Tonight’s Finales
A&E: Ghost Hunters at 9p
History: Grant at 9p
PBS: Expedition With Steve Backshall at 10p
TLC: My 600-Lb. Life at 8p

IN THE NEWS

With TV production still mostly on hold, season ten of American Horror Story has been delayed until 2021 by FX, which also ordered spin-off American Horror Stories, a weekly anthology series. FXX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was renewed for a 15th season, making it the longest-running live-action comedy ever; also renewed were FX’s Better Things for season five and season two of docu-series The Weekly. “We couldn’t be more excited about our roster of new and returning shows slated through next year,” said Eric Schrier, president of FX Entertainment. “It has been an extraordinary time for FX over these past three months with the launch of FX on Hulu, which has transformed our business. We believe the continued strength of our original series coupled with the growing awareness of FX on Hulu as our streaming platform will make the FX brand stronger and more relevant and accessible than ever before.”

Seven percent of US broadband households upgraded their service in April, but who did what was significantly impacted by the number of children under 18 living at home, found The Diffusion Group. While 4% of households without kids upgraded their internet service, 9.7% of single-child households upgraded; the rate for two-child households rose 13.7%; and the rate for households with three or more children hit 20.9%. Asked if the importance of a home broadband service had changed since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, 56% of households without children under 18 at home said that having a broadband connection had become more important during the pandemic, while the number was 69% for single-child households and 72% for households with multiple children.

Three out of four Publicis Groupe employees want to work differently after the COVID-19 lockdown is over, according to a company survey; 89% of those said they’d like to work from home more often. Effective collaboration hasn’t been hindered by physical distance, said 71% of respondents, but 42% said they miss the spontaneity of their agency offices.

US TV advertising will drop almost 12% in 2020, from $76.2 billion in 2019 to $67.3 billion this year, according to MoffettNathanson Research. National cable nets will take the biggest hit, down 16% to $25.8 billion, and broadcast networks are expected to drop 14%, to $13.0 billion. US TV stations will dip 5.3%, to $20.1 billion, while local cable will slip 4.8%, to $4.6 billion. An earlier estimate had projected a 3.9% lift for US TV advertising this year.

BBC America announced the launch of virtual travel and culture hub Travel Vilain, inspired by Killing Eve. Travel Vilain takes users into the world of character-driven content and immersive articles from Cutlure Trip, spotlighting series locations Paris, London, Rome, and Moscow, with more cities joining the site down the line.

Twitter has been asked to delete the tweets of President Trump that allude to “the repeatedly debunked falsehood” that Lori Klausutis’ death in 2001 was somehow linked to her boss, then-congressman Joe Scarborough, now host of MSNBC’s Morning Show. Klausutis’ husband, Timothy Klasutis, wrote a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey calling the tweets a “vicious lie” and said, “The President of the United States has taken something that does not belong him – the memory of my dead wife – and perverted it for perceived political gain.” Responded Twitter in a statement, “We are deeply sorry about the pain these statements, and the attention they are drawing, are causing the family. We’ve been working to expand existing product features and policies so we can more effectively address things like this going forward, and we hope to have those changes in place shortly.”

Disney, Disney Studios, CBS Studios and four executive producers are facing a discrimination suit by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing over allegations of long-running sexual harassment by cinematographer Greg St. Johns at CBS procedural Criminal Minds (2005-2020). “Defendants’ executive team not only had actual and constructive knowledge of St. Johns’ abusive conduct, they condoned it,” the lawsuit states. “No necessary steps to prevent sex-based harassment and discrimination were taken over the years, nor were appropriate corrective actions. Instead, the executives fired anyone who resisted or who tacitly evaded St. Johns’ advances or abuse.” An investigation of accusations was launched in March 2019.

Altice USA and Optimum launched a campaign called #HeyNeighbor, which showcases exemplary local businesses and individuals in the New York tri-state area. “As a company deeply rooted in the communities we serve, we’re proud to play a part during this pandemic in keeping our local customers connected through our broadband services, and while doing so we have been incredibly inspired by the acts of strength, resilience, and kindness we’ve witnessed in our neighborhoods,” said Hakim Boubazine, Altice USA President of Telecommunications and COO.

ViacomCBS Consumer Products has entered into agreements with multiple licensees to create face masks featuring characters from Nickelodeon properties including SpongeBob SquarePants, PAW Patrol, Blue’s Clues & You! and JoJo Siwa, available through retail outlets later in the summer. All proceeds will be donated to Save the Children and its COVID-19 Global Response.

Josh and Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems) and their Elara Pictures inked a two-year, first-look deal with HBO. A24 will executive produce all HBO projects with Elara.

Showtime Documentary Films today announced a new feature documentary about Timothy Leary, from director Errol Morris (Wormwood, The Fog of War) that will premiere on Showtime later this year. A Film by Errol Morris (wt) explores why Leary, the High Priest of LSD, became a narc in 1974 and seemingly abandoned the millions he urged to turn on, tune in and drop out.

STREAMING SCOOP

Welcome to the world, HBO Max. AT&T’s new streaming service, launched today, offers all the shows and movies on HBO, as well as exclusive content from WarnerMedia and DC Comics. Price tat: $14.99/month. At launch the app is available on iOS, Android, web browsers, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Samsung smart TVs.

How do viewing experiences compare on AVOD services? CordCutting.com report “What Is Your Time Worth? A Breakdown of Ad-Supported Streaming Options” found that assuming 20 hours of streaming per month, Hulu’s ad-supported product saves subscribers $6 in exchange for 31 minutes of ads, or $11.53 per hour. CBS All-Access saves $4 in exchange for 107 minutes of ads, or $2.23 per hour. Other findings included Hulu’s cheaper version ($5.99 per month) had the fewest ads, or about 90 seconds of ads per hour watched, and that many new original shows ran without ads or with brief ads at the beginning of shows, even on ad-supported accounts.

AVOD news service Haystack TV launched interactive news ticker Newsline on Roku. The feature allows Haystack TV app users a custom selection of breaking and relevant news coverage from its 300+ local broadcasters and national and international news providers. The company expects to bring Newsline to its other supported smart TV and streaming platforms in the near future.

The Film Detective is now available for download across all Android devices along with the web, iOS, Roku, AppleTV and Amazon Fire TV. The TFD app on Android features classic films and TV programs as well as cult classics and B-movies.

With most live sports still on hold, the owner of UK OTT sports platform DAZN is exploring options for injecting new funds into the business, reports the Financial Times. Len Blavatnik is seeking investments as rights holders have been notified they will not be paid for content that has not been delivered during the hiatus in sports.

The Paley Center for Media today added new selections to its Paley Front Row series, including Apple’s Central Park: A Conversation with the Stars and Creative Team, MSNBC’s Know Your Value: On-Air & At Home – A Conversation About Reporting the Story While Living Through It, and ABC’s Summer Fun & Game Show Hosts @ Home. The programs will be available for view on the Paley Center’s YouTube channel.

Sinclair, Nexstar Media and E.W. Scripps’ NEXTGEN TV stations are live in Las Vegas. The announcement “is the realization of two decades of work, and we are proud to share this moment with Nexstar and Scripps as we usher in a new era of television with NEXTGEN TV,” said Chris Ripley, president and CEO at Sinclair. “With Las Vegas leading the way, select audiences will soon enjoy a more personalized and immersive experience, with better access to news and media than ever before. Looking ahead, we are eager for continued collaboration within our industry to fully realize the promise of NEXTGEN TV.” The standards support 4K video and immersive audio, and will allow for service on mobile.

NEW & RETURNING SHOWS

A virtual viewing party of WE tv’s Untold Stories of Hip Hop ‘In Quarantine’, hosted by hip hop radio host Angie Martinez, airs Thursday, May 28 on WE tv. In the extension of Untold Stories of Hip Hop, Martinez and her guests look back at their original interviews, catch up on what’s happened since, and share new untold stories. Each week, Martinez will invite friends to a virtual viewing party, with series guests returning via Zoom.

THEMA América announced the launch of “Hot Summer,” a selection of premieres of the Turkish series for Hispanic audiences in the US. Kanal D Drama is the product of a strategic alliance between THEMA and Kanal D International, exporter of Turkish productions globally.

Season three of Netflix’s Dark drops Saturday, June 27. “The end is the beginning, and the beginning is the end,” teases the trailer for the time-bending German drama.

COMING UP

My Cat From Hell’s cat behavior expert Jackson Galaxy returns to Animal Planet during the COVID-19 pandemic to help deal with stressed-out cats suddenly spending every a lot more time with their guardians. In the special episode on Saturday, July 11 at 10p, Jackson faces quarantine behaviors unlike he’s ever seen.

Dave Matthews will return to Pay It Forward Live, Verizon’s entertainment series in support of small businesses affected by COVID-19, for a second live performance on Thursday, May 28 at 8p. Matthews kicked off the series on March 26 from his home in Seattle, where he will perform again for the final installment of the series.

ABC News and National Geographic are teaming for a two-hour live streaming and TV event to cover NASA and SpaceX’s mission to the International Space Station starting today, May 27 at 3p on ABC News Live and Nat Geo. Live coverage continues on Thursday, May 28, when the spacecraft is expected to dock with the ISS.

Fox News Channel will also have live coverage surrounding the NASA launch. FNC’s Managing Editor of Business News Neil Cavuto will anchor a special edition of Your World featuring interviews with experts to discuss the historic mission, including Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt and Tracy Cernan, daughter of late-astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man on the moon.

Insight TV is premiering its first documentary film shot entirely in 8K UHD HDR. Sandboarding on Dragon Hill premieres Sunday, June 7 as part of the net’s week-long “Board!, Not Bored” programming event.

Peloton and ESPN are teaming for Pelaton All-Stars Ride on Saturday, May 30 at 12p. ESPN will broadcast two live Peloton rides for the one-hour special, featuring professional athletes from various sports as the class participants.

GOING GLOBAL

India and Singapore-based animation studio Cosmos-Maya has signed a deal with Arbaaz Khan Productions to adapt its Bollywood Dabangg franchise into an animated series. Cosmos-Maya is producing two seasons of 52 half hours.

Distribution and media agency Quintus Studios announced factual acquisitions from France and the UK, among them one-hour documentary Dinosaurs: On The Trail Of Prehistory, travel and discovery series Deadliest Journeys – Dicing with Death and two episodes of the engineering series Extreme Constructions.

Armoza Formats announced the international launch of dance makeover format The Moves, a shiny floor studio entertainment show that puts everyday people at the forefront as they learn some new “moves”. The format was first teased at ITV’s Formats Festival in February.

Dynamic Television announced global sales for season one of Scandinavian crime series The Sommerdahl Murders. The drama was acquired by Mediawan (France), NPO (Netherlands), OTE (Greece), and Acorn TV (US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America).

NENT Studios UK announced The Dead Lands as its first drama acquisition since the recent incorporation and rebranding of DRG. The eight-hour fantasy-action-adventure series was produced by New Zealand’s GFC Films for TVNZ and AMC’s Shudder SVOD.

Global online content marketplace Vuulr announced an agreement with distributor Dori Media that sees more than 2,400 hours of premium drama and feature film content added to the platform. A total of 53 titles are included in the catalogue agreement.

Cineflix Rights has sold the CBC original drama series Coroner to Channel 4, where Seasons 1 and 2 will be available to UK viewers on the More 4 channel. The deal comes as CBC announces the greenlight of Season 3 of the drama, and follows soon after The CW’s acquisition of the series for the US market.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which procedural focused on partners in a detective agency, one of whom was a retired bunco cop who had years earlier arrested the other? Switch (1975-78). Kudos to: John Ferlazzo/London, Charles Lore/NYC, Andrew Goldman-Fathom Events/NYC, Toni Perling-FemmeCritic.com/Atlanta, Adam Sumrall-FETV/South Bend, IN, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA, Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/Burbank, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union, Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
Which sitcom character worked at one point for radio station WZUP? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four responses per time zone.)