Tonight’s Finale
Travel Channel: Buried Worlds With Don Wildman at 8p

IN THE NEWS

Legendary TV host Regis Philbin died on July 24. He was 88. Philbin started as host of Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee in 1988; the show became Live! with Regis and Kelly in 2001, and he left in 2011. Philbin was also the original host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from 1999-2002, and hosted Million Dollar Password and the first season of America’s Got Talent. He was nominated for 37 Daytime Emmy Awards and won six. “There’s never been anyone like him,” said Kathie Lee Gifford. “And there never will be.” Talk show host David Letterman, who had Philbin on as a guest over 150 times, tweeted, “In the same category as Carson. Superlative. He was on our show a million times, always the best guest we ever had, charming, lovable and could take a punch. When he retired I lost interest in television. I love him.”

Fox moved NeXt, about the emergence of a deadly rogue artificial intelligence, from Monday to Tuesday nights. Premiering October 6 at 9p, the thriller takes the slot originally slated for Filthy Rich, which will get a new debut date. Both shows are pandemic-proof since they are in the can, held over from last season.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez broke C-SPAN Twitter records. The New York Democrat’s reprimand on the House floor of Rep. Ted Yoho had over 12 million views as of Friday, the most ever for a House member, and is C-SPAN’s most-retweeted clip ever. “Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man and when a decent man messes up, as we all are bound to do, he tries his best and does apologize,” said Ocasio-Cortez after Yoho reportedly called her a “f—ing bitch,” apologizing only for the “abrupt manner of the conversation.”

Sinclair Broadcasting is delaying for a week its broadcast of a news segment that includes America This Week host Eric Bolling interviewing Judy Mikovits, a controversial virologist who attacked Anthony Fauci and claimed COVID-19 is “activated” by face masks. Following an outcry on social media, Sinclair said it would “spend the coming days bringing together other viewpoints and provide additional context.” Stations were notified not to air the segment and will be re-airing last week’s episode in its place.

Michell Obama will have a special guest for the July 29 premiere of her Spotify show, The Michelle Obama Podcast. Former president Barack Obama will join his wife for “an intimate conversation about community, the love that powers our relationships, and their life after the White House.”

Netflix ordered two documentaries focused on the Deaf community in the US. Eight-part Deaf U, following a group of students a Gallaudet University, premieres October 8; film Audible is film centered on a senior athlete at Maryland School for the Deaf.

Netflix also picked up Outer Banks for season two. The coming-of-age drama follows a group of teens in North Carolina.

Anime series Fena: Pirate Princess is being co-produced by Adult Swim and Crunchyroll. The series, with animation by Prodiction IG, will debut on Adult Swim’s Toonami and stream on Crunchyroll in 2021.

Monica Owusu-Breen (Midnight, Texas) has boarded ABC’s Stumptown for season two as executive producer. The series is produced by ABC Studios alongside 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television Studios.

Ben Platt (The Politician), Hannibal Buress (The Eric Andre Show) and Monty Python’s Michael Palin are among the upcoming guest stars on Fox’s The Simpsons, it was revealed at Comic-Con@Home. The animated comedy returns Sunday, September 27.

Also getting animated for Fox next season are Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Kristen Schaal (Bob’s Burgers) and Natasha Lyonne (Ad Astra), who will guest on Bless the Harts, back September 27.

CARRIAGE UPDATES

Comcast and Sinclair Broadcast Group renewed their carriage deal covering 78 Sinclair stations in 51 markets across Comcast’s cable footprint. The deal was reached ahead of Friday’s Chicago Cubs season opener, airing on the team’s new TV home, Marquee Sports Network, the RSN venture between Sinclair and the Cubs.

Scripps broadcast stations in 42 markets went dark on DISH on Saturday. “Our impasse, after five months of discussions, is not about the rates DISH pays us but their inability to agree on other distribution terms,” said Brian Lawlor, President of Local Media for Scripps. “We hope DISH will recognize the importance of our programming to its customers and our viewers and help us to resolve this dispute.” Countered Andy LeCuyer, SVP DISH Programming, “While the nation faces the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and Hurricane Hanna makes landfall, viewers need access to their local news and programming. On behalf of customers, we ask Scripps to stop punishing its own viewers so we can focus on reaching a fair deal.” Scripps said this is the first time it has gone dark with a pay TV distributor.

COMING UP

Kicking off Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, researchers will use decoys, drones and underwater cameras to check on the shark population in Air Jaws: Ultimate Breach Off, bowing Sunday, August 9 at 8p.

Apple landed rights to documentary feature Fireball. The film from Werner Herzog reveals how shooting stars, meteorites and deep impacts have focused the human imagination on other realms.

Season 11 of Fox’s Bob’s Burgers will feature a pandemic episode – but it was written before the coronavirus crisis erupted, shared producer Nora Smith during Comic-Con@Home. The episode, “Worms of In-Rear-ment,” is about a pinworm epidemic, said Smith, adding, “It just seemed like a fun pandemic story. And then this happened and I was like, people are going to think we’re joking about it. Hopefully, it’s more fun because it’s about anus stuff. There’s a lot of handwashing.” On a more serious note, series creator Loren Bouchard talked about the importance of bringing more women into animation. “The animation industry is a bit on the white male side I would say until very recently,” he said. “I think a lot of us are actively trying to change that.”

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

A Mexican version of The Masked Singer, ¿Quién Es la Máscara?, premieres on Univision on Sunday, August 2 at 8p. Omar Chaparro will host the singing competition. The Mexican take on the format, based on the original South Korean show, aired last year.

The end is near for History’s Vikings, which will air the second half of its sixth and final season later this year. “I think the conclusion of the saga is deeply satisfying, a proper and meaningful ending,” said series creator Michael Hirst at Comic-Con@Home. “I tried to do justice to all of my characters.”

AMC’s The Walking Dead: World Beyond makes its debuts October 4 at 10p, as a lead-out to The Walking Dead. The newcomer the TWD franchise was originally slated for an April premiere, but was postponed due to the pandemic. Fear the Walking Dead is back for season six on Sunday, October 11; dates were revealed at Comic-Con@Home.

Season 11 of FXX’s Archer premieres Wednesday, September 16 at 10p, and the next day on FX and Hulu. The animated comedy follows Sterling Archer’s return to the spy world after a three-year coma.

Weekly series All Hands, focused on the efforts needed to incite change, launches on Cheddar on Wednesday, July 29 at 11:30a. Magic Johnson and Lisa Wardell, CEO of Adtalem Gobal Education, appear on the premiere episode.

STREAMING SCOOP

ABC News Live is expanding original programming into daytime. ABC News Live Updates start today, July 27 at 9a; updates at 11a, 12p and 3p will be added in the coming weeks. Diane Macedo is anchoring. “There has been sky high interest in ABC News Live the first half of this year,” said ABC News Live senior executive producer Justin Dial in a note to the news division. “Since January 2020, 20 million viewers have tuned-in monthly, an increase of +142% year-over-year; viewers stream over 4.5 million hours each week.”

GOING GLOBAL

UK’s Sky Media, the advertising sales arm of Sky, has announced its partnership with TV attribution company TVSquared to launch a direct web attribution tool across linear, on-demand and addressable TV advertising campaigns. Sky Media’s viewing panel will link to an advertiser’s online analytics to track where audiences have come from. “TV continues to remain the most trusted and impactful way for brands to engage current and future customers, illustrated by the growing number of digital native brands turning to TV,” said Dev Sangani, Director of Strategy and Capability, Sky Media. “It’s really exciting to see the results for these campaigns come through. Our emerging insights show that there is a 50-100% increase in web visits attributed to TV versus traditional models. Clearly that means TV’s impact on advertising performance has been wildly underestimated.”

The Seven Network has commissioned Znak&Co’s Ultimate Tag from Endemol Shine Australia. The format’s launch on Fox in May marks broadcast’s highest-rated unscripted summer debut in three years and Fox’s highest-rated and most-watched unscripted Summer debut in eight years.

Pernell Media has been commissioned by France Télévisions Group to produce a two-hour documentary special about Julius Caesar’s conquest of Gaul. The special been pre-acquired by an undisclosed US broadcaster as well as Histoire TV in France. Production begins this summer.

Taiwanese multiple-system operator Taiwan Optical Platform has expanded its entertainment offering by adding WarnerMedia’s regional streaming service HBO GO. “It has been quite an impressive journey for HBO GO this year,” said Clement Schwebig, Managing Director of WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks, Southeast Asia, Pacific and China. “While there are other alternative platforms available in Taiwan, our direction is clear – this launch confirms our commitment to the cable-TV ecosystem.”

The 90 Day franchise continued its demo dominance the week of July 13, giving TLC the top two programs for the week on all of TV in primetime among W18-49/18-34 with 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way and 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?.

For week 3 of July, ID ranked as the #1 cable network in Total Day for W25-54 in Live+3 ratings, now ranking #2 in the demo July to-date.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Thursday, July 23
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Holey Moley 2.54 (0.5), Don’t 1.94 (0.4), To Tell the Truth 2.32 (0.4)
CBS: Young Sheldon 4.11 (0.5), The Unicorn 3.01 (0.4), Mom 3.08 (0.4), Mom 3.13 (0.4), NCIS: Los Angeles 2.55 (0.3)
CW: Killer Camp 0.40 (0.1), Masters of Illusion 0.37 (0.1), Masters of Illusion 0.36 (0.1)
FOX: Celebrity Watch Party 1.43 (03), Beat Shazam 1.44 (0.3)
NBC: Ellen’s Game of Games 2.64 (04), Blindspot 1.70 (0.3), Law & Order: SVU 1.85 (0.2)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos 0.99 (0.3), Cennet 1.10 (0.3), Enemigo Intimo 0.82 (0.3)
Univision: Te Toy La Vida 1.94 (0.6), Medicos Linea de Vida 1.58 (0.5), Como Tu No Hay 1.65 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Australia’s Beyond International named Kate Llewellyn-Jones as CEO of its international distribution division. Most recently, Llewellyn-Jones was a commercial consultant.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
On an actress’ last episode of which sitcom did her real-life husband play her groom, and her real-life brother and sister play her siblings? On The Odd Couple (1970-75), Penny Marshall’s character, Myrna, marries Sheldn (Rob Reiner), with siblings Garry and Ronnie in attendance. Kudos to: David Rubisohn-American Public Television/Boston, Ted Linhart-NBCUniversal/NYC, Richard Mann-Mann Marketing/Dumont, NJ

Today’s Trivia Question
Which presidential campaign produced the first nationally televised debate? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four.)