Tonight’s Finales
Fox: Celebrity Watch Party at 8p
HGTV: Design at Your Door at 11p
NBC: Blindspot at 9p

IN THE NEWS

The countdown begins: Peacock is amping up excitement for the Tokyo Games, postponed from summer 2020 to 2021, with the creation of its first pop-up channel, Road to Tokyo. The 24/7 stream is dedicated to Olympic and Paralympic classic moments, documentaries and studio programming.

Perry Mason was renewed for a second season. The drama series starring Matthew Rhys debuted in June as HBO’s most-watched series premiere since Sharp Objects in July 2018; the first episode has been seen by over 8 million viewers.

A retrans dispute has Dish subscribers in the dark on Apollo-controlled Cox Media Group stations in 10 markets. The stations had been prevented from interfering with Dish’s ability to retransmit signals via a deal reached before Apollo Global Management acquired majority control of the group last year; Dish said Apollo rejected its request for consent to allow the stations to remain on the air after a dissolution of a temporary restraining order on Wednesday. “We don’t understand why Apollo is choosing to put customers in the middle of its negotiations, especially during a global pandemic when customers need access to local news and programming,” said Andy LeCuyer, Dish SVP of Programming. LeCuyer said Dish offered to apply its current agreement – with higher rates – to avoid service interruption during negotiations, but Apollo refused, demanding a 40% increase to rates agreed to last year.

ViacomCBS Networks UK is implementing measures to accelerate diverse representation. Among the initiatives are a “no diversity, no commission” content policy for its suppliers, and extending diversity data monitoring across its pay TV brands.

Facing calls for its prohibition in the US, TikTok confirmed plans to create 10,000 new jobs in the country over the next three years, in engineering, sales, content moderation and customer support. TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, currently employs about 1400 people in the US.

Social media is the least-trusted source by consumers, according to a survey by consumer insights platform Disqo, but from January-June, trust in social media sites rose from 33% to 41%. The most-trusted source was financial institutions (73%); media companies were trusted by 53% of respondents.

The search is on. Do you have what it takes? The Cynopsis Digital “It List” is comprises the digital thinkers and doers behind the scenes whose peers notice and emulate them. They’re the type of people who always seem to be one step ahead, who can anticipate when the winds are shifting and are the first to reposition their team to take the best advantage of new opportunities. Nominations are due August 11 – learn more here.

Fox News Channel signed Charles Watson as an Atlanta-based correspondent. Watson will transition from his current role as one of the network’s multimedia reporters to the new position. A member of the 2018 class of the Fox News Multimedia Reporter program, Watson has spent the past two years receiving an immersive training across FOX News Media’s broadcast, digital and radio platforms.

ADVERTISING

While many advertisers across verticals have paused spend during the COVID-19 outbreak, Innovid data shows that some recovery. Year-over-year growth numbers from Innovid IQ show CPG, telecom and pharma on the rebound. Key insights include:
· Global video volume continued a seven-week trend of annual gains growing +21% year-over-year the week of July 12-18.
· The big screen continued to lead annual growth with a 40% increase year-over-year CTV volume.
· Mobile grew 20% year-over-year, while PC saw declines of -7% versus prior year.

The Media Rating Council introduced a new initiative to address audience measurement issues related to server-side ad insertion technology used to create a more seamless integration between ads and video content in OTT viewing environments. “The first meeting of the charter members of the working group included MRC-member publishers and video ad servers and measurement vendors,” said the MRC. “The session centered on discussion of the key issues and ways that the industry can collaborate to overcome the obstacles to accurate measurement of activity presented by SSAI.” The MRC plans to have recommendations for best SSAI practices by the end of the year.

Video streaming platforms spent $106.7 million in national TV marketing from June 21-July 20, according to iSPot.tv, a huge jump from the $16.1 million spent the same time last year. While Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max and Peacock have all launched since then, the biggest spender was Amazon Prime Video, which forked over $33.1 million. NBC reeled in the biggest haul ($13.9 million), followed by CBS ($11.7 million), Fox ($5.6 million), ESPN ($5.2 million), TNT and TBS ($5.0 million each), ABC ($4.4 million), Discovery ($4.2 million), Comedy Central($4.0 million) and USA Network ($3.0 million).

The health crisis has reset advertiser expectations on creative and media in fundamental ways, according to a new study by Advertiser Perceptions, “The Coronavirus Effect on Advertising.” Among the highlights:
· About half of advertisers say trimmed production is their new performance standard, while only 22% expect to return to the opulent creative traditions. Another 31% aren’t sure.
· Typically, advertisers heavy up on TV and instore ads during the fall holidays. This year, they’re putting more money into digital ads and decreasing TV for the season while increasing shopper, influencer and retail media network spending for Halloween.
· Overall, 43% of advertisers have increased their spending on CTV/OTT ads during the crisis.
· During the crisis, advertisers have put a premium on flexibility in media. As a result, the outlook is brightest for paid search, ecommerce, digital video and paid social media – channels that support real-time changes.
“The pressure on flexibility will only grow, so how quickly media can shift dollars to other parts of their portfolios is survival stakes,” said Lauren Fisher, VP/Business Intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions. “Salespeople have to become fully conversant across all areas of business, so they can educate buyers fully on adjusting the mix and facilitate the reallocation of impressions.”

Mediaocean’s $200 million acquisition of 4C is aimed at creating a powerhouse of data that strengthens media planning and buying prowess s. Aaron Goldman, CMO of 4C, talks challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, in Cynsiders.

HealthiNation and Univision Communications announced a partnership to create Spanish-language healthcare videos for distribution across Univision.com, Healthination.com and select syndication partners. Univision will integrate HealthiNation’s culturally and linguistically relevant videos across its platforms, providing pharmaceutical, health and wellness advertisers the opportunity to run campaigns adjacent to contextually relevant video content.

Family drama Chicano is in development at ABC. From Natalie Chaidez (Queen of the South), Eva Longoria and Forest Whitaker, the project is inspired by Richard Vasquez’s novel about a Mexican-American family that moves to LA in search of the American Dream. 20th Century Fox Television is the studio; the show is being produced in association with Longoria and Ben Spector’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment and Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi’s Significant Productions. “Chicano is just the first of many projects that we expect from Eva and Ben as we look to ramp up our slate of Latinx programming,” said Karey Burke, President, ABC Entertainment. “With Forest, Nina, Natalie and Doug also at the helm of this project, we know we have the perfect powerhouse team to bring this Mexican-American family’s story to life and cultivate the next generation of Latinx storytelling.”

Quibi gave a series order for Futha Mucka, an animated comedy starring and executive produced by Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. Anonymous Content and Reynolds’ Maximum Effort are producing with animation production company Titmouse.

Cynopsis is gearing up to celebrate the Top Women in Media – trailblazers who are pushing the industry forward, while empowering and inspiring others. We’re excited to spotlight these incredible honorees (click here to view the entire list) from 2p – 3p on October 13, 14, 15 + 16. Learn more here and join us as we recognize these female game changers.

Drama series Rodham, based on the book which envisions an alternate history where Hillary Rodham never marries Bill Clinton, is in development at Hulu. The project comes from Sarah Treem (The Affair), Fox 21 Television Studios and the Littlefield Company.

Tia Mowry, along with Kin and Jukin Media, are teaming to develop and produce family style clip show Tia Mowry’s Challenge Accepted, to be hosted and produced by Mowry. Mowry’s production executive Tiegen Kosiak will also produce.

Conan O’Brien’s digital media company, Team Coco, is producing five previously announced stand-up specials for HBO Max, starting in August with hour-long specials from Beth Stelling and James Veitch filmed before the production shutdown. Hour long specials from Chris Redd and Moses Storm will be filmed and released at a later date along with two multi act specials hosted by O’Brien featuring Naomi Ekperigin, Solomon Georgio, Ismo and Tommy Johnagin.

Filming is back on, and “going very well” for The Great British Baking Show, reported Sky Studios CEO Gary Davey at a Broadcasting Press Guild event. The competition airs in the US on Netflix.

Production has also resumed for EstrellaTV talent search show Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento amid new COVID-19 safety protocols. “We are excited to get back on the air with new episodes and to move forward with our quarter finals, which we had to put on hiatus due to the unprecedented pandemic that has affected us all,” said Ivan Stoilkovich, EVP, Television Programming at EstrellaTV. “Our new set design follows strict social distancing guidelines.”

ZDF Enterprises, Nucleus Media Rights and 3zero2 announced a new co-production deal for Body of Water, a crime drama created by writer-director Brendan Foley (Cold Courage, Johnny Was) on an original concept by Fabio Resinaro (3Zero2). Foley will write and serve as showrunner. Producers are Piero Crispino (3zero2) and Bruno Zarka (Nucleus Media). Production is expected to start in 2021, shot in Venice and London, for a release in late 2022.

Fox gave Vince Vaughn, Victoria Vaughn, and Peter Billingsly’s Wild West Picture Show a blind script deal for an animated series, reports Variety. Fox Entertainment would produce.

Tiffany Boone (Hunters) has joined the cast of Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers, starring Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Each episode of new series Paranormal Nightshift tells three stories of paranormal encounters during workers’ graveyard shifts. Ghostly tales start Wednesday, August 12 at 10p on Travel Channel.

What a Drag: RuPaul’s popular VH1 franchise expands with RuPaul’s Drag Race Vegas Revue. Launching Friday, August 21 at 8p, the series follows six drag queens during their time as performers in RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! residency in Las Vegas, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the Vegas strip stage show and the queens who slay there.

MTV’s True Life Presents: Quarantine Stories kicks off Wednesday, August 5 at 9p. The four-part self-documented series explores how the stress of everyday life is heightened when young people live in quarantine.

Fox Animated Domination block, including The Simpsons (season 32), Bless the Harts (season 2), Bob’s Burgers (season 11) and Family Guy (season 19), returns Sunday, September 27.

Syfy grabbed rights to YouTube adult animated comedy Dallas & Robo, starring John Cena and Kat Dennings. The show premieres Saturday, August 8, during Syfy’s TZGZ late-night animation block.

The Third Day has a premiere date on HBO: Monday, September 14 at 9p. The limited series is divided in to two parts. “Summer” stars Jude Law (The New Pope) as a man working to unlock the secrets of a mysterious island; “Winter” follows a character played by Naomie Harris (Moonlight) whose arrival on the island leads to a battle to decide its fate. The Third Day was originally slated to debut in May, but was delayed due to the coronavirus production shutdown.

HBO Max is adding international fare to its streaming plate, including Italian crime drama Gomorrah and spin-off film The Immortal; Spanish limited series Veneno, about Spain’s famous trans TV personality; ITV2 relationship reality show Singletown; and UK competition series The Great Pottery Throw Down. “We are building strong collaborations as we source distinctive fare from top international partners for our US viewers, also with an eye to the near future when we will look to these partners to supply locally as we expand HBO Max internationally,” said Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer, HBO Max and President, TNT TBS and truTV.

New PokerGO series High Stakes Duel, pitting poker’s biggest stars against each other, kicks off with long-standing rivals Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Hellmuth live on Thursday, July 30 at 9p.

COMING UP

Anything is Possible – The Serge Ibaka Story premieres Saturday, August 1 on Crackle. The original doc follows the Toronto Raptors’ power forward as he journeys back to the Republic of Congo after his team’s 2019 NBA championship.

One Nation, hosted by FOX Nation host Lawrence Jones, will examine the state of race relations in the US from the perspectives of civil rights activists, law enforcement officials, religious leaders and network personalities. The one-hour special airs on Fox News on Sunday, July 26 at 10p.

ShortsTV will host a programming block on Sunday, July 26 at 9p featuring past Indy Shorts Film Festival favorites, to coincide with the actual festival’s dates. In honor of the Indy Shorts Festival closing day, the programming block will include Facing Mecca, Borrowed Time and The Driver Is Red

STREAMING SCOOP

Peacock’s mobile app was downloaded 1.5 million times across the US App Store and Google Play within its first 6 days on the market, according to Sensor Tower. That’s versus 1.2 million downloads during Quibi’s first 6 days, and 13 million for Disney. Complicating comparisons: Peacock has not rolled out yet on Amazon Fire TV or Roku.

Sports media company WAVE.tv closed a $32 million Series A funding round, led by CoVenture and GPS Partners with participation from existing investors Golden Ventures and Sweet Capital, as well as new investors. With the new funding, WAVE.tv says it will grow into a comprehensive sports entertainment company with an eye for continued category and platform expansion, IP and talent development, eCommerce, acquisitions, sports betting, and more. WAVE.tv partners with leagues and rights holders to transform their IP into programming for core and emerging digital.

TECH TALK

Slack filed a complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission, claiming the tech giant illegally tied its collaboration software, Microsoft Teams, to Microsoft Office, a bundling tactic Slack argues is part of a pattern of anticompetitive behavior. Microsoft responded that the company is “committed to offering customers not only the best of new innovation, but a wide variety of choice in how they purchase and use the product.”

KIDS CORNER

Big Bad Boo’s original preschool plus series 16 Hudson has launched on Amazon Prime Video. All 42 episodes are now available on Prime, including three holiday specials highlighting the Chinese New Year, Diwali, and Norooz, the Persian New Year. Big Bad Boo is currently producing Season 2 of the series.

Genius Brands has signed broadcast and digital platform deals for its animated children’s series, Rainbow Rangers, currently airing in the US on Nick Jr., including Australia’s Nine Network; Israel’s NOGA;Hungary’s TV3; and the Balkans’ Pikaboo, among others.

Disney Channel and Disney+ acquired global rights except for Brazil and China to animated TV movies Miraculous World – New York – United HeroeZ and Miraculous World – Shanghai – Lady Dragon. France’s TF1 has rights for the second window; Brazil’s Gloob (Grupo Globo), Canada’s Family Channel &Télé-Québec and UK’s POP have acquired respective territory rights.

Media I.M. Incorporated signed their first deal with Chinese VOD giant Tencent for seasons one to three of the Sunny Bunnies animation series. Also included in the deal is sub-brand Sunny Bunnies Get Busy. Tencent plans to launch Sunny Bunnies later this summer.

Cloudco Entertainment in the US, in conjunction with co-production partners Watchnext Media in France and Kavaleer Productions in Ireland, announces the greenlight and production commencement of season two of animated series Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese. Additional episodes have been commissioned by the France’s Gulli, the BBC in the UK, De Agostini’s DeAKids and KidsME in Italy, and RTÉ in Ireland.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Tuesday July 21
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Modern Family 2.24 (0.4), Modern Family 1.71 (0.3), United We Fall 1.90 (0.3), United We Fall 1.86 (0.3), What Would You Do? 2.36 (0.3)
CBS: NCIS 5.35 (0.4), FBI 4.12 (0.4), FBI: Most Wanted 3.211 (0.3)
CW: DC’s Stargirl 0.77 (0.2), CW Happy Hour 0.27 (0.1)
FOX: Hell’s Kitchen 1.27 (0.3), Prodigal Son 0.76 (0.2)
NBC: America’s Got Talent 5.08 (0.7), World of Dance 3.28 (0.5)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos 0.99 (0.3), Cennet 1.14 (0.3), Enemigo Entimo 0.86 (0.3)
Univision: Te Doy La Vida 1.93 (0.6), Medicos Linea de Vida 1.57 (0.5), Como Tu No Hay 1.49 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

CuriosityStream has named Bakori Davis to the newly created position of Managing Director and Head of International. Most recently, Davis was Partner and Managing Director of international media services firm, Niche Media Global, a firm he co-founded.

IDW Publishing promoted Jerry Bennington to President, Jud Meyers to Publisher and Rebekah Cahalin to General Manager and EVP of Operations.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was ABC’s longest-running drama before Grey’s Anatomy surpassed it? NYPD Blue(1993-2005). Kudos to: John Ferlazzo/London, Perry Casciato-CBS Television Stations/Riverside, NJ, Tori Gallarello-Alcock-Little Roosters Inc./Bronx, NY, Ted Linhart-NBCU/NYC, David Clark-Discovery Inc./NYC, Charlie Conner-KOKI-KMYT/Tulsa, John Kukla-KDFW-FOX 4/Dallas, Kyle Krebs-Intersection/Dallas,
Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Miriam Aardahl-OMD/LA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA/Burbank, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which TV series was future president Ronald Reagan’s last work as an actor? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four.)

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