song Contest at 8p

IN THE NEWS

“Meet the Press Daily” is moving from MSNBC to streamer NBC News Now, starting Monday, June 6 under the new name “Meet the Press Now.” The show’s host – Chuck Todd – will remain, but the time slot will shift from 1p to 4p. “Since our launch, we’ve been committed to delivering the best of NBC News’ journalism, free, to streaming services everywhere,” said Noah Oppenheim, NBC News President. “Chuck was one of the first broadcast anchors to see the massive potential of streaming and bringing ‘Meet the Press’s’ daily franchise to NBC News Now reinforces the platform’s status as the destination for news on streaming.” Taking over the earlier MSNBC time slot will be Chris Jansing, with “MSNBC Reports” starting Thursday, May 26.

A group of GOP Senators is calling on the TV Guidelines Ratings Board to update its designations to reflect concerns over “sexual orientation and gender identity content in children’s TV shows,” accusing “hyper-sexualized entertainment producers” of motivations that are “suspect and best and predatory at worst.” Responded GLAAD, “LGBTQ people are in every family, workplace, school and neighborhood. Media is simply reflecting and representing this reality and growing acceptance of LGBTQ people across the board.”

Telemundo will air the first “People’s Choice Latin Music Awards” in spring 2023. “Over the past four years, we’ve built the People’s Choice Awards into a multi-platform brand that started on E!, grew to NBC, and we now get to reimagine for a whole new audience on Telemundo,” said Jen Neal, EVP, Live Events, NBCUniversal Television & Streaming. “We can’t wait to work with the Telemundo team to pull together what I know is going to be an incredible show.”

“Quantum Leap” scored a series order from NBC. Raymond Lee (“Kevin Can F*** Himself”) stars in the reboot from Universal Television. Scott Bakula starred in the 1989-93 original.

ABC has canceled freshman dramas “Queens” and “The Promises Land” after one season. The finale of “Queens” delivered 1.00 million viewers and 0.2 among A18-49, and the Latinx family drama, while a critical success, was the network’s least-watched and lowest-rated scripted series of the season.

NBCUniversal is creating an Emmy showcase for programming on their platforms, as well as Universal Studio Group, with a takeover of the rooftop and penthouse floor of Hollywood’s The Aster running May 18-May 25. The space will house themed immersive experiences, panels and appearances by talent.

Fred Savage was fired from ABC’s “The Wonder Years.” “Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched. Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of ‘The Wonder Years’,” said a spokesman for 20th Television. In 2015, the former child actor was accused of attacking and harassing a crew member on the set of Fox’s “The Grinder”; an investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing by Savage.

“I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson” is sticking around Netflix. The sketch comedy was renewed for season three.

First quarter revenue for E.W. Scripps Co., including Local Media, rose to $327 million, up 4.5% from the prior-year quarter. Core advertising was up 3.4% to $157 million, and political advertising revenue was $5.8 million, versus $1.3 million in 1Q21. Retransmission revenue increased 2.5% to $160 million. “In Local Media, our focus on winning new-to-TV advertising dollars fueled double-digit growth in key core advertising categories,” said Scripps President/CEO Adam Symson. “In addition, pay TV subscriber growth contributed to the segment’s stellar top-line performance of mid-single-digit total revenue growth, even exceeding our expectations for low single digits. Local Media’s strong start provides a springboard for the rest of the year as we anticipate a robust mid-term political revenue cycle.”

Amid increased competition and a dispute with Tegna, Dish Network lost 462,000 subscribers in 1Q22 across Sling TV and Dish TV. “In regard to subscribers for all our brands, we simply didn’t execute according to our expectations,” said Dish CEO Erik Carlson on last week’s earnings call. Carlson also noted in a 10-Q filing that the company didn’t finalize the re-engineering of the platform and user interface, adding, “We had a tough quarter, but we’re optimistic that we can leverage the platform and our messaging and high-value products and great experience to reach customers whose overall video content bills are too high but still want the excitement of live TV.”

SAG-AFTRA members have voted to ratify a new set of commercials contracts valued at an additional $120 million for members. “We did it!” cheered SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher. “An overwhelming majority of members agreed on the new Commercials Contracts. As we move into a digital age, bold moves and structural changes had to be made. Our amazing negotiating committee heard what members needed and delivered new contracts with more money for streaming, more contributions to the health plan, limitations on self-tape auditions, hair and makeup equity, intimacy protections and more.”

Scripps Networks is making multi-million-dollar investment in creating The Free TV Project, an educational resource for all-things “over-the-air”. The goal is to make OTA more accessible and show off the benefits of free TV. Scripps is the leader in the over the air space, Michael Teicher, Scripps’ Chief Revenue Officer, tells Cynopsis, capturing 25% of all broadcast viewing and reaching a unique audience that is not accessible to cable networks. “It’s also an audience that views our networks live and is very engaged and loyal to them,” says Teicher. “While so many other players in the television ecosystem are spending billions of dollars for a finite share of viewership and streaming, the power of free ad-supported broadcast TV is strong and gaining strength daily. These are all tremendous advantages for Scripps Networks.”

DON’T MISS THE JUNE 1ST DEADLINE TO ENTER THE TOP WOMEN IN MEDIA AWARDS

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

Now more than ever, don’t you agree that we should be recognizing you and your colleagues at this year’s event?

ENTER NOW

PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

HBO Max and Cartoon Network have two new projects in the works from Cartoon Network Studios: 90-minute animated space movie “Driftwood,” from executive producer/creator Victor Courtright (“Aquaman: King of Atlantis”), and “Invincible Fight Girl”, a half-hour action-comedy series from first time executive producer and creator Juston Gordon-Montgomery (“DC Super Hero Girls”).

Bounce’s “Faith Heist 2” includes original cast members Jonathan Langdon, Dalmar Abuzeid and Safine Semajuste, who reprise their roles as Pastor Benjamin (Langdon) and his motley crew of congregants in the holiday movie sequel. This time, they find themselves locked in the local mall just as a team of armed thieves attempt a jewel robbery. “Faith Heist 2” is being produced by JB Sugar and No Equal Entertainment.

Casting notes: Tamara Lawrance (“King Charles III”) has been cast in the title role in HBO and Channel 4 co-production, “Get Millie Black”…Andrea Savage (“I’m Sorry”) will star opposite Sylvester Stallone in Paramount+ mob series “Tulsa King.”…Jack Huston landed a series regular role in “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches,” headed to AMC…Rita Ora (“Twist”) and James Hong (“Troll Hunters: Rise of the Titans”) are onboard the voice cast of Netflix’s “Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

It’s Josh Gates all night with the return of Discovery’s “Adventure Wednesday” lineup starting May 25. New episodes of “Expedition Unknown” at 8p, Expedition X” at 9p, and “Josh Gates Tonight” at 10p take up primetime.

Set in the world of bomb disposal, Peacock’s “Trigger Point” debuts Friday, July 8. Vicky McClure (“Line of Duty”) and Adrian Lester (“Life”) star as frontline workers risking their lives during a terrorist campaign in London.

Bounce’s upcoming lineup features a new original series about Black women that is written, produced, directed by and starring Black women. The dramedy, “Finding Happy,” premieres in fall 2022. Also on the way is the return of “Johnson,” on Sunday, July 10. Both series come from Cedric The Entertainer & Eric C. Rhone’s production company A Bird & A Bird Entertainment.

Season five of Netflix’s “Cobra Kai” kicks off Friday, June 9. The date was shared in a teaser that revealed the return of Chozen (Yuji Okumoto).

COMING UP

Scripps National Spelling Bee is coming home to Scripps Networks, where it will air exclusively on Scripps nets ION and Bounce. The event had aired on ESPN channels since 1994. LeVar Burton will serve as host. The televised semifinals on June 1 and finals on June 2 will take place at National Harbor, Maryland.

Selena Gomez (“Only Murders in the Building”) is set to host NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” on May 14, joined by fellow “SNL” newbie Post Malone as musical guest.

UPFRONT CALENDAR

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)

MEASUREMENT & DATA CONFERENCE

New session alert for June 7th:

Impressions: The Great Equalizer?

Presented by: Mainak Mazumdar, Chief Data and Research Officer, Nielsen

FIND OUT MORE

RATINGS

The week of April 24, TNT was the #1 cable network in Prime among P/M/W25-54, P/M/W18-49, P/M/W18-34 & M18+, fueled by the NBA Playoffs, which claimed 2 of the week’s top-3 cable telecasts for P2+. Warner Bros. Discovery sib TLC was the #2 cable network in Prime among W25-54 (tied with Bravo, behind TNT), led by 2 of Sunday night’s top 3 cable programs “90 Day Fiancé” (2.2 million P2+) and “Unexpected” (1.4 million P2+), which earned the series’ highest P/W25-54 & W18-49 ratings in over 2 years.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Thursday, May 5
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Station 19 4.26 (0.6), Grey’s Anatomy 3.90 (0.7), Big Sky 2.40 (0.3)
CBS: Young Sheldon 4.26 (0.4), United States of 3.10 (0.3), Young Sheldon 3.31 (0.3), How We Roll 2.97 (0.3), Bull 2.49 (0.2)
CW: Walker 0.57 (0.1), Legacies 0.38 (0.1)
FOX: MasterChef Junior 1.98 (0.4), Call Me Kat 1.67 (0.4), Welcome To Flatch 0.84 (0.2)
NBC: Law & Order 4.23 (0.4), Law & Order: SVU 4.90 (0.6), Law & Order: Organized Crime 4.08 (0.6)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos 0.88 (0.2), Hercal: Amor y Venganza 1.14 (0.3), Pasion de Gavilanes 0.70 (0.3)
Univision: Soltero Con Hijas 1.26 (0.3), Mi Fortuna es Amarte 1.49 (0.5), Madre 1.91 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

IN MEMORIAM

Actor Mike Hagerty died April 29. He was 67. Among Hagerty’s numerous TV roles were building super Mr. Treeger on “Friends” and Ed Miller on “Somebody Somewhere.”

This Day in History
1914 – Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What 1980s TV series’ premiere was delayed for several months after the star was severely burned in an accident on the set? “The Powers of Matthew Star” (1982-83). Kudos to: John Kukla-KDFW/Dallas; Lorrie Shilling-El Segundo, CA; Tom Moore-Kalt Production/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/NYC; Charles Lore/NYC; Steve Chaggaris-Sinclair Broadcast Group/Washington, DC; Andrew Goldman-Grooveee/NYC; Dan Whitford-WTTW/Chicago

Today’s Trivia Question
Who guest starred as a matador on four episodes of “The Mothers-in-Law” (1967-69)? (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