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Friday May 21, 2021

Today’s Finales
ABC: “Shark Tank” at 8p
FX: “Pride” at 10p

Saturday’s Premieres
The Africa Channel: “Arbitration” at 10p
Diy: “In the Woods” at 8p
Nat Geo Wild: “Critter Fixers: Country Vets” at 9p
Snapchat: “Everything’s Fine”

Saturday’ Finale
Discovery+: “Ghost Brothers: Lights Out”

Sunday’s Premieres
Fox: “Duncanville” at 8:30p
HBO: “In Treatment” at 9p
History: “The Cars That Made the World” at 9p
ID: “Evil Lives Here” at 9p
Netflix: “Master of None”
Oxygen: “Killer Couples” at 8p
Science: “Secrets of the Lost Ark” at 10p
Showtime: “The Chi” at 9p, “Black Monday” at 10p, “Flatbush Misdemeanors” at 10:30p
The Weather Channel: “Weird Earth” at 8p, “Deadline to Disaster” at 9p

Sunday’s Finales
ABC: “American Idol” at 8p
BYUtv: “Dwight in Shining Armor” at 8:30p
CBS: “The Equalizer” at 8p, “NCIS: Los Angeles” at 9p, “NCIS: New Orleans” at 10p
Fox: “The Simpsons” at 8p, “Bob’s Burgers” at 9p
PBS: “Atlantic Crossing on Masterpiece” at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Identity is not just driven by personal heritage, but also by culture, according to a study from NBCUniversal, MAGNA, and Identity. Key findings from “Deconstructing Diversity Today,” which explores the role that brands play in acknowledging and amplifying cultural identification, include:
· It’s crucial that brands recognize the multi-faceted nature of all people, as many don’t currently see themselves represented in media.
· Media serves as an important cultural connection point, by both sparking and satisfying cultural interests.
· Brand involvement in satisfying cultural curiosities is an expectation regardless of race and ethnicity. Particularly, Hispanic and Black audiences responded with feeling strongly, with three-quarters expecting brand involvement.
“The findings revealed today bring to life the fact that for multicultural consumers, their identities are rooted both in their heritage and culture, as well as their interests, their communities, and their desire to learn about cultures that are different from their own,” said Yusuf Chuku, EVP, Client Strategy & Insights, Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal. “Together, as an industry we have both an opportunity and an obligation to create stronger, more authentic connections with all people.”

The US advertising marketplace grew 52% year-over-year in April, though it is 7.4% lower than April 2019, according to Standard Media Index. National TV ad spending increased 14.7% over April 2020, but is down 32.1% vs. April 2019. The US
digital advertising marketplace is a different story – up 82.7% vs. April 2020, and up 31.7% vs. April 2019.

Eighty-four percent of media executives expect streaming to grow in 2021, with nearly half of those budgeting for more than 50% growth this quarter alone, according to a study from Applicaster. Three-quarters of respondents said they plan to change their monetization model this year, or are considering making a change. “The State of OTT Revenue 2021” “clearly shows top media executives are diversifying streaming and revenue models amidst this tsunami of digital content demand,” said Ido Hadari, CEO of Applicaster.

CNN host Chris Cuomo was included in strategy conference calls after his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was accused of sexual harassment – behavior CNN acknowledges was inappropriate. “He will not participate in such conversations going forward,” said the network, which also noted Cuomo has not been part of its coverage of the allegations. The Washington Post was first to report on the calls.

Discovery U.S. Hispanic presented its portfolio’s 2021-22 Upfront slate, featuring more than 2,500 new and original premiere hours across three networks, and exclusive digital content, available to the over one million collective subscribers of Discovery en Español GO and Discovery Familia GO. New series on Discovery en Español include “On The Roam” and “Getaway Driver,” while upcoming titles on Discovery Familia include “Tu, yo y mi ex” and “Duelo de renovaciones.”.Hogar de HGTV will feature new titles like “Estrellas de Hogar” and “El gran apetito de Guy.”

“Today, our networks are drawing in a younger, more affluent and more educated audience than our competitors, with viewers spending more time with us than ever before,” said David Tardio, VP Advertising Sales Discovery U.S. Hispanic. “To best serve this enthusiastic and evolving audience, we are committed to strengthening every aspect of our portfolio, from the programming, to the talent, to the partnerships, and to the digital component – all with the goal of creating an inviting, familiar and must-see entertainment experience for Hispanics, honoring their heritage, language and passions.”

“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” an adaptation of the West End musical about a teen who dreams of becoming a drag queen, will bypass theaters and debut exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on September 17. “Jamie’s story is one that resonates across all generations – it’s about unconditional love and we know our global audiences will fall in love with Jamie as he overcomes adversity to truly find his authentic self,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “We are so thrilled to share this joyful and inspirational story with the world.” Theatrical opening dates in October 2020, January and February under 20th Century Studios were scrapped due to the pandemic.

The CW and Nexstar Media Group have reached a multi-year agreement to renew CW affiliation in 28 Nextar markets and 9 partner-owned stations. “The linear broadcast model remains the backbone of our business model and vitally important as it gives us the scale and local reach that distinguishes us in today’s marketplace as the original multiplatform network,” said Betty Ellen Berlamino, EVP, Distribution, The CW.

The 5th annual Measurement and Data Conference is happening in just four weeks. Register now for two days of the freshest thinking on buying and selling for the holistic video marketplace across attribution, addressable TV, CTV, privacy, data, and more.

The Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation and NBCUniversal Local announced $3.475 million in Project Innovation grants will be presented to 100 non-profits in 11 markets. The grantees will use the funds to help shape the next generation of storytellers, fostering a culture of equity and inclusion. “For 2021, we increased our grant funding by $1 million dollars to help more organizations continue their important work. This year, we’re supporting organizations that are working hard to address the systemic inequities that have persisted in our communities and were made worse by the pandemic,” said Valari Staab, President, NBCUniversal Local.

Check out the importance of single-market media buying in our 12-page report co-produced with our partners from New York Interconnect.

GET ACCESS

Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy will reprise their roles in comedy “Hocus Pocus 2,” a sequel to Disney’s 1993 Halloween cult classic “Hocus Pocus ” that will premiere on Disney+ in 2022. The film will begin production this fall under the direction of Anne Fletcher (“The Proposal”), who is taking the reins from Adam Shankman (“Hairspray”), with Lynn Harris (“The Shallows”) serving as producer. Shankman is currently in production on “Disenchanted” for the studio, which he is directing, but will remain on this project as an executive producer along with Ralph Winter (“Adrift”) and David Kirschner (“Curse of Chucky”). Steven Haft (“Tigerland”) is co-producer.

Amazon Studios greenlit a second season of upcoming fantasy series “The Wheel of Time,” based on the best-selling novels, co-produced with Sony Pictures Television. “Getting a second season order before the first season has even premiered is such a vote of confidence in the work we are doing and the property itself, and we couldn’t be happier to be able to continue to live and work in the world Robert Jordan created,” said showrunner and executive producer Rafe Judkins (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”). “This property is one I’ve loved since I was a teenager, and seeing it brought to life with the resources to make it truly worthy of what’s on the page is something I can’t wait for the other fans of the books to see.”

Discovery+ greenlit a series starring drag star Trixie Mattel. During eight episodes, Mattel will take on the renovation of a rundown hotel. “With help from my most famous celebrity friends, we’re going to create the glossiest Drag motel of your wildest fever-dreams,” said Mattel. Streaming starts in 2022.

We asked. You answered. Now, we’re sharing our findings on what the future of the State of Media & TV Upfronts look like one year into the pandemic; read the report here.

The story of Bruce’s Beach, a resort in Manhattan Beach, CA in the early 1900s that was owned by and operated for African Americans, will be told in an Amazon Studios scripted series project from Plan B and JuVee Productions. After initial success, the property was terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan and taken from the family via eminent domain in 1924.

Added to the voice cast of AMC+ stop-motion animated baby doll series “Ultra City Smith” are Kristen Bell (“Queenpins”), Dax Shepard (“Parenthood”), Alia Shawkat (“Duck Butter”), Tim Meadows (“Schooled”), Terry O’Quinn (“Lost”), Debra Winger (“Terms of Endearment”), Luis Guzmán (“Shameless”), Julian Barratt (“ Killing Eve”), Sunita Mani (“Evil Eye”), and Tom Waits (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”). The series is set to debut Thursday, July 22.

“CBS This Morning” is moving to a new studio in NYC’s Times Square, housed in the corporate HQ of ViacomCBS. The facility will be more technically advanced with “more space, more cameras and more looks,” said Shawna Thomas, EP of the show since February.

Apple TV+ has ordered an adaptation of dystopian novel series “Wool,” with Rebecca Ferguson (“Dune”) as star and executive producer. Graham Yost (“Justified”) will write and Morten Tyldum (“Defending Jacob”) will direct.

Kaley Cuoco (“The Big Bang Theory,” “The Flight Attendant”) has inked a major new three-year deal with Warner Bros. Television Group. Cuoco and her Yes, Norman Productions team, led by EVP Suzanne McCormack, will continued to develop new original programming for all platforms, streaming services, cable, and the broadcast networks. It’s Cuoco’s third overall agreement with WBTG.

Casting notes: Kathleen Turner has joined the cast of HBO Watergate series “The White House Plumbers,” as a dirty deals lobbyist…Alice Englert (“Ratched”) and Nicholas Denton (“Glitch”) landed leads in Starz original series “Dangerous Liaisons,” a remake of the novel, from Lionsgate TV, Playground Entertainment and Flame Ventures.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Dark comedy “The End,” starring Harriet Walter (“Succession”) and Frances O’Connor (“The Missing”), makes its debut on Showtime Sunday, July 18 at 8p.

Bravo’s “Top Chef Amateurs” premieres Thursday, July 1 at 9p with back-to-back episodes. In the franchise expander, amateur chefs compete in iconic challenges from the “Top Chef” archives (risotto, anyone?).

The eighth and final season of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” kicks off Thursday, August 12 at 8p with back-to-back episodes. The comedy’s first five seasons ran on Fox.

Season two of “Tyler Perry’s Bruh,” following thirtysomethings who have been best friends since college, launches Thursday, May 17 on BET+.

COMING UP

OWN announced one-hour programming event “OWN and P&G Present: Widen The Screen – A Fuller View of Black Life,” premiering Tuesday, May 25 at 8p. Hosted by Oprah Winfrey, the special features short films and new content by Black creators that celebrate Black stories, while honoring the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. “For too long the narrative of Black life on screen has been one that reinforces limiting stereotypes. When we ‘Widen The Screen’ to include more stories from more Black artists and storytellers, we change the narrative of Black life on screen, and we ‘Widen Our View’,” said Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, Procter & Gamble.

BET will mark the anniversary of the death of George Floyd with a three-night event beginning Tuesday, May 25 with music and spoken word performances on “Bars and Ballads for George Floyd” at 8p, featuring Jon Batiste, Nas, former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young, singer/activist Anthony Hamilton, Civil Rights leader and Color of Change President Rashad Robinson, actor Michael K. Williams, rapper/lecturer Bun B, rapper/activist Trae tha Truth and more.

HBO’s “The Legend of the Underground” premieres Tuesday, June 29 at 9p. The doc examine the struggle against rampant discrimination and cultural debate in Nigeria around gender conformity and human rights.

The History Channel set Saturday, Juneteenth at 8p as the premiere date for documentary “Fight the Power: The Movements That Changed America.” Executive Produced and narrated by NBA legend Kareem Abul-Jabbar and Deborah Morales of Iconomy Multi-Media & Entertainment, the show looks at the impact key movements have had in shaping US society, laws and culture.

STREAMING

Allen Media Group announced its free streaming platform Local Now is expanding its local news footprint through a new agreement with The E.W. Scripps Company. The deal adds 10 FAST channels to the platform, providing more localized news, weather, sports, traffic and entertainment in key US markets.

PokerGo and SuperDraft, the daily fantasy partner of Caesars Entertainment, are teaming to enable fans to participate in fantasy poker contests around most major professional tournaments. The partnership will launch with the US Poker Open on June 3.

TECH TALK

Snapchat is used by over 500 million people each month, announced Snap CEO Evan Spiegel at Snap’s virtual Partner Summit on Thursday. Speigel also noted that Snap reached 90% of 13-24-year-olds in the US, UK, France and Australia, and users open the app 30 times per day on average. Among the new product rollouts at the event was Standalone app Story Studio, with editing tools. Scan now has a feature called Screenshop, enabling users to scan a friend’s outfit, and get shopping recommendations. Updates to the AR platform make trying on clothes more realistic, and users have access to Allrecipes recipes based on ingredients captured in the Snapchat camera. “We’re excited about the power of our camera platform to bring Snapchatters together with the businesses they care about in meaningful ways,” said Snap’s global AR product lead Carolina Arguelles Navas.

Brands with a restricted view of their consumers’ journeys could actually drive customers away from the very destinations where they are most likely to buy, according to a report from audience insights platform DISQO. “X-Ray Specs for Path to Purchase Attribution” maintains that because of the increasing limitations on third-party, identity-based measurement, brands may choose to optimize their consumer engagements based on the first-party data they do have, and send people to their own websites. DISQO’s data shows that the best sales drivers are specific actions on the exact third-party retail marketplaces that are the hardest to measure. “In the face of more data being siloed within media and e-commerce partners and the depreciating viability of cross-platform identifiers like cookies and device IDs, many brands have planned to invest in and lean harder on their owned assets,” said Anne Hunter, VP of Product Marketing at DISQO. “DISQO’s analysis raises a flag of caution on how brands’ first-party activity should be used for campaign optimization.”

The FTC has filed a lawsuit against Frontier Communications for not delivering promised speeds to customers. In the complaint, the FTC say Frontier provides DSL internet service, which is slower than newer networks, to 1.3 million customers in mostly rural areas. Frontier maintains its internet speeds “have been clearly and accurately articulated, defined and described in the company’s marketing materials and disclosures.”

Microsoft is putting web browser Internet Explorer to rest on June 15, 2022, in favor or Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer was launched in 1995, but in recent years has been sluggish compared to rivals like Google’s Chrome. The Edge browser was launched in 2015.

GOING GLOBAL

Then-BBC reporter Martin Bashir deceived his way into accessing Princess Diana for a headline-making 1995 interview, and the BBC’s response to his tactics were “woefully ineffective,” found an independent inquiry. “Although the report states that Diana, Princess of Wales, was keen on the idea of an interview with the BBC, it is clear that the process for securing the interview fell far short of what audiences have a right to expect,” said incumbent BBC Director General Tim Davie. “We are very sorry for this.” The BBC is returning the 1996 BAFTA it won for the interview.

The international online content market Key Buyers Event: digital, organized by ROSKINO with the support of The Ministry of Culture, the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development of the City of Moscow and the Agency for Creative Industries, held June 8–10, has been extended by three days for screenings and online negotiations.

Sky Documentaries will air “Children of Shanghai” on Tuesday, June 1 at 7p, International Children’s Day. The hour-long documentary, narrated by Bear Grylls, tells the stories of the first fostered children in China.

Dynamic Television’s Danish crime series, “The Sommerdahl Murders,” has been renewed for a third season. Additionally, TV4 Sweden, TV2 Norway, and NPO Netherlands have signed on as pre-buy partners for the new season, which will start production this May and premiere early 2022.

SESSION SPOTLIGHT: Best Use Cases for Multi-Platform Measurement
Many companies are advancing their own Multi-Platform Measurement solutions. On Tuesday, June 15 at 1:40pm, experts such as Helen Lum (App Science), Jane Clark (CIMM), George Musi (Solve(d) FCB Health Network), Rob Jayson (USIM), + Mariel Estrada (WarnerMedia) will showcase what they’re doing & how it’s working going forward.

REGISTER NOW

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Fox Weather, Fox News Media’s AVOD streaming weather service launching in 3Q21, has named six executives to the platform’s leadership team: SVP and Head of Programming David Clark; VP Digital Product & Strategy Steve Baron; SVP and General Manager Mike McClain; VP of Programming Development Dianne Doctor; VP of News Operations Tim Gaughan; and Director & Head of Video Operations and Audience Development Deante Parker.

Trish Kinane is retiring as Fremantle’s President of Entertainment Programming and showrunner for ABC’s “American Idol, but will remain as consultant and executive producer on the reality show. She has held the position since 2016. Slipping on the showrunning shoes will be Megan Michaels Wolflick, who has worked on “Idol” for 15 years.

Detroit-based agency Doner hired Shiela Minetola as Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Minetola previously served as Director of Operations at Full Circle Foundation.

Paul Haddad has been appointed Executive Chairman of the board of directors at FourthWall Media. Before joining the board, Haddad – whose career spans roles with companies including Altice, A4 Media, Cablevision and Nortel – advised FourthWall Media over the last quarter.

DoubleVerify has named Tejal Engman as SVP of Investor Relations. Engman most recently served as the SVP of Investor Relations at Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.

Nielsen Marketing Cloud CTO Arik Shahar is joining Innovid as SVP, ID and Measurement.

Friday Fun Fact
Coca-Cola can be used to remove blood stains from clothes.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was the last series to have its entire run filmed in black and white? “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961-66). Kudos to: Louis Lewow-FITE/Atlanta; Dennis Maguire-Apple/Tampa; Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Network/NYC; Joe Swaney-Purchasing Power/Atlanta; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Greg Stewart/LA; Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which future “Melrose Place” regular starred with Lucille Ball in a TV-movie? (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.)