Today’s Finales
History: Alone at 8p
Oxygen: Killer Couples at 8p
Science Channel: Strange Evidence at 9p

IN THE NEWS

US cable network affiliate fees declined for the first time in 2Q20. Revenue slipped 3%, to $9 billion, according to MoffettNathanson Research. “With cord-cutting at record levels, price increases are no longer enough to offset distribution declines, and alongside heavy RSN rebates,” said Craig Moffett, senior research analyst, MoffettNathanson. Retrans fee revenues for broadcast networks were up 15%, to $2.1 billion.

Facebook announced it is making changes after removing 790 groups and over 1500 ads tied to conspiracy group QAnon. “We have seen growing movements that, while not directly organizing violence, have celebrated violent acts, shown that they have weapons and suggest they will use them, or have individual followers with patterns of violent behavior,” said Facebook. “We are expanding our Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy to address organizations and movements that have demonstrated significant risks to public safety but do not meet the rigorous criteria to be designated as a dangerous organization and banned from having any presence on our platform.” Restrictions will be imposed to limit the spread of content from Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts.

Seventy-three percent of Americans believe it is very or somewhat likely that major social media platforms intentionally censor political viewpoints they disagree with, according to a poll from Pew. Nine out of ten Republicans polled shared that opinion, versus 59% of Democrats.

NBC News deleted a tweet posted on Tuesday about the Democratic convention, saying it “should have included more detail on the nominating process. The tweet read, “In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden: ‘I hereby second the nomination of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont for the president of the United States of America.’” Ocasio-Ortez noted convention rules require a nomination for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold, and it was her role to second Sanders’ nomination. “I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden – let’s go win in November,” tweeted the congresswoman, who has endorsed Biden.

OWN employees will have national and presidential election days as paid days off, announced Oprah Winfrey. The move, in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote, is intended to ensure employees can vote and volunteer. “I challenge other companies to do the same because this might be the most important election of our lives,” said Winfrey. “Together we can overcome all obstacles in order to exercise our right to vote.”

The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, the zoo featured in Netflix’s Tiger King, has closed to the public after its exhibition license was suspended. The park will be “a private film set for Tiger King related television content for cable and streaming services,” said a post from current zoo owner Jeff Lowe.

Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, Lionel Ritchie and Ryan Seacrest will be back for the new season of American Idol on ABC, set to debut in 2021. “Katy, Lionel and Luke are fun, astute and really know how to spot talent,” said Fremantle executive producer Trish Kinane. “Their chemistry is undeniable.”

Don’t mess with Judge Judy. Syndicated court show star Judy Sheindlin punched back at a $5 million breach of contract suit filed by Rebel Entertainment and talent agent Richard Lawrence over a packaging claim with a $22 million lawsuit alleging unlawful/unfair business practices and unjust enrichment. “Lawrence did not package the Judge Judy daytime television series and yet, in what is the most absurd, unconscionable and unlawful purported packaging fee arrangement in the history of television, Lawrence and his agency have been paid in excess of Twenty-Two Million Dollars ($22,000,000) in fees – effectively stealing from the Series’ bona fide profit participants, including Sheindlin,” the filing says. “Sheindlin demands that Lawrence return his ill-gotten gains for the good of all of the profit participants in the Series.” Sheindlin says if she wins, she’ll donate her cut of the lost profit participation dollars – a cool $4 million – to Stand Up to Cancer.

The pandemic continues to impact the video advertising ecosystem, according to the latest Video Benchmarks Report from Extreme Reach. Following a pronounced drop in 1Q20, the share of video impressions served to CTV platforms rose to 40% in the second quarter, per aggregate metrics from ER’s AdBridge platform. This increase brings the proportion of impressions closer to the range observed throughout 2019.
Other findings, which reflects video advertising performance metrics for April through June, include:
* Media aggregators rise: The percent of impressions served through premium publishers fell to 65 percent, its lowest point since 3Q18. Inversely, the share of impressions served via media aggregators increased from 22% in Q1 to 35% in Q2. This suggests that as some advertisers reduced marketing budgets in response to the softened economy, more of the inventory that was previously available only through premium vendors became available on exchanges.
* 30-second ads solidify dominance with 79% share of impressions. Extreme Reach did note a slight decrease in completion rates for ads of this duration, which can be attributed to the increase in viewing on platforms that enable viewers to skip ads.
* Mobile in-app ads saw higher impressions, and better completion rates than ads on mobile web.

Netflix renewed Warrior Nun for a second season. The drama is inspired by the Manga novels about a 19-year-old who discovers she is part of an ancient order that fights demons.

Also headed for season two is Apple’s Ted Lasso, starring and exec produced by SNL alum Jason Sudeikis. The sports comedy ranked as the top program on Apple TV+ its first weekend in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Canada, France and Mexico.

Sarah Hyland will reunite with her Modern Family dad, Ty Burrell, to star in comedy Yours, Mine & Paul, from Burrell’s Desert Whale Productions. The project, in development at ABC and 20th Television, centers on a woman who agrees to be a surrogate for her best friend, Paul, and his husband – then Paul dies.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Vital Signs with Dr. Sanjay Gupta premieres for the first time in Spanish, on HITN TV on Thursday, September 3 at 4p, during the Vida y Salud programming block.

Season eleven of Archer debuts Wednesday, September 16 on FXX with back-to-back episodes at 10p and 10:30p.

STREAMING SCOOP

Pluto TV added a dozen new channels including Three’s Company, Johnny Carson TV, Dabl, The Rifleman, Demand Africa, Western TV, Classic TV Comedy, Classic TV Drama, Pluto TV Love Stories, Pluto TV Suspense and Pluto TV Fantastic. The ViacomCBS streamer also reconfigured its streaming lineup based on audience behavior data to make it easier for viewers to find what they want to watch.

Netflix is testing a “Shuffle Play” button that offers viewers a chance to watch TV and movie titles randomly selected by the service. The idea is to help viewers find content tailored to their preferences. Versus searching and searching and searching….

Peacock announced its first original sports talk program, Brother From Another with Holley and Smith. Journalists Michael Holley and Michael Smith will co-executive produce and co-host on weekday afternoons, discussing the news across sport, culture, entertainment, and politics. The show will start streaming live on the NBC Sports on Peacock channel in September, date TBA.

Endemol Shine inked a deal to distribute additional series with Fox Entertainment AVOD Tubi in the US. This agreement will see MasterChef and LEGO Masters available for distribution on the platform.

TECH TALK

CTV has become the fastest growing digital media channel and the highest growth environment for fraud, according to DoubleVerify’s 2020 Global Insights Report. Since March 2019, DV has identified 1,300 fraudulent CTV apps, with over 60% of those detected in 2020 alone. DoubleVerify also detected a 161% increase in fraudulent CTV traffic rates in 1Q20 versus 1Q19, and found that while CTV fraud impacts both programmatic and direct buying channels, inventory transacted through DV-certified programmatic marketplaces saw the lowest incidence of fraud, followed by direct and other programmatic supply. Non-certified programmatic CTV saw a Fraud Rate over 11x higher than CTV transacted through DV-certified marketplaces, and approximately 9x higher than publisher-direct buys.

On Wednesday, Apple became the first US company to hit $2 trillion in market capitalization after its share price rose to $467.77. Apple was the first public company to reach $1 trillion in value in 2018.

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED!

In the face of surprising acquisitions, privacy concerns, and drops in ad spend, we at Cynopsis are blown away by the incredible work we see the ad tech community producing – and we want everyone to hear about it. See who made the cut and stay tuned for ceremony details coming on early December.

[ VIEW FINALISTS ]

On a slow Tuesday night, NBC’s America’s Got Talent won the evening with 5.6 million viewers and 0.7 among A18-49. ABC’s What Would You Do? scored season lows of 1.8 million viewers and 0.3 in the demo, while CW’s Tell Me a Story drew its smallest audience so far, 290,000 viewers.

BET original docuseries No Limit Chronicles delivered 3.1 million total viewers P2+ during its three-week premiere run simulcast across BET and BET Her in Live+3 Nielsens.

During the month of July, Outdoor Sportsman Group networks Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel report they ranked among the Top 20 basic cable networks in year-over-year growth with M25-54. Both nets also experienced growth among high-income households ($100K+).

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Tuesday, August 11
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Modern Family 1.857 (0.3), Modern Family 1.47 (0.3), What Would You Do? 1.77 (0.3) Democratic Convention 2.25 (0.3)
CBS: NCIS 4.59 (0.3), FBI 3.49 (0.3), Democratic Convention 2.07 (0.3)
CW: Dead Pixels 0.42 (0.1), Whose Line Is It Anyway 0.30 (0.0), Tell Me a Story 0.29 (0.0)
FOX: Hell’s Kitchen 1.35 (0.3), Prodigal Son 0.65 (0.2)
NBC: America’s Got Talent 5.58 (0.7), Democratic Convention 2.32 (0.3)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos 1.18 (0.4), Cennet 1.34 (0.4), Enemigo Entimo 0.84 (0.3)
Univision: Rosa de Guadelupe 1.27 (0.4), Medicos Linea de Vida 1.46 (0.4), Como Tu No Hay 1.86 (0.6)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVE

WME Partner and Literary Agent Melissa Myers has been named President and Partner of a new venture between Kinetic Content founder and CEO Chris Coelen, and Red Arrow Studios.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who played Casablanca’s Rick in short-lived TV prequel to the classic film? David Soul. Kudos to: Charles Lore/NYC, David Rubinsohn-American Public Television/Boston, Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL, Mark Mondry-NBCU/NYC, Kevin Moran-Blarney Productions/Pasadena, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, Susan Burchfield-KDNL/St. Louis, John Kukla-KDFW/Dallas, Tom Boyd-WGN/Chicago, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Midway through a Republican National convention, which journalist announced he was ending his convention broadcasts because the events had become an “infomercial” for the nominees, not a news event? (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.)