PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Orphan Black is being resurrected. Temple Street Productions, the production company behind the show, inked a pact with premium digital fiction startup Serial Box to create a new installment of the sci-fi thriller, Orphan Black: The Next Chapter, that will continue the story of the clone sisterhood. Tatiana Maslany, who portrayed numerous clones on the show, is onboard to voice the new episodes.
The A Word, a drama about autism, is getting a U.S. remake with Keshet Studios, the LA-based division of the Israeli media firm. Universal Television will take out the project in the forthcoming network development season, according to Deadline. The series is based on Keren Margalit’s Israeli drama Yellow Peppers, which debuted in 2010. It was remade in the UK for BBC and aired on SundanceTV in the U.S..
Hulu issued a straight-to-series order for Fertile Crescent (wt), an 8-episode drama co-produced by Masha Productions, Spiro FiIms, Haut et Court TV, Arte France and Fremantle. It dives into the depths of the Syrian civil war through the eyes of Antoine, a young Frenchman in search of his estranged, presumed dead sister.
In other Hulu news, the streamer boarded comedy This Way Up, written by and starring Aisling Bea (I Feel Bad) and executive produced by Sharon Horgan. Hulu teamed with Channel 4, which ordered the series(previously known as Happy AF) last year.
DHX Media and Mattel are moving forward on a second season of Polly Pocket, the animated series based on Mattel’s original doll brand, ordering 26 new episodes. Universal Kids, part of NBCUniversal’s Entertainment and Lifestyle Group, will begin airing season one in the U.S. this summer.
Cinemax greenlit Trackers, a thriller drama based on the novel by bestselling South African author Deon Meyer. James Gracie (aka James Alexander Gracie), Rolanda Marais and Ed Stoppard will star in the series, a co-production between Cinemax, Germany’s ZDF and the South Africa’s M-Net.
Reality star Tami Roman (The Real World, Basketball Wives LA) inked an overall deal with Love & Hope Hop creator Mona Scott-Young and her Monami Productions to develop and produce alternative and scripted content. The first project from the collaborating duo, Tami Ever After, centering on Roman’s relationship with longtime boyfriend Reggie Youngblood, bows Wednesday June 19 at 9p on VH1.
Dennie Gordon will direct the Season 2 finale and penultimate episode of Cinemax’s Warrior. The DGA-Award winning director is also directing two episodes of Amazon’s The Hunt.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Get ready for more summer fun, Jersey style. Jersey Shore Family Vacation returns Thursday, July 11 at 8p on MTV.
History introduces The Unexplained on Friday, July 19 at 10p. Hosted and executive produced by William Shatner, the anthology series explores the world’s most fascinating and inexplicable mysteries, from cursed ancient cities to extraterrestrial sightings and more.
Former boyfriend/girlfriend Michael LeSure and Nina Klemm navigate their rollercoaster relationship, while buying, renovating and selling high-end properties in Flipping Exes. Docu-series debuts Tuesday, August 6 at 10p on Bravo.
The Jonas Brothers are set to appear in a new “Good Burger” sketch with Kel Mitchell’s Ed, when All That premieres on Nickelodeon on Saturday, June 15 at 8:30p. The trio will also perform their hit, Sucker, in the episode.
Disney Channel’s groundbreaking coming-of-age series, Andi Mack, ends its acclaimed run after three seasons on Friday, July 26. Creator/executive producer Terri Minsky talks about the “nevers” that made her proud, the messages that made her cry… and what it would feel like to be nominated for an Emmy, in Cynsiders.
COMING UP
REVOLT premieres Father’s Day special Anatomy of a King on Sunday, June 16 at 8p. Documentary celebrating fatherhood in the hip hop community features Devale Ellis, Eric Bellinger, Dallas Jackson, Omar Edwards, Tarik Brooks and OG.
Lavell Crawford: New Look, Same Funny! premieres Saturday, July 6 at 10:35p on Showtime. Filmed at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre in San Antonio, Crawford is funnier and skinnier, having lost 120 pounds.
The MotorTrend App, MotorTrend TV and sister network Discovery Channel team up to bring viewers 18 hours of exclusive coverage of Barrett-Jackson Live, the 4th Annual Barrett-Jackson Northeast Auction from Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. MotorTrend App and MotorTrendTV kick off the collector car auction on Thursday, June 27 at 2p. MotorTrend picks things up on Friday, June 28 from 2p to 8p. Discovery Channel takes over from 2p to 4p on Saturday, June 29, before coverage returns to MotorTrend from 4p to 8p.
ADVERTISING
GroupM’s Worldwide Media Forecast, “This Year, Next Year,” predicts growth of the advertising industry across more than 60 territories through the end of 2019 and into 2020, including +3.4 percent growth in 2019, or +4.6 percent on an underlying basis (which excludes political advertising in the United States). For 2020, the report forecasts +4.7% growth on an underlying basis; factor in political advertising, and total global growth will be closer to +6.0 percent. Although digital activity dominates the global advertising marketplace, capturing 50 percent of the world’s advertising spending in 2020 – double its 25 percent share from 2014 – GroupM predicts its share of spending will eventually plateau, with growth eventually converging with global averages.
CASTING
Ana Ortiz (Devious Maids) landed the lead in Disney+ series Love, Simon… Daniel Radcliffe will star in the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt interactive special to air on Netflix in 2020… Arliss Howard (Moneyball), Desmond Harrington (Dexter), Kelly Jenrette (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Ness Bautista (Sense8) are set as regulars in the sophomore season of Spectrum Originals’ anthology series Manhunt, reports Deadline.
DIGITAL DATA
Global Pay TV Subscriber Forecasts, a report from analyst firm Digital TV Research, found that there will be 81 million additional pay-TV subscribers between 2018 and 2024, up by 8%; taking the global total to 1.10 billion. Pay-TV subscribers passed 1 billion in 2018, based on forecasts for 138 countries. Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research noted that cord-cutting in the US “will continue, with the US losing nearly 10 million subscribers between 2018 and 2024,” adding that 28 of the 138 countries will lose subs during that time span. However, he noted that it’s not all bad news, because 110 countries will gain subscribers. “Asia Pacific will contribute six of the top 10 countries by pay-TV subscriber additions,” said Murray. “From the 81 million additional pay-TV subs between 2018 and 2024, 29 million will come from India, 16 million from China and 8 million from Indonesia.”
TECH TALK
There’s a new player in the social media world and teens are taking it to the top. TikTok has been downloaded more than a billion times around the world, with more downloads last year than any other non-game app besides WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Facebook.
Netflix, EA, Xbox, Sony Entertainment and Spotify are the services most likely to be hacked, according to a survey by cybersecurity company Dynarisk. Data is shared in dark web and hacker communities and often combined with other information for identity theft. “Unfortunately, the ugly truth is that the more prolific a brand, the more attractive it is to cyber criminals,” said DynaRisk in a press release.
Facebook’s Research app collected personal data from 187,000 users before it was yanked, the company revealed in a letter to Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s office that was obtained by TechCrunch. Those users included 31,000 in the US – including 4300 teens – and the rest were from India. The app, launched in 2016, had been banned by Apple.
In more Facebook news, the social media behemoth reports that, worldwide, Watch is now viewed by 720 million consumers per month and 140 million per day. And, on average, daily visitors spend over 26 minutes there every day. While Facebook is pleased with the growth, it has bigger ambitions for the service – Facebook recently launched a way for users to find groups based on the videos they watch, and is testing other new sections in Watch, including a way to find videos popular with friends.
STREAMING
The 2019 French Open generated more revenue for Tennis Channel’s streaming service than any tournament in the subscription platform’s five-year history. Tennis Channel Plus took in more than $1 million in subscriber revenue from the first day of qualifiers to championship Sunday. It marks a 25% increase vs. 2018 and more than 500% increase compared to the 2014 French Open, when the service first launched.
HBO Documentary Films acquired the North American TV and streaming rights to Ernie & Joe, reports Deadline. The documentary from Jenifer McShane (Mothers of Bedford) centers on San Antonio police officers Ernie Stevens and Joe Smarro, who are diverting people from jail to mental health treatment, and is set to debut later this year.
Pluto TV is on the move. The free, ad-supported linear TV and movie service is now available on Comcast’s Xfinity X1 set-top platform nationwide. The deal comes a few months after Viacom purchased the startup for $340 million and brings Pluto to set-top boxes in about 14 million homes. .
KID STUFF
Disney Junior today (June 14) is debuting new animated series T.O.T.S., which chronicles the adventures of Freddy the flamingo and his best friend Pip, a tenacious penguin, who are the only non-stork delivery birds in-training at Tiny Ones Transport Service (T.O.T.S.). Cynopsis caught up with Travis Braun, creator and co-executive producer, who says he’s been ruminating on this out-of-the box story since childhood. “Growing up in the ‘90s, I loved cartoons and it always seemed like every cartoon at some point in its run had a regal white stork delivering a baby to a family. I remember thinking, why do only they get to deliver babies?”, he says. “What I love the most about the show, and is central to its DNA, is that these two buddies are classic underdogs, and they’re different than everyone else. They don’t have the same genetics, but message of the show is it doesn’t matter what you look like and what feathers you have, it matters what’s underneath.”
GOING GLOBAL
Balkan commissioned Armoza Formats’ hit music competition The Four. The first season of the local adaptation is set to air on PRVA in Serbia and Montenegro, as well as in Macedonia and Bosnia. Produced by Emotion Production, the series will begin airing this fall.
