PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
A&E Network and Essential Media Group are teaming for live stunt series The Impossible Live (wt), and are partnering with daredevil Bello Nock and his company Opportunity Nocks, Inc. to create Volcano Walk Live (wt), a live special showcasing a world record high-wire walk over an active volcano. “We’ve spent two years travelling the world with top volcanologists and engineers planning this untethered world record-breaking high-wire walk,” said Bello of Volcano Walk Live. “We first considered a volcano in Nicaragua but recent geological events have made the lava lake too small so we decided on a larger, more active and far more challenging volcano in East Africa. This is the wire walk that no one will ever be able to top!”
The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch (wt), from exec producer Kevin Burns (The Curse of Oak Island) was ordered by History. Unscripted series will feature a team of scientists and experts who conduct a search of an infamous 512-acre property in Utah’s Uinta Basin to find out the truth behind more than 200 years of mysteries.
Paramount Network greenlit original series, The Last Cowboy, from Taylor Sheridan, co-creator of the net’s Yellowstone. Produced by Truly Original and executive produced by 101 Studios, the unscripted series spotlights horsemen and trainers competing in the high-stakes world of professional reining. In conjunction with the series, Sheridan is launching a reining event called “Run for a Million,” an arena-based competition with a $1 million purse, the largest in its history. The experience will take place August 15-17 in Las Vegas, and come to life in the series finale.
E!’s Total Bellas was renewed for a fifth season. The fourth season of the docu-series following the lives of WWE Superstars ranked as a top 3 program for the net, with an average 783,000 viewers.
“Anywhere you go in the industry, there’s not enough senior women. There are not enough minorities in senior leader positions. I think there’s a lot of discussion about these topics … a lot of discussion, not enough action.” – Nicolle Pangis, CEO of NCC Media and 2019 Cynopsis Top Women in Media “Corporate Visionary.” Read Pangis’ full interview from Cannes and celebrate her and other women executives at the Top Women in Media Awards September 9th in NYC. Register today.
Top 10 Weekend Domestic Box Office Estimates: June 21-23
Men In Black International (Sony) $28.5 million, opening weekend
Toy Story 4 (Buena Vista) $118.0 million, opening weekend
Child’s Play (United Artists) $14.1 million, opening weekend
Aladdin (Buena Vista) $12.2 million (week 5), cume revenue $287.5 million
Men In Black International (Sony) $10.8 million (week 2), cume revenue $52.7 million
The Secret Life of Pets (Universal) $10.3 million (week 3), cume revenue $117.6 million
Rocketman (Paramount) $5.7 million (week 4), cume revenue $77.3 million
John Wicke – Chapter 3: Parabellum (LG/S) $4.1 million (week 6), cume revenue $156.1 million
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (WB) $3.7 (week 4), cume revenue $102.3 million
Dark Phoenix (Fox) $3.6 million (week 3), cume revenue $60.2 million
Anna (Lionsgate) $3.5 million, opening weekend
Source: Comscore
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Discovery Channel travels to the plains of Tanzania in Serengeti, a six-part series offering access to one of the most pristine and unspoiled corners of the Africa. Series created and produced by Simon Fuller (So You Think You Can Dance) and directed and produced by wildlife filmmaker John Downer (Penguin: Spy in The Huddle) and narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o premieres Sunday, August 4 at 8p.
Chasing the Cure, a live crowdsourcing series hosted by Ann Curry aimed at helping people with medical challenges, premieres on TNT and TBS on Thursday, August 8. Original launch date was July 25.
COMING UP
AT&T Audience Network will broadcast the third annual “LOVELOUD Festival Powered By AT&T” live on Saturday, June 29 at 8p. Hosted by Kalen Allen, the concert will feature a performance by Kesha, as well as a lineup of artists including LOVELOUD Founder & Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds, Tegan & Sara, Daya, K. Flay, PVRIS, and Laura Jane Grace.
Ready Jet Go! marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing with a new hour-long special, Ready Jet Go!: One Small Step, airing throughout June and July on PBS Kids (check local listings), an IMAX screening at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, events on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and space camps in cities nationwide.
ID’s A Fatal Confession: Keith Morrison Investigates premieres Sunday, July 7 at 10p. Two-hour special follows the story of Daniel Villegas, who at 16 years old confessed to a murder he later said he didn’t commit.
Peabody Presents: Stories of the Year, a one-hour special event showcasing the issues honored at the 78th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony, will air Sunday, July 7 at 10:30p on FX. Roundtable discussion will be moderated by Hasan Minhaj.
TECH TALK
A new survey of media planners released by DPAA indicates continued revenue growth for digital out-of-home media, citing mobile tie-ins, inclusion in more media planning systems, the availability of attribution studies and programmatic opportunities as keys to garnering larger shares of media budgets. Planners were asked to select the factors they believed to be important in driving DOOH growth in location-based buys. The leading responses were:
* Attribution of purchase in multi-touch attribution models: 89%
* Attribution of traffic in stores: 86%
* Marketing mix models showing positive impact of DOOH on business outcomes: 85%
* Third-party metrics that guarantee DOOH ads were served and viewable: 83%
* Use of mobile data to track location of consumers before and after their exposure to DOOH screens: 82%
“These latest results will prove invaluable in helping our industry deliver more value to the ad community, sell more effectively and increase budget shares,” said Barry Frey, president & CEO, DPAA. “Digital out-of-home is consistently among the fastest-growing media sectors, and this survey provides us with great insights and direction on how to ensure that this growth not only continues, but accelerates, in the coming years.”
Smithsonian Channel is launching an immersive AR app today that allows viewers to experience and interact with the full timeline of the Moon program through moments from the net’s six-part series Apollo’s Moon Shot. The app’s interactive features and access to Apollo 11 artifacts from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum reveal new secrets from the mission and put users in the action of NASA in 1969. Users with AR-compatible smart phones and tablets can download the Apollo’s Moon Shot app for free. For details, go to Innovation Station.
The Amazon Fire TV fan-focused installation at NYC’s Dolby SoHo celebrates the next wave of premium television, including HBO’s Big Little Lies, Showtime’s Billions and Amazon Prime’s Good Omens. Powered by two technology brands, Amazon Fire TV and Dolby, the space immerses guests into shows in an interactive and shareable way, with themed photo opportunities, a 360-degree experience room that drops guests into a seemingly infinite tunnel of apps and shows, and themed snacks. Guests will experience hands-on demonstrations of Fire TV’s line up of devices featuring Dolby technologies, including Fire TV Cube with Alexa built-in, and learn how to turn on their TV without having to pick up a remote, stream live TV without cable, and use Alexa to find their next favorite show. The event continues Wednesday, June 26-Sunday, June 30 from 1p-8p; admission is free.
When it comes to competition in the streaming world, consumers are likely to add to their services rather than limit themselves, as research has suggested, to just three. “The thing that’s interesting about all these upcoming services as well as the services that are in the market today is that mostly they have none of the same programming,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer, at SeriesFest. “Nothing that’s on Disney+ is going to be on Netflix and nothing that’s on Netflix is going to be on [Comcast and WarnerMedia’s services]. They’re going to be very unique.”
Showtime doc Bipolar Rock ‘N’ Roller, chronicling the combat-sports broadcaster Mauro Ranallo and his lifelong battle with mental illness, is now available for free to non-subscribers. The full documentary, which originally premiered during Mental Health Awareness Month in May 2018, is available via apps and free On Demand channels through Saturday, August 31.
The Democratic National Committee asked its TV network partners to live-stream primary debates free, “and they have agreed,” a DNC spokeswoman told CNN Business. “Everyone understands that the more viewers, the better – and that has always been our north star.” Streaming was not required for the 2016 debates. The first set of debates take place on NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo on Wednesday and Thursday from 9-11p.
CASTING
Sidse Babett Knudson (Westworld) has joined the cast of Channel 4 and Hulu four-parter The Light (wt)… Derek Luke (13 Reasons Why), Max Martini (Pacific Rim), Paola Nuñez (The Son) and Joel Allen (Never Goin’ Back) are set as series regulars for Season 2 of USA series The Purge…Elaine Hendrix (Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll), Brett Rice (Sully), Silas Weir Mitchell (Grimm), Autry Haydon-Wilson (Interrogation) and John Marshall Jones (Bosch) landed recurring roles in Spectrum Originals and Paramount Network’s Paradise Lost…Jaleel White is bringing his Family Matters character, Steve Urkel, to the new Scooby-Doo and Guess Who, on Boomerang’s streaming service.
GOING GLOBAL
Viacom Digital Studios International announced a new lineup of international short form content in honor of World Pride, spanning across Comedy Central International and MTV International’s digital and social platforms. Among the offerings are CCI’s Dragony Aunts, featuring advice-giving drag queens, and MTVI’s Sexpectations and LGBT+ Artists Owning Their Truth RN.
TCB Media Rights reported sales and presales to French and German broadcasters in the run up to Sunny Side of The Doc, France’s marketplace for the funding and distribution of non-fiction content: RMC Decouverte has pre-bought The Crusaders; Canal+’s Planete+ has pre-bought World’s Greatest Palaces; and Windfall’s Mythical Beasts has been picked up by TF1’s Histoire channel, among other deals.
Discovery, Inc. announced DTT channel RMC Decouverte ordered a fourth season of its adaptation of Wheeler Dealers for the French market from French independent production company Pernel Media.
A+E Networks announced new sales among international broadcasters for a second season of its UFO drama series Project Blue Book, including TNT (Spain), Warner TV via EuroTV (France), D’Live (South Korea), Vietnam Satellite Digital Television Company (Vietnam), and CIS Yandex (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan).
