Wednesday June 9, 2021

Today’s Finales
ABC: “A Million Little Things” at 9p
HGTV: “Bargain Block” at 9p
USA: “Queen of the South” at 10p

IN THE NEWS

Chris Harrison has exited “The Bachelor” franchise for good. The long-time host stepped aside earlier this year, after his defense of a contestant’s attendance at an antebellum-themed college party in 2018 drew outrage. Harrison apologized and announced he would leave Bachelor Nation for an indeterminate period. According to Deadline, tense negotiations led to a “mid-range eight-figure payoff” and agreement not to talk about his departure. Harrison’s exit statement betrayed no hard feelings: “I’ve had a truly incredible run as host of The Bachelor franchise and now I’m excited to start a new chapter,” he said. “I’m so grateful to Bachelor Nation for all of the memories we’ve made together.”

HBO Max renewed “Hacks.” The streamer said the series, starring Jean Smart as a Las Vegas comedian, has been a “top performer,” and is “consistently ranking on the top ten most viewed titles.”

Jack Black will be final guest on TBS late-nighter “Conan,” ending its run Thursday, June 24 with an hour-long finale episode at 10p. The last two weeks of the show will air in front of a (fully vaccinated) live studio audience.

The MTV Video Music Awards will air live and in person from NYC’s Barclays Center on September 12. The week leading up to the show, the network is collaborating with 9/11 Day for service-oriented activities honoring the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

If you had trouble accessing Amazon Tuesday morning, you weren’t alone. A massive outage at CDN provider Fastly took down numerous sites, including the New York Times, Reddit, Twitch, PayPal, Pinterest and many more, for about an hour. “We identified a service configuration that triggered disruptions across our POPs globally and have disabled that configuration,” said a company spokesperson in a not-very-specific statement.

Sheryl Underwood will host the 48th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. It’s her fifth time hosting, but this time she’ll be doing it without her “The Talk” co-hosts. The pre-taped show, which will have some presenters and honorees appearing from their show’s studios or their homes, airs Friday, June 25 on CBS and Paramount+.

“Our upfront is going to be off the hook,” predicted Bob Bakish, President/CEO of ViacomCBS, at an Evercore ISI event this week. A year after the pandemic disrupted upfront negotiations and production, “We are seeing the benefit of truly going to market as a combined company,” said Bakish. “And that creates real advantage for us, because we have scale and reach both in high-quality, brand safe, digital environments and in the linear side.” As for scatter pricing? “There is nosebleed pricing out there,” said Bakish.

An inaugural group of 20 GroupM clients has pledged to spend at least 2% of their total media budgets in Black-owned media companies, among them L’Oreal USA, adidas, Mars, General Mills and Target. “Today’s bold commitment by our GroupM clients is essential to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion across the media landscape,” said Gonzalo del Fa, President, GroupM Multicultural. “Investing in the Black-owned media companies of today and the future, is at the core of the Media Inclusion Initiative. We plan to continue to work with all our clients to identify further ways to do just that.”

Are you at the forefront of the industry? Have you implemented branded content, technology, and campaigns that have elevated your online video and advertising strategies? Cynopsis Model D & It List Awards are seeking innovators, inspirers and creators of all kinds. Win the spotlight, win the industry. Enter now.

A Kaleidoscope for Cross-Platform Measurement
While measurement is becoming siloed with the loss of cookies & mobile IDs, consumers are enjoying content across platforms more than ever. New foundations for ad measurement are required to keep pace with these changes.
On June 16 at 3pm, DISQO will present the latest data on cross-platform usage, how well existing technologies are measuring ad effectiveness, and the mutant research that results from not having a cross-platform view of ad exposure.

JOIN US

Tyler Perry is bringing back Madea for Netflix. “A Madea Homecoming” will be the 12th installment of the franchise, which Perry had planned to retire with “A Madea Family Funeral” in 2019. Perry will write and direct; Tyler Perry Studios President of Production and Development Michelle Sneed will executive produce the film along with Perry.

9 Story Media Group inked a development deal with the National Basketball Players Association’s THINK450. First up are two basketball-themed series for children, “King of the Court” and “Streetball.”

CASTING

Taraji P. Henson (“Empire”) will star in NBC’s “Annie Live!” as child-hater Miss Hannigan. “When we decided to bring back NBC’s holiday musical tradition, we were looking for something that was critically acclaimed and universally beloved – and while that’s definitely the case with ‘Annie,’ it absolutely applies to Taraji as well,” Susan Rovner, chairman, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said in a statement.

Mike Myers’ Netflix comedy has a title – “The Pentaverate” – and six new cast members. Hopping aboard the six-episode series are Ken Jeong (“Community”), Keegan-Michael Key (“Schmigadoon”) , Debi Mazar “Younger”), Richard McCabe (“The Audience”), Jennifer Saunders (“Absolutely Fabulous”) and Lydia West (“It’s a Sin”). Myers will play seven characters.

Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”) will play the title character’s long-lost aunt in Disney+ musical comedy “Better Nate Than Never,” about a boy who sneaks off to New York City for a musical audition after he isn’t cast in the school play.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Home renovation experts Bryan and Sarah Baeumler are returning for a second season of HGTV’s “Renovation Island,” launching Sunday, June 20 at 8p. The show attracted more than 22 million viewers its freshman run.

Another HGTV series ready for another round is “Good Bones,” returning Tuesday, June 29 at 9p. The first project is turning an old, insect-infested house into a chic oasis – but with original Victorian details.

NBC streaming channel Today All Day is adding new content, including food shows
“#Cooking” and “Saucy,” and later this summer, “Cooking with Cal” and a food show hosted by Al Roker. Daily “Today Talks” will be hosted by Jenna Bush Hager.

Summer series “CMT Campfire Sessions” premieres Thursday, June 10 at 9p. Inspired by the CMT Digital series of the same name, the show brings together stars to strip down their biggest hits, share new music and swap stories with friends fireside.

“The Snoopy Show” returns to Apple TV+ with new episodes on Friday, July 9. The show will stream alongside Apple Originals hailing from Peanuts and WildBrain including “Peanuts in Space: Secrets of Apollo 10,” and “Snoopy in Space.”

Season two of Netflix’s “Locke & Key” will debut in October, announced the streamer during its “Geeked Week” presentation on Tuesday.

Food Network star Robert Irvine moves to Food’s streaming sib discovery+ for five-episode culinary competition “The Globe.” Four chefs compete across three rounds of culinary gameplay as they are transported to the greatest food destinations around the world via immersive LED screen backdrops, beginning Saturday, July 17.

DISTRIBUTION

RMVISTAR picked up rights for all platforms for dramedy “Finding Grace” and “Vampyra,” about a reluctant vampire’s life on the dark side. The formats come from writer Barney Cohen (“Forever Knight”).

COMING UP

Country music pioneer Linda Martell will receive the CMT Equal Play Award at the “CMT Music Awards,” airing tonight, June 9 at 8p on CMT, MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT Australia. “Linda Martell is a living legend who has influenced so many artists of color, giving them the courage and hope to pursue their dreams and a future reality of Equal Play in country music,” said Leslie Fram, SVP, Music & Talent, CMT.

Antenna TV will mark Father’s Day with a marathon of episodes of “Bewitched” featuring Darrin, played by Dick York (1964-1969) and Dick Sargent (1969-1972). The double dose of Darrins kicks off at 5a on Sunday, June 20.

Ovation TV starts Saturday, Juneteenth at 6a with a programming block highlighting the careers of Beyoncé, Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Pryor, Spike Lee, and more, celebrating the significant contributions of Black artists.

ShortsTV is teaming with SeriesFest to bring content from past festivals to the ShortsTV network with the “Best of SeriesFest.” The curation of five award-winning pilots will air June 24-July 11 on the ShortsTV global networks.

Cinelatino will pay tribute to the Puerto Rican community with its BORICUATÓN de Cinelatino marathon of popular Puerto Rican films. Films produced on the island and directed by Puerto Rican filmmakers air Sunday, June 13, beginning at 7a.

Fantasy thriller “Moloch” explores unexplained occurrences of people spontaneously combusting for no reason, while questioning the excesses of society and the birth of violence, in a six-episode binge dropping Thursday, June 10 on Sundance Now and the AMC+ streaming bundle.

Enter by 7/15 and Save $150

Allen Media Group announced the expansion of its free streaming platform Local Now through a new deal with OTTera, Inc., giving viewers access to 12 additional free streaming channels. New channels include Canela TV, Motorvision TV, POD TV, Space Channel, Party Tyme Karaoke, DrinkTV, The Love Destination, Cooking Panda, Channel Fight, Treehouse Gaming Network and Novocomedy.

TECH TALK

Okaymedia and its news and culture site, Okayplayer, announced the launch of a new pilot program called “The Byline Project,” in collaboration with Google and the Google News Initiative. Designed to empower local journalists, investigative journalism, and underserved communities, The Byline Project allows individual journalists and under-resourced newsrooms to manage and collaborate with freelance contributors. Developed as open-sourced technology by Okayplayer, the software also includes an accessible way for readers to directly support local journalists and newsrooms through a digital / crypto “tipping” functionality.

The Global Vide Measurement released a report on the challenges facing media owners and advertisers during the 2021 upfronts season. “Discovering Audiences On Social Video” offers reasons why social video can be used to the advantage of advertisers, including:
* Changes and challenges in the pay TV market: The decline in linear TV viewing across all demographics except adults 65 and older has been dramatic, especially for teens and adults 18-34, who are watching less than half the linear TV than they were in 2010.
* Complementary audiences for social video and linear TV: Traditional linear TV companies have made national scale a major part of what’s offered to advertisers. For these companies, across all owned properties, social video offers 75% of the reach that linear provides, and for Disney, nearly the same reach.

Lotame announced that PubMatic and MediaMath will support its Lotame Panorama ID, the people-based, privacy-compliant and interoperable identity solution for the cookieless open web. “We recently ran a survey of marketers and publishers that found 60% of marketers believe the future relies on multiple interoperable ID solutions,” said Andy Monfried, CEO at Lotame. “As Panorama ID continues to gain momentum in the industry, it will reinforce that a connected future for advertising — the future of the open web — will rely on the collaboration of the entire ecosystem to create growth and value for all.”

Theorem is evolving its business and delivery model, consolidating its strategic talent into one consultancy team, and expanding its six global operations teams to focus more on client servicing and delivery. “We understand that, in the current climate, today’s brands are fed up with relying on agencies and consulting firms that feel disconnected to the overall business strategy,” said Jay Kulkarni, Founder and CEO, Theorem. “The majority of brands are clear on their strategy; what they want and appreciate is flexible expertise that is as deep as it is effective.”

GOING GLOBAL

Finnish animation, publishing, and licensing studio Ferly announced it has signed a co-production deal with global animation studio Toonz Media Group for its new animation series, “Kingdom of None,” encouraging kids to find joy in using their imagination.

“Canada’s Got Talent” will return to Citytv, where it aired for one season in 2012. Fremantle, Syco Entertainment and McGilliveray Entertainment Media are producing.

STUDIOCANAL is set to make espionage thriller “Europa,” based on the best-selling Fractured Europe Sequence series of novels by author Dave Hutchinson. “Europa” reunites STUDIOCANAL with writer Peter Straughan, director Tomas Alfredson, and producer Slovo (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”).

What are the latest tactics brands can leverage to harness the power of music videos? On June 16, Cynopsis’ Lynn Leahey and Vevo’s Adam Butler (Director, Brand Insights & Measurement) will explore how measurement can better inform media buyers in their CTV planning.

REGISTER NOW

Fox News Channel’s new weekend program, “Unfiltered with Dan Bongino” (Saturday at 10p), was the number one cable news show over the weekend in total viewers (1.8 million) and the 25-54 demo (307,000). Fellow newcomer “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy” drew an audience of 1.3 million viewers and 156,000 in the 25-54 demographic.

Shows on the Rise for the week of May 31
Sweet Tooth (Netflix) – 100.00%
Summertime (Netflix) – 97.80%
Feel Good (Channel 4) – 96.80%
The Family Man (Amazon Prime Video) – 96.60%
Marvel Studios: Legends (Disney+) – 94.40%
Why Women Kill (CBS All Access) – 80.80%
StartUp (Sony Crackle) – 68.10%
Panic (Amazon Prime Video) – 60.10%
Mare of Easttown (HB) – 40.80%
The Kominsky Method (Netflix) – 35.20%
Every week, millions of viewers around the world use TV Time to track their favorite series. “Shows on the Rise” is calculated by determining the week-over-week growth in episodes watched for a given program.

Binge Report for the week of May 31
Lucifer (Netflix) – 7.07%
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC US) – 1.99%
One Piece (Fuji TV) – 1.80%
Modern Family (ABC US) – 1.76%
Friends (NBC) – 1.49%
Ragnarok (Netflix) – 1.32%
Who Killed Sara? (Netflix) – 1.32%
Summertime (Netflix) – 1.23%
The Office (US) (NBC) – 1.08%
Love, Death & Robots (Netflix) – 0.96%
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 Monday, June 7
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: The Bachelorette 3.59 (0.9), The Good Doctor 3.92 (0.6)
CBS: The Neighborhood, 3.51 (0.4), Bob Hearts Abishola, 3.21 (0.3), NCIS: New Orleans 2.92 (0.3), Bull 2.55 (0.2)
CW: All American 0.33 (0.1), Penn & Teller: Fool Us 0.35 (0.0)
FOX: Hell’s Kitchen 2.42 (0.6), Housebroken, 0.98 (0.3), Duncanville 0.71 (0.2)
ION: NCIS: Los Angeles 10.4 (0.2), NCIS: Los Angeles, 1.16 (0.2), NCIS: Los Angeles1.20 (0.2)
NBC: American Ninja Warrior 3.08 (0.4), Small Fortune 1.37 (0.2)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos 1.05 (0.3), La Suerte de Loli 0.98 (0.3), Café Con Aroma de Mujer 0.88 (0.3)
Univision: Disnando Tu Amor 1.30 (0.4), Si Nos Dejan, 1.49 (0.4), La Hija Del Embajador 1.38 (0.3)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Hulu promoted Jordan Helman to Head of Scripted Content, Hulu Originals. Helman, formerly Head of Drama, Hulu Originals, replaces Beatrice Springhorn, who left last year to head Universal Content Productions.

Kirk Iwanowski has been named CMO of AnyClip. Most recently, Iwanowski served as CMO and EVP of EPIX.

Eddie Gamarra has been appointed to the newly created position of VP, Literary Affairs, Nickelodeon and Awesomeness. Gamarra was formerly VP of Studio Business Development.

OpenVault announced the appointment of Andy Charalambous as VP of Sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining OpenVault, Charalambous served as Managing Director for Prospect Theory.

Customer experience agency Definition 6 has hired Noah Lerner as VP/Creative Director. For 20 years Lerner was at HBO, where he created on-air promotional content for such titles as “Game of Thrones,” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Streaming and on-demand audio service TuneIn hired Jennifer Collins as SVP, Business Development, and Suzanne Park as SVP, Marketing. Previously, Collins served as VP of Digital Operations for Fox Entertainment, and Park was SVP of Marketing for First Look Media.

You can find the following companies’ assets available now: a4 Advertising, Discovery, FETV, Gamut Total, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, New York Interconnect, TiVo, Tubi and more to come!

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Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which 1970s animated sitcom featured the voice of a future “Eight Is Enough” (1977-1981) star? Willie Aames was part of the “Wait Till Your Father Gets Home” (1972-1974) voice cast. Kudos to: David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; John Kukla-KDFW/Dallas; Charles Lore/NYC; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; Jim Kelly-Jim Kelly Consulting/Central Islip, NY; Marni C. Gold/Hawthorne, NJ

Today’s Trivia Question
Who played both of Quincy’s wives on “Quincy, M.E.” (1976-1983)? (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.)