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Today’s Premieres
A&E: “Court Cam Presents Under Oath” at 10p
Bravo: “Family Karma” at 9p
Discovery: “Hunting Atlantis” at 9p
discovery+: “Too Large,” “Too Large: Where Are They Now?”
Fox: “MasterChef” at 8p
Lifetime: “Married at First Sight: Couples Cam” at 8p
Netflix: “Kim’s Convenience”

Today’s Finales
CW: “Nancy Drew” at 9p
PBS: “Life at the Water Hole” at 8p, “Human: The World Within” at 10p

IN THE NEWS

Discovery Inc. unveiled the name for the company that will emerge from the combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery: Warner Bros. Discovery. David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery and the future CEO of the proposed combined company, shared the new name with WarnerMedia employees from the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank. “It represents the combination of Warner Bros.’ fabled hundred year legacy of creative, authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring the most amazing stories to life, with Discovery’s global brand that has always stood brightly for integrity, innovation and inspiration,” said Zaslav. The tagline for the company would be a line from Warner Bros. classic “The Maltese Falcon”: “The stuff that dreams are made of.” AT&T announced plans last month to spin off WarnerMedia and combine its assets with Discovery’s businesses to create a single company.

The proposed Discovery/WarnerMedia merger demonstrates that direct-to-consumer is “a content arms race, and scale is most necessary,” wrote Wells Fargo analyst Steve Cahall in a report on Tuesday, adding that he projects the combined company will hit 178 million subscribers by 2024. “More content leads to stronger engagement, which reduces churn, creates pricing power and drives margins,” said Cahall. “Netflix and Disney are putting this playbook to work, others hope to follow.”

ABC Owned Television Stations has transitioned to selling TV advertising based on impressions rather than traditional ratings. “Marketers with local strategies want to build multiplatform campaigns and need a common currency to do so effectively,” said Debra O’Connell, President, Networks at Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. “Using an impressions-based currency to evaluate, sell and buy local broadcast video enables us to offer our advertisers full visibility into local audiences and extends the overall reach of their messaging across platforms.”

Tokyo Olympics viewers may run to a bar or a friend’s house to watch the Games, but they can’t hide from NBCUniversal. NBCU has teamed with Tunity for OOH viewership figures for all linear networks presenting the Tokyo Olympics in primetime, which will be incorporated into NBCUniversal’s holistic measurement of the event. “We’ve known for decades that people gather together both in and out of their homes to watch the world’s athletes come together and compete at the Olympics,” said Jorge De La Rosa, SVP, Research, NBC Sports Group. “For the first time, Tunity will enable us to measure those Out-of-Home viewers and accurately add them to the massive and unmatched viewership that only the Olympic Games provide.”

ViacomCBS begged to differ with a study published Tuesday that claimed since 2002, the company (and its predecessors) have dodged paying $3.96 billion in corporate income tax, through a system involving subsidiaries outside the country. While the strategy noted by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations is common practice, ViacomCBS said in a statement that the study “is filled with mis-characterizations, material omissions, and numerous false claims. ViacomCBS fulfills its tax obligations in all 180+ countries and the territories we operate, and all of our revenues — including those identified in this report — are fully taxed in relevant jurisdictions around the world, including the United States, as required by applicable law.”

The Walt Disney Company was hit with a discrimination lawsuit on Tuesday. Joel Hopkins, who joined the company in 1994 (and is currently VP Production Finance), claims failures to promote him and compensate him at the same level as other department heads was due to his sexual orientation. Defendants are Walt Disney Company, ABC Signature Studios, Inc., and Riverside Television Services LLC.

Viewers of “America’s Got Talent” will see a lot of SONIC this season, which launched last night. NBC and Fremantle announced SONIC Drive-In as a premier sponsor for “America’s Got Talent” season 16, in a collaboration that will feature extensive on-air, digital and social integrations. “For a show like ‘America’s Got Talent,’ which brings together multiple generations of families and friends, it was crucial for us to collaborate with a brand that believes in the power of family as much as we do,” said Mark Marshall, President, Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal. “We are thrilled to be partnering with SONIC Drive-In to transform the iconic ‘AGT’ stage and elevate authentic moments throughout the season for fans across the country.”

Law&Crime is launching on Flow as part of Cable & Wireless Communications. The carriage agreement expands Law&Crime’s availability to an additional 500,000 households in 16 countries across the Caribbean and Latin America.

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

TBS is ramping up for its its new scripted romantic-comedy pilot, “Space.” Joining the cast are Jake Lacy (“Being The Ricardos”), Krysta Rodriguez (“Halston”), Ally Maki (“Wrecked”), Caleb Hearon (“Fargo”) and Rachel Pegram (“Love Life”). Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul (“Miracle Workers: Dark Ages”) have been tapped to direct and executive produce. Written and executive produced by Hilary Winston (“Happy Endings”) and executive produced by Nick Stoller of Stoller Global Solutions, the project begins shooting in Portland in June.

“Leftover Daughters,” focused on a Chinese-American woman and her circle of friends, is in development at NBC. The comedy comes from Jude Weng (“Finding Ohana”), Paul Feig and Geigco Entertainment, Janet Yang (“The Joy Luck Club”) and Lionsgate Television.

Fred Rogers Productions has secured $1 million in grant funding from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations to support the production of “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” as well as the launch of two new PBS KIDS series, “Donkey Hodie,” which premiered May 3, and “Alma’s Way,” debuting this fall.

CAA is selling its majority stake in Wiip (“Mare of Easttown”) to South Korea’s JTBC Studios, as part of its agreement with the WGA to limit its ownership of affiliate production studios. “The marketplace has embraced wiip’s unique position as an independent entertainment company that gives artists more control and ownership of their content, and a quicker path to production and distribution,” said CAA President Jim Burtson.

Casting notes: Sophie Turner (“Game of Thrones”) is onboard HBO Max’s “The Staircase,” based on an infamous murder case…Melissa Barrera (“In the Heights”) landed the lead In Netflix drama “Breathe.”…Sam Keeley (“’68 Whiskey”) has joined the cast of Peacock’s “Joe Exotic” (wt), based on the Wondery podcast, as John Finlay.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

One Animation is launching a new iteration of animated serie “Oddbods.” “Oddbods: Busy Bodies,” aimed at helping kids relieve stress, move their bodies, and engage in imaginative play, debuts on Kidoodle.TV this week, for an exclusive first window.

Season two of “The L Word: Generation Q” launches Friday, August 6, available on streaming and on-demand for Showtime subscribers, before making its on-air debut on Sunday, August 8 at 10p. The first five episodes will air Sunday nights, with the final five episodes of the season airing Monday nights at 9p until the series’ October 11 season finale.

Netflix dramedy “Atypical” will be back for its fourth and final season on Friday, July 9. The show follows a teenager on the autism spectrum and his family.

Docu-seres “This Is Pop” features interviews with artists, producers and songwriters including Shania Twain, Boyz II Men, ABBA’s Benny Andersson, T-Pain, Brandi Carlile, Public Enemy’s Chuck D and others. The eight-parter from Banger Films will be available on Netflix Tuesday, June 22.

Season six of LATV’s “The Q Agenda” debuts Thursday, June 3, with Enrique Sapene, trans activist Juliana Joel, comedian Lianna Carrera, and celebrity makeup artist and entrepreneur Victor Ramos discussing the Latino LGBTQ+ community.

DISTRIBUTION

Gusto TV is now available on streaming service Struum. An early preview of Struum is currently available via the iOS App store, web, and Chromecast with a full rollout coming this summer across more platforms including AppleTV, Android TV, Android, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku.

XUMO TV has launched on Apple TV, and released a series of AVOD exclusive movie titles from Magnolia including thrillers “In the Fade” (streaming through July 10) and “Tomato Red” (available through June 10), as well as dramedy” Please Stand By” (streaming through July 31).

COMING UP

Spectrum is celebrating Pride Month by providing TV customers with an On Demand collection of movies highlighting LGBTQ stories, including Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Nicole Kidman in “Boy Erased,” and Julianne Moore and Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right.” Movies will be available in the Spectrum On Demand portal under the category “Pride Month.”

Also taking Pride to a new level in June is Rotten Tomatoes, celebrating LGBTQ+ creatives and representation in films and television shows throughout the month. A dedicated Pride Hub will feature editorial, best reviewed lists and recommended at-home viewing options.

Haystack News is launching several dedicated news streaming channels for the month of June including Tulsa Race Massacre 100-Year Anniversary (through June 4), Pride Month (June 7-30), Juneteenth (June 5-21) and Derek Chauvin Sentencing (June 23-26).

Bounce and its streaming service Brown Sugar will join forces for a Black Music Month tribute this June. Among the hightlights: Every Friday night, double-feature BMM Movie Nights will be hosted by J.D. Williams (“Saints & Sinners”).

AXS TV is honoring African-American Music Appreciation Month with of “Docs That Rock,” airing Wednesdays at 8p, kicking off tonight with “Jimi Hendrix: Trapped In Amber.”

STREAMING

Music video network Vevo has added Afro Pulse, consisting of curated music videos by Black artists, to its suite. Instead of only targeting household artist names or a specific genre, brands can advertise within music video programming that features Black artists of various musical styles and levels of popularity. “Brands and agencies are actively looking to bolster diverse voices and content today more than ever, evident in the most recent pledges by Dentsu, IPG and GroupM, among others. They hear the demands by Black Americans for more culturally relevant programming that features Black leads and reflects their own lives and experiences,” said Jesse Judelman, SVP of Sales, Americas, Vevo. “Given the importance of supporting Black culture, coupled with Vevo’s own rapidly expanding distribution network, we felt now was the perfect time to launch Afro Pulse.”

Reaching the growing Spanish-language audience means much more than telenovelas these days. Luis Silberwasser, President of Univision Television Networks Group, shares his insights on creating and curating content that has impact, in Cynsiders.

TECH TALK

Verizon Media announced the launch of new ad formats available through their DSP. One of the formats identifies images on Verizon Media’s properties and automatically surfaces a similar image within an ad. Another format helps optimize the text in an ad, providing advertisers with the predicted performance of the copy in their ad as it’s created. “Without relying on IDs, our industry-first Text Strength Indicator feature applies AI-driven text analysis across the billions of ads we’ve run on the Verizon Media DSP to optimize copy for performance,” said the company in a blog post. “It provides advertisers with real-time feedback on the predicted performance of the copy in their ad as it’s being created, while also making recommendations for winning ad copy.”

GOING GLOBAL

Italy’s latest season of its “The X Factor” adaptation has eliminated gender and age categories. “By removing the historical division by categories, ‘X Factor’ welcomes change and wants to become a torchbearer and, in a world that no longer needs to make distinctions of gender or age, talent is for us a neutral noun,” said Antonella d’Errico, EVP of Programming at Sky Italia. “We will ask all the contestants of this year’s edition to bring the only thing they really need: their personal, unique X Factor.”

Content distributor GoQuest Media has acquired spy thriller “Traitor” and dramedy series “Divorce in Peace” from Estonian pubcaster ERR. Both are produced by Estonian production company Kassikuld OÜ.

Armoza Formats reality show “Connected” has been commissioned for a sixth season in Finland. Season five was the best non-scripted launch for discovery+ in Finland to date.

Quintus Studios has acquired factual titles from European distributors. Among them, through a volume deal with All3Media International, are titles such as “Secrets of the Royal Babies” and “Rome: Empire Without Limit with Mary Beard” and “Engineering Giants.”

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RATINGS

The first season of HGTV’s “No Demo Reno” delivered a 0.60 Live+3 rating among P25-54 on Thursday nights, a year-over-year increase of 36 percent in the 8p timeslot. Among W25-54, the show garnered a 0.81 Live+3 rating, up 38 percent over year-ago levels.

Crackle’s “Going From Broke” has driven over 1 million total views since the May 20 launch of episode 1 of season 2. Despite the fact that, unlike last season, episodes are being released one episode at a time, views are up over 32% over last season’s first 10 days.

Shareablee Top 10 TV Shows for the week of May 24
Program, Network, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), 4M, 58, 69,526, 36.5M
Hannity (Fox News), 3.5M, 293, 11,986, 10.9M
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS), 3M, 152, 19,542, 4.8M
Entertainment Tonight (CBSMV/syndicated), 2.8M, 633, 4,440, 9.3M
Good Morning America (ABC), 2.8M, 807, 3,419, 14.4M
Ellen DeGeneres (WB/Syndicated), 2M, 53, 38,190, 210M
Today Show (NBC), 1.3M, 897, 1,429, 13.8M
This is Us (NBC), 1M, 73, 13,040, 6.1M
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC), 807K, 141, 5,726, 26.3M
The Voice (NBC), 801, 186, 4,309, 24.4M

Shareablee Top 10 Streaming Shows for the week of May 24
Program, Platform, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
Friends: The Reunion (HBO Max), 6.9M, 40, 172,260, 32M
Lucifer (Netflix), 1.4M, 12, 119,730, 7.4M
Cobra Kai (Netflix), 1.3M, 16, 83,335, 3.1M
Shadow and Bone (Netflix), 845K, 26, 32,499, 644K
Nanatsu No Taizai (Netflix), 229K, 21, 9,658, 1.2M
Julie and the Phantoms (Netflix), 392K, 2, 195,987, 1M
The Grand Tour (Amazon Prime), 360K, 8, 45,041, 5.8M
Get Organized with the Home Edit (Netflix), 359K, 33, 10,878, 5.7M
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu), 330K, 20, 16,481, 2.2M
Gossip Girl (HBO Max), 268K, 13, 20,608, 16.1M

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Friday, May 28
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: NBA Countdown 1.19 (0.3), NBA Basketball 2.30 (0.6)
CBS: The Dick Van Dyke Show – In Living Color! 2.93 (0.2), Magnum P.I. 2.83 (0.2), Blue Bloods 3.22 (0.2)
CW: Charmed 0.31 (0.0), Dynasty 0.18 (0.0)
FOX: WWE Friday Night Smackdown 1.76 (0.4)
ION: Hawaii Five-0 1.26 (0.2), Hawaii Five-0 1.14 (0.2), Hawaii Five-0 0.97 (0.2)
NBC: The Blacklist 3.19 (0.3), Dateline NBC 3.26 (0.4)
Telemundo: “Exatlon Estados Unidos” 0.99 (0.3), “La Suerte de Loli”0.86 (0.3), “Café con Aroma de Mujer” 0.71 (0.2)
Univision: “Disenando Tu Amor” 1.27 (0.4), “La Hija Del Embajador” 1.55 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

WWE named Jamie Horowitz as EVP, Development & Digital, Samira Shah as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, and Matt Drew as SVP, International. Previously, Horowitz served as EVP, Global Content at DAZN, Shah was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Moda Operandi, and Drew was EVP, Rights Acquisition at DAZN.

FETV has appointed Jaclyn Rann Cohen as EVP of Content Acquisitions and Strategy. Cohen most recently served as EVP Content Strategy & Acquisitions at TV Land.

Jonathan Gabay has been promoted to EVP Television at Berlanti Productions. Gabay was previously SVP Development.

IN MEMORIAM

Actress Arlene Golanka died May 31. She was 85. Golanka made numerous guest appearances on television, but was best known for her role as waitress Millie on “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Mayberry R.F.D.”

This Day in History
2002 – HBO’s “The Wire” debuted.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who was the narrator during the final season of “Scrubs” (2001-2010)? Kerry Bishe (Lucy). Kudos to: Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA; Charles Lore/NYC; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank; Louis Lewow-FITE/Atlanta; Sam Pittman-Juniper & Berkeley/Raleigh, NC; Ken DuBow-Access Entertainment/LA; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC

Today’s Trivia Question
Which 2012 series was canceled due to concerns over animal safety? 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