|
PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Lifetime announced two new Ripped from the Headlines movies, “Let’s Get Physical” and “The Disappearance of Cari Farver” from executive producers Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, under their Milojo Productions banner as part of the previously announced partnership with Lifetime. “Let’s Get Physical” stars and is also executive produced by Jenna Dewan via her Everheart Productions with Kyle McNally, and features Jennifer Irwin and Michael Consuelos. “The Disappearance of Cari Farver” stars Lea Thompson, Zach Gilford and Alicia Witt. Both films will debut this October on Lifetime.
Lifetime is also gearing up for the holidays, with two new movies for the net’s 2022 It’s a Wonderful Lifetime slate. Rita Moreno will star in “Santa Bootcamp” along with Marissa Jaret Winokur (“Hairspray”), Emily Kinney (“The Walking Dead”) and Justin Gaston (“Nashville Star”). The film is directed by Melissa Joan Hart, who starred with Winokur in the network’s 2018 “A Very Nutty Christmas.” Sarah Drew (“Grey’s Anatomy”) will serve as star, executive producer and writer of “Reindeer Games Homecoming,” reuniting with “Grey’s” alum Justin Breuning for the project.
Warner Bros. Television Group has signed an overall deal with “Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson. Under the terms of the deal, Brunson will continue to serve as executive producer, writer, and star of ABC’s freshman hit. “Quinta Brunson is a tour de force and a powerhouse talent, and we are beyond thrilled to be continuing our partnership with her through this new overall deal,” said Channing Dungey, Warner Bros. Television Group Chairman. “What Quinta and her ‘Abbott Elementary’ team have achieved in the first season is just extraordinary.”
“Grantchester” has been renewed for season eight by PBS Masterpiece and ITV. “A series that just gets better with age,” said lead actor Robson Greene of his TV home. “Everyone involved is at the top of their game and this incredibly charming, likeable, dark and edgy show is an absolute privilege to be part of.”
Apple TV+ ordered a third season of dramedy “Physical,” starring Rose Byrne as a bulimic housewife-turned-aerobics star.
Also renewed for a third season is Starz’ “Power Book III: Raising Kanan.” The drama’s second season kicks off August 14.
Electric Entertainment has closed a $100 million loan credit facility with Bank of America. The five-year agreement will be initially used for Electric’s production slate that includes “Leverage: Redemption,” “The Ark,” and “Almost Paradise,” among other programs. “With the advent and continuation of the streaming industry’s growth, we have been lucky to continue to do what we do best – create original scripted programs that audiences love,” said Dean Devlin, CEO of Electric Entertainment. “With not only our broadcast, but now our streaming channel and platform partners, our content is in higher demand as our distribution expansion has become far-reaching.”
Lauren Ambrose (“Six Feet Under”) has joined the season two cast of Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” in a series regular role as the adult version of Van. Liv Hewson, who plays the teen version of Van, has been upped to series regular.
COMING UP
Kane Brown will make his “VMAs” debut from the Toyota Stage with a first-time TV performance of “Grand,” a single from his third album. Toyota’s fourth year as exclusive sponsor of “VMAs” remote performances will include Mixed Reality technology, powered by The Famous Group (NFL Wild Card Slime Game on Nickelodeon). The show airs Sunday, August 28 on MTV.
Starting August 18, Disney+ original movie “Rise” will stream across Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for a limited time. The film is based on the real-life story of the family that gave the world the first trio of brothers to become NBA champions.
“The Gabby Petito Story” is set to premiere Saturday, October 1 at 8p on Lifetime. Skyler Samuels (“Scream Queens”) stars as Gabby Petito and Evan Hall (“Orange Is the New Black”) as her killer, Brian Laundrie. Timed to the one-year disappearance of Petito, the movie is part of Lifetime’s Stop Violence Against Women public affairs initiative.
“Cinderella: The Reunion, A Special Edition of 20/20” will air Tuesday, August 23 at 8p on ABC. The 25th anniversary celebration of “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” will feature cast members Brandy, Whoopi Goldberg, Paolo Montalban, Victor Garber, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander and Veanne Cox, and be followed by a presentation of the film for the first time on broadcast television in more than two decades.
HBO Original documentary film “Escape From Kabul,” directed by Jamie Roberts (“Four Hours at the Capitol”) and executive produced by Dan Reed (“Leaving Neverland” and “Four Hours at the Capitol”), debuts Wednesday, September 21 at 9p on HBO.
Shudder kicks off its annual 61-day Halloween event beginning Thursday, September 1, this year featuring a lineup of new films and new original series, along with other treats. “Halloween is the best time of year on Shudder, and this Halloween, we’re featuring the best lineup of programming in our history,” said Shudder General Manager Craig Engler. “We have 11 original and exclusive movie premieres, including a new film from horror master Dario Argento, a Halloween special from superstar host Joe Bob Briggs, and three new series — from Bryan Fuller, The Boulet Brothers, and the producers of Eli Roth’s History of Horror.”
The American Film Institute’s AFI Awards 2022 honorees-only event will take place on Friday, January 13, 2023, at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles. The awards celebrate film and television arts’ collaborative nature, recognizing those in front of and behind the camera. Submissions and deadlines will be announced in the coming weeks.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Season three of TLC’s “The Single Life” kicks off Monday, September 12 at 8p. The reality series follows alums of the “90 Day” franchise who are re-entering the dating scene.
New 10-part series “Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin” offers a look at how elite adventure athletes prepare for high-stakes endeavors, starting Monday, September 5 at 9:30p on National Geographic.
NBC’s “Capital One College Bowl” kicks off its sophomore season with back-to-back episodes on Friday, September 9 at 8p. Peyton Manning and Cooper Manning host as the colleges and universities face off in the ultimate battle of brains.
New HGTV series “Renovation Impossible” premieres Thursday, September 8 at 9p, as Russell J. Holmes (“Garage Rehab,” “Fast N’ Loud”) salvages projects hampered by homeowner’s unrealistic expectations and opposing design visions.
A new primetime programming block for Unimas launches on Monday, August 22 at 7p with “¡Sientese Quien Pueda!”, a one-hour entertainment show hosted by Julián Gil. Gil will be joined by a panel of experts including Colombian journalist Lucho Borrego, Mexican reporter and on-air personality Karla Gómez, Ecuadorian presenter Alejandra Jaramillo, Spanish reporter Álex Rodríguez, and Venezuelan singer-songwriter and actress Liliana Rodríguez.
STREAMING
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment has completed the acquisition of Redbox Entertainment. The combined companies now offer AVOD, over 145 FAST channels, transactional video on demand, and a network of over 36,000 kiosks. The company expects revenue to more than triple through this acquisition to approximately $500 million annually. Galen C. Smith, former CEO of Redbox, has been appointed to the new role of Executive Vice Chairman of Redbox and Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, and Jonathan Katz has been named president of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. Katz previously held senior executive roles at Scripps Networks, Katz Networks, and Turner Broadcasting.
Future Today announced an expanded partnership with Hasbro’s entertainment studio, Entertainment One, to add 750 additional episodes of content to AVOD HappyKids. “We are dedicated to offering content that both educates and entertains through iconic brands and TV shows,” said David Di Lorenzo, SVP of Kids & Family at Future Today. “With our growing audience, driven by the surge in adoption of free, ad-supported streaming, we want to continue to meet demand with high-quality content that keeps viewers engaged.”
Hallmark Movies Now is now available on LG Smart TVs. The launch comes as the service rolls out including Season 6 of original series “Chesapeake Shores” and Hallmark films such as “Sand Dollar Cove,” “Sweet Pecan Summer,” and more.
Shows hosted by Zerlina Maxwell and Ayman Mohyeldin have been cut from MSNBC’s Peacock hub, but they’ll likely still be at MSNBC. Starting next month, the news net hopes to have Maxwell to serve as an analyst, while Mohyeldin will continue his weekend cable show.
XUMO has partnered with Magnolia Pictures in a two-year distribution deal that brings movie titles to the FAST market for the first time. These “first on FAST” movies will be streamed on an ongoing basis with a new title launching nearly every month, each available during an exclusive three-month window. Additionally, XUMO has partnered with Oscilloscope and Brainstorm Media, adding to its roster of media providers selecting XUMO as its first and exclusive FAST partner.
TECH TALK
Meta introduced Advantage+ shopping campaigns to advertisers globally. “We’ve found that 52% of consumers want to find brands and products they haven’t heard about but align with their shopping preferences,” said the company on its website. “Through Advantage+ solutions, advertisers can tap into the power of AI to provide more relevant campaigns to the people who matter most to their businesses.” Advantage+ shopping eliminates the manual steps of ad creation and automates up to 150 creative combinations at once. Rolling out to ecommerce and retail advertisers on August 15, the Advantage+ shopping campaigns tool is powered by new machine learning models.
TikTok is launching new ad-targeting tools aimed at providing users with information about the ads they see on the app. “About this ad” enables users to tap on an ad and see why TikTok selected that ad for them. By going to the “share” menu in the lower right corner of an ad, users can access the personalized ad targeting information, and make changes to their preferences.
Ninety-five percent of kids 13-17 report using YouTube, followed by 67% for TikTok, according to the Pew Research Center. Only 32% of people in the demo now use Facebook, down from 71% in 2015. Instagram grew from 52% in 2015 to 62% now, and Snapchat rose from 41% to 59%. Twitter dipped from 33% to 23%, and Tumblr fell from 14% to 5%.
Video data platform Iris.TV announced an integration with AI-powered adtech solutions provider Silverpush. “For brands looking to shift their linear television investment to Connected TV, transparency and brand safety should be the top priority,” said Kartik Mehta, Co-Founder and COO of Silverpush. “With our partnership with IRIS.TV, brands can now leverage our contextual data to ensure every dollar spent on premium and CTV video aligns with industry-standard safety and suitability frameworks while having full transparency into their buys in these preferred video buying environments.”
The US Justice Department is reportedly planning to sue Google as soon as September for illegally dominating the digital advertising market, according to Bloomberg. Not a good thing, argued Google. “Our advertising technologies help websites and apps fund their content, and enable small businesses to reach customers around the world,” said Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels. “The enormous competition in online advertising has made online ads more relevant, reduces ad tech fees, and expanded options for publishers and advertisers.” The first suit the DOJ filed against Google, for “unlawfully maintaining monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising in the United States,” is still being fought in court.
SPORTS
Telemundo Deportes announced an expanded lineup of experts joining its commentary team as it kicks off the 100-day countdown to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 this fall, airing live in Spanish on Telemundo, Universo and Peacock. Former Mexican national team head coach Miguel “Piojo” Herrera, Real Madrid and Spanish national team legend Fernando Hierro, World Cup champions Mauro Silva of Brazil and Claudio Borghi of Argentina, and 2010 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball winner Diego Forlán of Uruguay are some of the soccer personalities providing an “on-the-pitch” perspective and expert analysis.
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are honoring the life and legacy of 11-time NBA champion and civil rights pioneer Bill Russell by permanently retiring his uniform number, 6, throughout the league. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer will be the first player to have his number retired across the NBA. In addition to retiring Russell’s number, the NBA will pay tribute to the Boston Celtics’ legend throughout the 2022-23 season.
Prime Video gave an official greenlight to Good Neighbors, a three-part docuseries about the rivalry between the Mexican and American national men’s soccer teams. The docuseries will debut this fall around the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The men’s national teams from both the US and Mexico qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which kicks off in November.
The BIG EAST Conference inked a three-year extension to its agreement with FloSports, the home of the BIG EAST Digital Network presented by SoFi. BEDN on FloSports featured more than 600 BIG EAST events during the 2021-22 season.
Yahoo Sports announced the second season of “Ekeler’s Edge,” featuring Los Angeles Chargers running back, fantasy star and entrepreneur Austin Ekeler. The renewed series, slated to debut on September 7, will consist of 18 one-hour episodes airing every Wednesday during football season. Season Two will also introduce a podcast companion to the series, featuring Ekeler’s insight into the week’s best matchups, his fantasy prospects while also helping fantasy managers with their lineups.
MSG Networks named Bill Spaulding as the Devils new play-by-play announcer. Spaulding replaces Steve Cangialosi, who stepped down earlier this year after 11 seasons in the booth and most recently served as a play-by-play broadcaster for college hockey on NBC Sports and college football on ESPN.
GOING GLOBAL
Armoza Formats’ scripted comedy “La Famiglia” has been commissioned in Georgia by the Georgian Public Broadcaster. The first season will consist of 30 episodes.
“Love Island” is headed to Greece. Skai TV is the 23rd network to order the ITV Studios reality show, to be produced locally by Silverline.
|
