Tonight’s Finales
ABC: Station 19 at 9p, How to Get Away With Murder at 10p
CW: Katy Keene at 8p
Travel Channel: Ghost Adventures at 9p

IN THE NEWS

NBC renewed A Little Late with Lilly Singh for a sophomore run. Season one of the series – which replaced Last Call with Carson Daly in September – was taped during the fourth quarter of 2019, and ranks as the #1 most-viewed new broadcast series on YouTube since its premiere. “Lilly is an incredible talent,” said Katie Hockmeyer, EVP, Late Night Programming, NBC Entertainment. “A Little Late has brought an expanding global audience to NBC and we look forward to another season of her unique showmanship and style.”

A total of 450 positions have been eliminated at ViacomCBS, according to an updated New York State filing. “Employee separation” began in April and will continue until September 30, said the filing. Viacom International was most impacted, with 271 employees affected; Showtime shed 88 jobs. The company, formed when the merger of Viacom and CBS was finalized in December, has said it is looking to achieve $750 million in synergies.

AMC Networks has entered into an agreement to acquire Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles Series and The Lives of the Mayfair Witches Series, a total of 18 titles that includes Interview With The Vampire and The Witching Hour. AMC Networks will hold the rights to develop shows for its networks and streaming services, as well as external partner licensing, with Anne Rice and son Christopher Rice serving as executive producers on all series and films. Rolin Jones (Perry Mason, Friday Night Lights), who recently signed an overall development deal with AMC Studios, will be directly involved in developing the projects.

The SXSW festival was canceled in March, but seven 360 projects entered in the Virtual Cinema competition will be showcased on Oculus TV from May 22-31. “We are so excited to offer global audiences an opportunity to experience these phenomenal 360 projects on Oculus TV,” said Blake Kammerdeiner, SXSW Virtual Cinema Programmer. “This sampling of what would have been a robust XR program is sure to delight audiences, and we are thankful to OculusTV for helping us showcase these artists and projects.”

The Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation and the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations division announced $2.475 million in Project Innovation grants will be presented to 69 organizations in 11 markets that are using innovation to address COVID-19-related needs in LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas/Fort Worth, Washington, D.C., San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, San Diego and Hartford, have awarded up to $225,000 in Project Innovation grants in their markets.

The Cynopsis Adtech Awards
Enter By May 28th

During a time when in-person events have been cancelled, the adtech community is stepping up. They’re helping to guarantee marketers upfront inventory and preserve revenue for media owners by using breakthrough approaches and solutions. Adtech providers are a group that lives on the cutting edge of innovation, which is why we are celebrating their platforms, campaigns, and strategies in more than 20 categories. View them all

here.

Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) is writing and exec producing a six-part adaptation of Charles Dickens classic Great Expectations for BBC One and FX. Ridley Scott, Tom Hardy, Dean Baker, David W. Zucker and Kate Crowe and Mona Qureshi also fill in the exec producer ranks. No stranger to Dickens, Knight adapted A Christmas Carol.

Speaking of Ridley Scott, the producer’s Scott Free Productions inked a first-look television deal with Apple. The agreement calls for the development of global TV projects for Apple TV+.

Is your company making a difference in the digital media supply chain? Get recognized by entering into Cynopsis’ Adtech Awards. Check out our categories – the deadline is only 2 weeks away!

Znak&Co sold A Killer Uncaged to Sky Crime and Netflix. After the doc debuts on Sky Crime on June 28, it will air as a three-part limited series, I am a Killer: Released, on Netflix in the fall. Shot on location in Texas and produced over a three-year period, the show follows Dale Wayne Sigler, who thirty years ago was sentenced to death for a cold-blooded murder. A co-production of Sky Crime, Netflix and Znak&Co, Killer was executive produced by Danny Tipping, Ned Parker and Natalka Znak for Znak & Co., and directed by Itamar Klasmer.

Professional strongman and actor Thor “The Mountain” Björnsson (Game of Thrones) is teaming with Wheelhouse Entertainment’s Spoke Studios for a new competition series that challenges athletes to fight it out in bouts of strength and endurance. The ultimate goal: going head to head against Thor in an attempt to “Beat the Mountain.”

The Roots’ Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tarik “Black Thought” Trotter inked a three-year, first look deal with their Two One Five Entertainment and Universal Television Alternative Studio and Universal Television. The agreement covers the development of scripted and unscripted programming.

ADVERTISING

About $1 billion to $1.5 billion in commitments for third-quarter advertising is expected to be canceled, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. General Motors, PepsiCo and General Mills are among the big advertisers said to be looking to take advantage of their contractual option to cancel up to 50% of 3Q20 ad spend. While networks weren’t required to offer relief for second quarter commitments, with the coronavirus pandemic arriving past the cancellation notification deadline, they were flexible in extending deadlines. Negotiations to assist troubled sectors led to a 30% decline in national TV ad spend from February 17 through April 26 versus the same period last year.

Ad spend during Upfronts will drop 33% versus last year, according to a survey of 151 ad execs by Advertiser Perceptions. Nearly half of advertisers warned networks should not expect advertisers to commit to more than 90 days’ worth of TV, while 50% said they believed they can replace linear TV reach with OTT/CTV and digital video ads, and 41% predicted that networks will be forced to abandon the Upfront model altogether. Advertises voiced five main concerns:
· Scale: Will TV viewership contract again as states reopen?
· Dayparts: How will content gaps reshape audiences, especially for primetime, late night and cable?
· Sports/events: What will reallocation look like if tent-pole events cancel?
· Pricing: Will pricing flex to reflect actual viewing on linear and digital TV?
· Guarantees: Since they can’t trust future estimates, what’s their protection?
What’s the best strategy for linear networks? They “need to take the dollars they can get now, on whatever terms they can,” said Justin Fromm, EVP/Business Intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions. “Mostly, that will mean flexibility – being creative to allocate advertising across a network’s platforms and a willingness to return money as needed.”

Video ad impressions on connected TV platforms dropped to 37% of all ad impressions in 1Q20, a decline of over 21% from the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the latest Video Benchmarks Report from Extreme Reach. But despite the sudden CTV share decline, analysis of the data since then shows a rapid return to more “normal” levels, with CTV share up to 42% for April 15 – May 11. “The first quarter of 2020 reveals big changes that we surmise are a result of the unprecedented global health crisis,” said Mary Vestewig, ER’s Senior Director, Video Account Management. “That said, we are almost halfway through the second quarter, and now we are seeing a rapid rise in CTV share of impressions that suggests a return to a level of consistency indicative of a new normal.”

Ready to get back to the business of sports? Join Cynopsis for The Great Sports Disruption: Preparing for Success In A Post-COVID World on June 9th from 1PM – 5PM ET. This VIRTUAL event will give you the chance to interact with your peers and hear from A-List speakers as they break down the new ways of doing business and how these methods will shape the risks and rewards that lie ahead. Learn more and register here.

STREAMING SCOOP

Wurl, provider of streaming video distribution and advertising services for CTV, reports growth in 1Q20 included 97 news new channels added to the Wurl Network, for a total of over 400, and expanded content monetization through AdPool, its advertising marketplace. Ad impressions provided by the Wurl Network increased by 500% year over year, with total ad inventory up 56%, says the company.

VIZIO SmartCast TV’s ad supported apps and streaming TV services were up 88% the last week of April compared to the first week of March before stay-at-home advisories changed viewing behaviors, reports the company. Now it is expanding its free channel options with 20 new channels, among them Vanity Fair, Young Hollywood, GQ, Glamour, Tastemade, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Game Show Network and World Poker Tour.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

A remotely-shot extension of truTV’s Impractical jokers makes its debut Thursday, May 21 at 10p. Six-episode Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party reunites the prankster troupe forced apart by the pandemic.

Sixteen homeowners who are ready to DIY it – with a virtual hand from HGTV stars, and a box of specially curated décor elements – are featured in HGTV’s self-shot series, Design At Your Door, premiering with back-to-back episodes on Thursday, June 11 at 9p and 9:30p.

Showtime’s four-part Love Fraud, following a con man on the run and the women on his tail, debuts Sunday, August 30 at 9p.

HBO Max announced new wave of premiere dates, including the season three launch of comedy thriller Search Party on Thursday, June 25 (the first two seasons of the show, which aired on TBS, will be available when HBO Max makes its May 27 bow); docu-series Expecting Amy, following comedian Amy Schumer’s life on tour, on Thursday, July 9; and family docu-soap The House of Ho on Thursday, July 16.

Yahoo Finance is airing a four-part series examining the impacts of COVID-19 on the climate crisis. Akiko Fujita hosts.

COMING UP

Unscripted special Once Upon a Quarantime, following four couples who have been self-filming during the COVID-19 pandemic, premieres Wednesday, May 20 at 9p on Lifetime. Shot over 60 days, the one-hour event offers an intimate “fly on the wall” look at how the couples are facing major life milestones.

An American Pickle, the comedy film starring Seth Rogen that was acquired by WarnerMedia last month, will premiere on HBO Max on August 6. Sony Pictures’ plans for a theatrical release were scrubbed due to the coronavirus.

Documentary features The Go-Go’s and Belushi have premiere dates on Showtime. The Go-Go’s, chronicling the female band, debuts Saturday, August 19 at 9p. Belushi, which includes previously unheard tapes from before comedian John Belushi’s death, premieres Sunday, September 27 at 9p.

GOING GLOBAL

Endemol Shine India has optioned the detective novel series Inspector Ghote for adaptation into a multi-part returnable drama. Meanwhile, Endemol Shine Group announced the latest deal for MasterChef. Israel’s Keshet 12 ordered six more series of the format, for seasons 9 through 14.

Toronto-based BGM Inc announced a new commission from TVOkids for a pre-school show called Abby’s Farm (wt), to be exec produced by Malabar for TVOkids, and Daniel Bourré, Sean Connelly and Marlo Miazga for BGM.

Moonbug struck a partnership with Joyn to launch the German streaming platform’s first dedicated kids’ nonlinear channel, Moonbug Kids.

Fugitive has inked a new deal with Israeli content creation and distribution company Gil Formats, that sees Fugitive pick up the rights to a number of Gil’s new formats and represent them exclusively in the UK.

CYNOPSIS JOBS
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CBS’ 60 Minutes drew 9.5 million viewers on Sunday, up 22% week over week. The newsmagazine’s lead story focused on a virologist whose federal funding to study the origins of COVID-19 was cut.

Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives scored its highest rating since 2014 on Friday with a special Takeout edition, self-shot by Guy Fieri from his home. The episode scored a 0.8 P25-54 rating and a 0.9 W25-54 (Live+3), gains of +45% and +49% versus year-ago, respectively, ranking #3 within the timeslot across cable.

TV Time’s Binge Report for the Week of May 4
Never Have I Ever (Netflix) – 2.82%
Friends (NBC) – 1.79%
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC) – 1.57%
The Office (NBC) – 1.54%
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – 1.41%
Dead to Me (Netflix) – 1.38%
Outer Banks (Netflix) – 1.17%
Community (NBC) – 1.12%
Prison Break (FOX) – 1.11%
Money Heist (Netflix) – 1.10%
The weekly Binge Report ranks shows with the most binge sessions. A binge session is when four or more episodes of a show are watched and tracked in the TV Time app within a given day.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Tuesday, May 12
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: The Happy Days of Garry Marshall 5.61 (0.6), For Life 2.82 (0.5)
CBS: NCIS 6.77 (0.5), FBI 5.76 (0.6), FBI: Most Wanted 4.73 (0.5)
CW: The Flash 1.08 (0.4), DC’s Legends of Tomorrow 0.66 (0.2)
FOX: 24 Hours to Hell and Back 2.36 (0.6), 24 Hours to Hell and Back 2.22 (0.6)
NBC: The Voice 7.06 (0.9), Ellen’s Game of Games 3.99 (0.8), Hollywood Game Night 2.61 (0.6)
TELEMUNDO: Cennet 1.22 (0.4), 100 Dias Enamorarnos 0.89 (0.3), La Riena del Sur 0.74 (0.3)
UNIVISION: Te Doy la Vida 1.77 (0.6), Amor Eterno 2.14 (0.7), Como to no Hay Dos 1.66 (0.6)
Source: Nielsen, live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Julian Lai-Hung has joined Crunchyroll as the Head of Content Strategy & Business Development focused on Japan and Asia-Pacific. Previously, Lai-Hung was also a Fellow at venture investment firm Entrepreneur First and founded an AI/Blockchain startup.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was the full name of Martin’s dog, Eddie, on Frasier (1993-2004)? Eddie Spaghetti (real name: Moose). Kudos to: Claire Hambrick- A+E Networks/NYC, Mark Guleff-ViacomCBS/Detroit, Rev. Mark Wajda/Lakeland, FL, Jon Krongard-Wonderama/NYC, John Kukla-KDFW Fox 4/Dallas, Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Tom Olson-Good Karma Brands/Milwaukee, Dan Haberer-Creo Entertainment/Playa del Rey, CA, Brian Harder-Effectv/Chicago, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
In which western series did the mothers of Sally Field and Candice Bergen both have roles? (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.)