Tonight’s Finale
DIY: Maine Cabin Masters at 9p

IN THE NEWS

MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show drew 5.2 million viewers for its interview with presidential niece Mary Trump. It was the news show’s highest-rated hour ever, the network’s most-watched regularly scheduled show in history, and the top show on broadcast and cable.

AMC Networks streaming service AMC+ is being offered to Dish and Sling TV customers. “This new bundle, available for the first time to Dish and Sling TV customers, was designed to offer fans of our programming greater choice and an enhanced customer experience, as we work with Dish and Sling TV to embrace the new ways in which viewers consume content today,” said Josh Reader, President of Distribution and Development at AMC Networks. AMC+ offers an array of programming from AMC, IFC, SundanceTV, Shudder andIFC Films Unlimited.

The launch of Nick Cannon’s syndicated talk show, scheduled for October 5, has been delayed following backlash over anti-Semitic comments Cannon made on his podcast. While ViacomCBS cut ties with the Wild ‘N Out creator, a lengthy apology prompted Fox to announce Cannon would stay on as host of The Masked Singer. Debmar-Mercury landed somewhere in the middle, saying of their talker, “The Nick Cannon Talk Show will not debut this year. After conversations with Nick, we do believe that his public comments don’t reflect his true feelings and his apology is heartfelt & sincere….We are standing by Nick in our hope that by fall 2021 he will be able to use his extraordinary talent and platform to entertain, enlighten & unite his audience on the Nick Cannon talk show.” On Saturday, Cannon mourned the death by suicide of rapper Ryan Bowers with the troubling tweet, “After waking up & barely rising form my own dark contemplation of continuing my physical existence on this planet, this powerful warrior actually had the balls to do it.”

Facing criticism after announcing a 2020 holiday movie lineup that does not include lead queer characters, Hallmark Channel said diversity and inclusion is a priority. The company will make “some exciting programming announcements in the coming months, including announcements about projects featuring LGBTQ storylines, characters, and actors,” said a network spokesperson.

Tamar Braxton (Braxton Family Values) was hospitalized after being found unresponsive at her residence in LA on Thursday night. “Tamar Braxton has been part of the WE tv family for nearly a decade. We are keeping her and her family in our thoughts and prayers and joining with her fans sending strength and healing at this difficult time,” said the network, which last week announced the July 30 premiere of docu-series Tamar Braxton: Get Ya Life!.

Grantchester was renewed for season six by PBS Masterpiece and UK’s ITV. The detective drama’s season five finale aired Sunday.

Jeremy Roenick is suing NBC Sports for wrongful termination. The hockey analyst was let go after he joked on podcast Spittin’ Chiclets that he hoped to “go to bed” with his wife and coworker Kathryn Tappen. The lawsuit describes similar comments made by former Olympic figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir that were not punished; Roenick, who claims he was told Weir “is gay and can say whatever,” alleges he was fired “because of his sex and sexual orientation,” as well as his support for President Trump.

USA Network canceled drama Briarpatch after one season – but the show’s producer, UCP, is still in business with writer/exec producer Andrew Greenwald. “I just signed a new deal with the studio and I have a bunch of pots on a number of burners,” said Greenwald on social media. Greenwald also noted if people keeping checking out Briarpatch on demand, “anything’s possible – especially for an anthology series as weird as this one.”

It’s official! Cynopsis is delighted to be hosting the annual That Big TV Conference virtually this year on September 22-24. Registration is free, but space is limited, so reserve your spot today.

Netflix is spending about $200 million for action thriller The Gray Man, starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. Joe and Anthony Russo (Avengers: Endgame) are directing, with AGBO’s Russo Brothers and Mike Larocca producing, along with Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum for Roth Kirschenbaum.

Season three of HGTV’s Christina on the Coast will start production in late August, and is expected to premiere in spring 2021. The series was a top 5 cable series this year among P25-54, W25-54, upscale P25-54, upscale W25-54 and upscale M25-54.

Did you know that brand favorability lift doubles when combining linear TV + OTT, vs. OTT only? This data from the VAB plus more is included in our Media Buying For Today’s Market report we compiled with New York Interconnect. If you haven’t read it yet, go check it out!

Vanderpump Dogs, a spin-off of Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules, will air in NBCU streaming service Peacock. The shows was teased during NBC’s 30 Rock special last week.

Laura Benanti (Supergirl) jumped to Fox drama pilot Big Leap, playing the VP of a car company.

Diego Boneta (Scream Queens) will star in and executive produce limited series Brujo, inspired by the true story of serial killer Adolfo Constanzo, reports Variety. The project comes from Legendary Television.

COMING UP

The American Music Awards return to ABC on Sunday, November 22 at 8p. The 2019 show grew over the previous year’s broadcast in total viewers (6.7 million) and delivered ABC’s biggest entertainment audience among A18-49 on Sunday night since the Oscars nine months prior.

Science Channel is celebrating the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon mission with a special line-up of programming featuring NASA. Space programming begins today at 9a with NASA’s Greatest Missions: The Secret History.

STREAMING SCOOP

Endemol Shine announced the premiere of four digital linear channels with STIRR, as well as a selection of titles to launch as VOD and within the STIRR City channel. The initial roll out incudes game show destination Wipeout Xtra, and Deal or No Deal, the home for the US version of the show, available as 24-hour streaming channels. Endemol Shine’s Flavor of Love, McLeod’s Daughters, The Simple Life, City Homicide and My Kitchen Rules are launching as VOD and within the STIRR City channel. Later this year comes the launch of DIY Daily, a home and garden themed channel, and Reel Truth Crime.

TECH TALK

DoubleVerify announced a new tech that gives CTV advertisers a proxy for traditional viewability, and is rolling out completion measurement. DV’s Fully On-Screen Completion measurement capabilities provide insight into quartile completion metrics and fully on-screen metrics, enabling advertisers to understand how many impressions were played to completion and identify drop-off points along the way, and confirm that impressions originate from sources that deliver 100% of the ad’s pixels on the screen consistently. “Viewability measurement in the CTV environment has been challenging for multiple reasons – from technical execution to lack of agreed-upon standards,” said Matt McLaughlin, COO of DoubleVerify. “DV’s innovative approach to measuring ad presentation on CTV is a market first. It extends to both the app and device levels, and represents a close proxy to traditional viewability available to advertisers today.”

GOING GLOBAL

WildBrain secured international sales for season one of Malory Towers, based on Enid Blyton’s book series. Co-produced by WildBrain and UK prodco King Bert Productions for WildBrain Television’s Family Channel (Canada) and CBBC (UK), the series has been picked up by broadcasters and streamers including: BYUtv (US), CBC’s streaming service CBC Gem (Canada), ABC (Australia), ZDF (Germany), DR (Denmark), YLE (Finland), SVT (Sweden), NRK (Norway), Toonix and HBO (Nordics & CEE), and Hot (Israel).

Back2back Productions and Drive announced that The Weather Channel has pre-bought the fourth season of The World’s Deadliest Weather. The pre-sale partnership follows The Weather Channel’s acquisition of the third season of the BBC Earth extreme-weather series, which will air across the Nordics, Africa and Asia on the BBC’s premium factual subscription channel.

Entertainment One announced new broadcast deals for its CGI-animated preschool series, Ricky Zoom, which will air across Australia for the first time. The show launches on Nickelodeon’s preschool channel, Nick Jr., in Australia today.

Wednesday’s Guy’s Grocery Games premiere on Food Network was the series’ highest-rated in more than two years, delivering a 0.80 P25-53 Live+3 rating and growing its timeslot 38% above year-ago benchmarks.

OWN’s Greenleaf delivered 1,977,000 P2+ in Live+3 numbers on Tuesday, 7% above the prior week to mark the show’s most-watched episode since 2018. It was the night’s #1 cable telecast among W25-54 and W18-49 and the #1 telecast of the entire week on all of TV among African-American W25-54, W18-49, W18+, Households, and P2+.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Thursday, July 16
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Holey Moley 3.41 (0.5), Don’t 2.62 (0.5), To Tell the Truth 2.93 (0.4)
CBS: Young Sheldon 4.08 (0.4), The Unicorn 2.84 (0.3), Mom 3.12 (0.3), Mom 3.26 (0.3), NCIS: Los Angeles 2.37 (0.2)
CW: Killer Camp 0.48 (0.1), Masters of Illusion 0.39 (0.1), Masters of Illusion 0.44 (0.1)
FOX: Celebrity Watch Party 1.37 (03), Labor of Love 0.95 (0.2)
NBC: 30 Rock Special 0.88 (0.2), Superstore 1.14 (0.2), Brooklyn Nine-Nine 0.86 (0.2), Law & Order: SVU 1.46 (0.2)
Telemundo: Cennet 2.29 (0.3), 100 Dias Enamorarnos 0.73 (0.2), Enemigo Intimo 0.69 (0.2)
Univision: Rosa de Guadelupe 1.39 (0.4), Medicos Linea de Vida 1.36 (0.4), Copa Por Mexico 1.40 (0.6)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

IN MEMORIAM

Actress Phyllis Somerville died on July 16. She was 76. Somerville’s numerous television credits include The Big C, NYPD Blue, The Good Wife, and Night Shift.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was the first weekly US family drama series focused on a Black family? Harris and Company (1979). Kudos to: Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
How did Desperate Housewives’ (2004-2012) Gabrielle meet her second husband?((Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four.)