Today’s Finales
Facebook Watch: Unfiltered: Paris Jackson and Gabriel Glenn at 6a
ID: The Murder Tapes at 10p

IN THE NEWS

MSNBC is tweaking its daily lineup, with Nicolle Wallace’s Deadline: White House expanding to two hours. Chuck Todd’s MTP Daily will move to 1p, and a 3p show will be anchored by foreign correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin. Todd’s Meet the Press will expand into streaming, with a weekly program slated to launch in September. Todd will also anchor pre- and post-event programming for political news. The changes take place August 19, the first day of the Democratic National Convention.

News from National Geographic’s virtual TCA Summer Press Tour include the acquisition of docu-series City So Real, a portrait of contemporary Chicago that will include a newly-created fifth hour focused on stories during the pandemic and recent social unrest…Earth Day special event Secrets of the Whales will have James Cameron as executive producer and Sigourney Weaver as narrator…2021’s Shark Fest lineup will include Shark Beach (wt), featuring The Avengers star/environmentalist Chris Hemsworth…Specials Bin Laden’s Hard Drive, an analysis of Osama Bin Laden’s newly declassified personal files, premieres Thursday, September 10 at 9p; and Virus Hunters, chronicling the efforts of experts on the front lines to stop the next pandemic, debuts Sunday, November 1 at 9p. Jane Mun (Legendary) will serve as showrunner for new series Cesar’s Way, starring dog whisperer Cesar Millan. The hire comes as the company has committed to significantly increase diversity in the ranks of its showrunners, writers and filmmakers. “We still have much work to do with respect to diversity and inclusion and I look forward to sharing our specific plans in the coming months,” said Courteney Monroe, President of National Geographic Global Television Networks, at TCA.

Distribution for Crown Media Family Networks’ Hallmark Drama has topped 42 million homes, a 46% increase over the June UE of 26.7 million homes. “Hallmark Drama is the fastest growing linear cable network, making it abundantly clear that the appetite for our distinct brand of positive, feel-good storytelling is stronger than ever,” said Erin McIlvain, EVP, Content Strategy & Distribution.

Only 50% of fans plan to view the same amount of NBA and MLB games as last year, while 67% plan to view about the same amount of NFL games when they return, according to research from Reach3 Insights. Seventy-five percent of respondents said they were worried about the safety of the players, but 65% in each sport group saying the leagues are doing the right things in terms of re-opening.

Charter Communications surpassed 30 million customers during the first half of 2020. Since Charter’s merger with Time Warner Cable and acquisition of Bright House Networks in 2016, the company has added nearly 5 million customers while investing approximately $40 billion in network infrastructure and technology. “Exceeding 30 million customers is a significant milestone in our company’s history and is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees,” said Thomas M. Rutledge, Charter’s Chairman and CEO since 2012. “Our continued growth at a time of rapid technological evolution in our industry underscores the soundness of our long-term business planning, the investments we have made in our advanced network, and our commitment to providing our customers the best broadband connectivity products and services.”

ABC’s The Bachelorette might really have its most shocking season ever if reports are to be believed that the dating show’s lead, Clare Crawley, will be replaced by Bachelor alum Tayshia Adams mid-season. According to Variety, there “is some validity” to rumors that Crawley fell in love with a contestant early on and refused to continue filming season 16. “It’s shaping up to be a very interesting season creatively,” a production insider told Variety.

Join us next Wednesday (AUGUST 12) at 2p as we applaud sports media’s champions and rally behind them during the Virtual Cynopsis Sports Media Awards. Will you be there? Click here to view finalists and register for free today.

GMA3: Strahan, Sara & Keke, will not be returning to ABC, said co-host Keke Palmer on Watch What Happens Live. The Good Morning America extension last aired a new episode in March, when it was replaced by Pandemic: What You Need to Know.

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HBO’s In Treatment is coming back – and traveling cross-country. The drama, which ran from 2008-2010, will return for a fourth season, moving to California from New York thanks to about $6 million in tax incentives. “We are very grateful for the relocation incentive and the opportunity to base more production in California,” said Production EVP Janet Graham Borba. “The state’s ongoing efforts to promote film and TV production have a very significant impact.”

Also lured to California by the state’s tax credit program is TBS anthology comedy Miracle Workers, moving from the Czech Republic. In Treatment and Miracle Workers will spend a combined $40 million on below-the-line wages and expenditures during their first seasons in California.

Apple inked a first-look deal with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, covering TV projects and documentaries. Apple was already collaborating with Appian on feature Killers of the Flower Moon and thriller series Shining Girls.

Lifetime had to pivot when Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested a month before docu-series Surviving Jeffrey Epstein was set to premiere. The fourth hour of the series was refocused to update the story. “It was crazy timing, as we were coming to the finish line as the arrest happened,” said filmmaker Anne Sundberg during the net’s virtual TCA presentation. “We had a different form of conclusion. This story is not over.” The two-night event airs August 9 at 8p and August 10 at 9p.

Lifetime extended its partnership with GMA’s Robin Roberts for four new movies under the Robin Roberts Presents banner. First up: biopic Robin Roberts Presents: The Mahalia Jackson Story, starring Danielle Brooks as the gospel singer.

Lifetime is also expanding its Married at First Sight franchise with Married At First Sight: Unmatchables, featuring applicants that didn’t make the cut for the mother ship. “Each season we see so many amazing, complex and charming people that apply for the main show, but we simply can’t match everyone,” said Gena McCarthy, EVP Development and Programming Lifetime Unscripted. “Unmatchables allows these people a shot at love following our expert-led interventions and transformations.” As for Married at First Sight, the big kahuna was renewed for seasons 12-17.

Amazon Studios renewed Hunters for a second season. The Amazon Prime Video conspiracy thriller stars Al Pacino as a Nazi hunter in 1977 New York.

Fastest Cars in the Dirty South was renewed for season two by MotorTrend TV, and is slated to shift into gear in 1Q21. Season one became MotorTrend TV’s #2 series for M18-34, #4 series for P/M 25-54 and a top 10 series overall.

Meet the 2020 Cynopsis Top Women in Media Honorees! These trailblazers (view here) are powering through a pandemic with breakout campaigns, creative strategies and motivational content. Join us from 2p–3p daily (Oct 13 – 16) as we applaud these honorees during the virtual awards event. Registration is free – click here to get started.

ADVERTISING

Diving into Discovery’s “Shark Week” for the first time are sponsors Jeep, Heineken 0.0,Nationwide, Burger King, Home Depot, Modelo, Gorilla Glue and Cooper Tire. They join returnee GEICO. “Every year, we see high demand for Shark Week, both from clients and consumers, and consistently we have proven that Shark Week delivers with creative, custom content that drives ratings and audience engagement,” said Scott Kohn, EVP, Ad Sales at Discovery, Inc. “Our ability to create custom content for clients during the pandemic mirrors our ability to develop new programming.”

TECH TALK

Microsoft plans to pursue the acquisition ByteDance’s TikTok “in a matter of weeks,” following talks with President Trump, who had threatened to ban the app over national security concerns. “Microsoft appreciates the U.S. Government’s and President Trump’s personal involvement as it continues to develop strong security protections for the country,” said Microsoft. On Monday, Trump said he’ll ban video sharing on TikTok in the US on September 15 if Microsoft, or “a big company, a secure company, very American company” doesn’t close a deal “so that the Treasury of the United States gets a lot of money.”

Sixty-eight percent of digital ad spend in 2020 is expected to be programmatic, according to the IAB International Report on Programmatic In-Housing. With programmatic ad spend in the US set to hit $91 billion by 2021, and third-party cookies vanishing, nearly two-thirds of all US brands have insourced some or all programmatic advertising, said the report. Almost a fifth of brands have completely moved programmatic advertising in-house in 2019, and 51% are taking a hybrid approach, shifting some functions in-house while letting partners handle others – an increase of 4% year-over-year.

Live Board, a joint venture between NTT Docomo and Dentsu, has joined out-of-home marketing organization DPAA. Headquartered in Tokyo, Live Board is the first DOOH network in Japan to offer impression-based, programmatic sales. They’re building an ad network of DOOH screens in locations with heavy foot traffic.

Wideband hybrid fiber wireless internet service provider Starry announced its “Fresh Start” debt forgiveness program, for subscribers who were unable to pay their broadband subscription fee due to the impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis. The Fresh Start program erases debt owed to Starry through July 31, 2020; eligible subscribers start with a zero dollar balance beginning August 1.

COMING UP

Four-network television event Planet Earth: A Celebration premieres Monday, August 31 at 8p across BBC America, AMC, SundanceTV and IFC. The special will premiere on the same day in the US, UK and China, highlighting eight of the most extraordinary sequences from BBCA’s Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II, with new narration from Sir David Attenborough.

Lifetime’s 2020 “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” programming block will feature 30 new movies and over 1200 hours of holiday programming, from mid-October through December. Among the films that have been greenlighted are The Christmas Set Up, the net’s first movie with a LGBTQ romance as the lead story, and A Suger & Spice Holiday, its first holiday movie centered on a Chinese-American family.

Alaskan Bush People returns for a new season on Discovery on Sunday, August 23 at 8p. This time around, the Wolfpack brave subzero temperatures to complete a dream cabin for the family before spring.

HBO Max is launching the first batch of its stand-up comedy specials on Thursday, August 20. The Summer Festival programming binge includes shows from Rose Matafeo, Beth Stelling and Jame Veitch, as well as the HA Comedy Festival.

STREAMING SCOOP

Amazon and WarnerMedia have extended Fire TV device users’ access to the HBO app, rebranded from HBO Now as of August 1. HBO Max remains unavailable to Fire TV and Roku users, though Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos last week expressed optimism about a deal being reached.

Spectrum Networks launched the Spectrum News App, a local news app that combines reporting from existing newsrooms and weather teams, original content, and curated content from partner news organizations. The app also showcases the linear feeds of all Spectrum News networks. “Internet and mobile customers are the fastest growing segments of Spectrum’s customer base, and our viewers are consuming news online more now than ever before,” said Mike Bair, EVP, Spectrum Networks. “The Spectrum News App is the first content product available to all 28 million residential Spectrum customers, adding significant value to our existing local services, but particularly our internet-only customers who could not previously access our news reporting.”

Cinedigm has partnered with streaming service Littlstar to distribute Cinedigm’s portfolio of linear and video-on-demand channels. Littlstar provides content to the gaming ecosystem, reaching over 110 million Sony PlayStation consoles, and hundreds of millions of additional streaming devices including Android TVs, mobile devices, and more. “Cinedigm is on the pulse of what next generation viewers want, and we’re looking forward to innovating together with them to bring cutting edge content to new audiences,” said Tony Mugavero, Co-founder and CEO of Littlstar.”

Starzplay introduced its first lineup of Spanish and Mexican originals. Nacho Vidal, An Industry XXXL looks at the life of the Spanish porn star; crime thriller Express focuses in the rise of kidnappings where people are abducted for an immediate ransom; Senorita Mexico (wt) follows contestants training for the Miss Mexico pageant in the 1980s; and Toda La Sangre will be an adaptation of Bernardo Esquinca’s crime novels.

GOING GLOBAL

All3media international has signed its first deal with Huanxi Media, with the streaming service securing SVOD rights in China to more than 110 hours of factual programming. Twenty-five titles have been added to Huanxi Media’s new non-scripted portfolio.

Kanal D has commissioned new episodes of its local version of US scripted series House from Karga Seven Pictures Turkey, the Turkish outfit of US production company Karga Seven Pictures.

Insight TV will premiere Tomorrowland 2020: InBeat LIVE on Friday, August 7 at 6p, running through Saturday, August 8 across all of its linear and digital networks in 48 countries. The music festival was reimagined due to the cancellation of the live events this past winter in France and in Belgium this summer.

These forward focused individuals are crushing it in the digital space and their success has garnered attention from all facets of media. Cynopsis is calling on you to help us recruit new additions to the Cynopsis Digital “It List” as well as companies waking waves for the Model D Awards. We couldn’t be more excited to spotlight these innovators who are making news and rocking the space.

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WXTV Univision 41 was the No. 1 station in New York in the July sweep in primetime among Total Viewers 2+, A18-49 and A25-54, regardless of language. In less than a year, WXTV’s 11p newscast Solo a las Once (Only at Eleven) has become No. 1 in the market among A18-49, regardless of language, and No. 2 with A18-34 and A25-54.

Shareablee Top 10 TV Shows for the week of July 27
Program, Network, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
E! News (E!) 13.4M, 617, 21,657, 37.8M
Hannity (Fox News) 4.5M, 286, 15,756, 9.4M
The Daily Show (Comedy Central) 2.8M, 123, 22,568, 25.3M
Today Show (NBC) 2.1M, 938, 2,285, 13.7M
Entertainment Tonight (CBSTD/syndicated) 1.7M, 575, 3,013, 9M
Ellen DeGeneres (Warner Bros. – Syndicated) 1.6M, 20, 80,264, 204.8M
Good Morning America (ABC) 1.5M, 918, 1,620, 14M
The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC) 1.4M, 48, 28,334, 12.8M
MLB (FOX) 924.9K, 252, 3,670, 1.9M
Fox & Friends (Fox News) 866.3K, 106, 8,173, 4.8M

Shareablee Top 10 Streaming Shows for the week of July 27
Program, Platform, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
Umbrella Academy (Netflix), 5.3M, 149, 35,324, 2.3M
Cursed (Netflix) 399.4K, 56, 7,132, 161.5M
Netflix Is A Joke (Youtube) 339.3K, 49, 6,925, 2M
The Handmaid’s Tale (Amazon Prime) 265.2K, 24, 11,051, 1.9M
Black Clover (Funimation) 240.2K, 14, 17,157, 619.7K
Toei Animation (Hulu) 211.7K, 31, 6,829, 1.4M
The Boys (Netflix) 194K, 14, 13,853, 562.1K
Ozark (Netflix) 184.9K, 5, 36,983, 603.3K
Looney Tunes (HBO Max) 166.1K, 46, 3,611, 6.3M
One Piece (Funimation) 147.7K, 7, 21,106, 2.9M
Hollywood (Netflix) 142.1K, 5, 28,417, 174.7K (fell out of Top 10)

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Friday, July 31
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Shark Tank 2.698 (0.4), 20/20 2.38 (0.4)
CBS: The Greatest #AtHome Videos 3.26 (0.4), Magnum P.I. 3.02 (0.3), Blue Bloods 3.24 (0.3)
CW: Masters of Illusion 0.52 (0.1), Masters of Illusion 0.47 (0.1), Whose Line Is It Anyway 0.54 (0.1), Whose Line Is It Anyway 0.55 (0.1)
FOX: WWE Friday Night Smackdown 1.89 (0.5)
NBC: The Wall 2.17 (0.3), Dateline Classic 2.97 (0.4)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos 1.06 (0.3), Cennet 0.97 (0.2), Enemigo Intimo 0.70 (0.2)
Univision: Te Doy la Vida 2.00 (0.6), Medicos Linea di Vida 1.55 (0.4), Como Tu No Hay 1.55 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Red Sky Productions has appointed Jacqui Hayden to the new role of Director of Development. Hayden was previously Director of Development at Matchlight.

Shorts International named Russ Armstrong as Chief Operating Officer. Armstrong also held the rold of COO and Airbeem Ltd.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which celebrity appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986-2011) more than anyone besides Winfrey pal Gayle King? Celine Dion appeared 28 times (King made 141 appearances). Kudos to: Andrea Reed Elmore-BET Networks/Hollywood, CA, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Anne Wettig-Fox/LA, Natasha Manners Floy-ABC-TV/NYC, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA/Burbank, Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL

Today’s Trivia Question
The location of which animated series started in Florida, moved to Mississippi, and then Tennessee? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four per time zone.)