Today’s Finales
ABC: To Tell the Truth at 10p
Bravo: The Real Housewives of New York City at 9p
truTV: Tacoma FD at 10p
WE tv: Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Among the celebrity contestants set to tango on season 29 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars are Tiger King’s Carole Baskin, Super Bowl champ Vernon Davis, Olympic figure skater Jonny Weir, Catfish host Nev Shulman, rapper Nelly, and Selling Sunset’s Chrishelle Stause. Tyra Banks (America’s Top Model) hosts, taking the reins from 15-year host Tom Bergeron, starting Monday, September 14 at 8p.

Across the pond, British pro boxer Nicola Adams has joined season 18 of UK competition Strictly Come Dancing. The Olympic gold medalist will be part of the show’s first same-sex couple.

Don’t hold your breath for a deal to be struck with WME and CAA, the WGA warned members. Although the guild has signed an agreement with over 100 agencies, including UTA and ICM Partners, to end packaging fees on writing services by June 30, 2022, and limiting agencies to a 20% ownership stake in affiliated production entities, the two largest packaging agencies remain holdouts. “WME and CAA chose to sit out the negotiation for well over a year, hoping members would give up, and relying on a lawsuit that won’t even go to trial, if at all, until summer 2021,” said the guild’s negotiating committee. “Because of their corporate structures and private equity investors, WME and CAA have to make decisions about the future of their affiliate production companies. We’re happy to hear their plans and proposals, but ultimately it is their responsibility to find a way out of their dilemma.”

Paramount Network canceled 68 Whiskey after one season. While the dark comedy got off to a solid start, delivering 2 million viewers in Live+3 for its premiere, numbers slipped for the rest of the season.

Moderators for the debates between President Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden will be Fox News’ Chris Wallace on September 29; C-SPAN’s Steve Scully for a town hall-style event on October 15; and NBC’s Kristen Welker on October 22. USA Today’s Susan Page will moderate the VP debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris on October 7.

Comedy special James Veitch: Straight to VHS, launched on HBO Max this month, has been removed from the platform following reported allegations of rape and sexual assault from Sarah Lawrence University alums who went to school with him. Veitch will also be edited out of Quibi series Q Talks. The allegations were reported in THR.

ABC’s black-ish will air an hour-long election-themed special tentatively slated for October 4 (depending on the NBA Finals schedule), ahead of the comedy’s official premiere at a date TBD later in the fall. In the first half-hour, Junior is excited to vote for the first time, only to discover he’s been purged from the voter rolls. The second half-hour, which will be animated, has Dre’s boss running for Congress. Matthew A. Cherry (Hair Love) will direct both episodes.

Cynopsis’ That Big TV Conference will be upon us in 3 weeks! One session we’re particularly excited about is the “Up Close & Personal with Mastercard” at 1:45pm on Thursday, Sept. 24. President & CEO of the 4A’s (Marla Kaplowitz) will interview SVP of Global Media for Mastercard (Ben Jankowski). There’s a limited amount of free tickets available, so register today!

David Blaine popped YouTube records with his flight over the Arizona desert using helium balloons. It was the most-watched YouTube Original Live Event ever, with over 770,000 peak concurrent viewers. Blaine reached a height of 24,9000 feet before parachuting to the ground.

The fourth annual Cynopsis Measurement & Data Virtual Event is now this November 17 & 18 from 1:00PM – 4:00PM. Join experts in measurement and data to address the issues of safe data handling, attribution, storytelling with data, and more (view the agenda). Thought leaders will be on-hand from CBS, Comcast, Dentsu, Publicis, OMD, Starcom, USIM & more.

Sponsored by: Gamut – Tubular Labs – Premion – A4

>REGISTER BY 10/27<

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle signed a deal with Netflix that includes scripted series, docu-series, documentaries, features and children’s programming. Several projects, including a nature docu-series and animated series inspiring women, are already in development.

A reboot of Freeform hit Pretty Little Liars is in the works at Warner Bros. Television. Roberto Aguirre-Sacassa (Riverdale) is developing the project under his overall deal with WBTV.

ADVERTISING

Advertising budgets are still reasonably in flux for 2021, according to the IAB’s latest COVID-19 report, 2020/21 Advertising Impact Survey. Only 9% of buyers surveyed said they have clearly defined budgets for 2021, though 70% report having at least ballpark estimates for next year. Of those with estimates, a budget increase of 5.3% is expected. As for 2020, buyers anticipate total ad spend to decline by 8% versus 2019. The study also indicates that digital ad spending will increase in 2020 by 6% versus last year, while traditional media advertising declines 30%.

From May-July 2020, prime time ad revenue for cable TV news nets rose 31.5%, to $158.7 million, versus the prior three-month period, according to Standard Media Index’s AccuTV. Fox News led the way with a 44% lift, to $79.7 million, followed by a 28.4% gain for CNN (to $45.7 million) and an 11.8% jump for MSNBC (to $33.3 million).

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Season two of Disney+ series The Mandalorian starts streaming Friday, October 30. Shooting had wrapped before the industry’s production shutdown.

TLC’s 90 Day Fiance franchise expands once again with HEA Strikes Back!, premiering after the season finale of Happily Ever After? on Monday, October 5 at 9p. In HEA Strikes Back!, couples will watch and reexperience their roller coaster romances, and get an earful from fans and social media.

John Wilson makes his HBO debut – as writer, director, cameraman, producer, and narrator – of six-episode cultural observation docu-comedy series How To With John Wilson, debuting Friday, October 23 at 11p.

Dramedy Tyler Perry’s Sistas returns to BET on Wednesday, October 14 at 9p, with back-to-back episodes. Season one was the #1 new scripted cable series for Black people 18-49 and 25-54.

They’re ba-a-a-ack….Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Orange County returns for season 15 on Wednesday, October 7 at 9p. Soon-to-be divorcee Elizabeth Lyn Vargas dives into the OC drama this go-round.

Three-part Age of Nature launches on PBS on Wednesday, October 14 at 10p, focusing on the resiliency of Earth’s ecosystems. Filmed on seven continents, the docu-series presents ideas for dealing with climate change, animal extinction and environmental degradation.

TECH TALK

Verizon Media is expanding its omnichannel programmatic platform with an advanced TV partnership with DISH Media, in which Verizon Media’s demand-side platform will provide automated access to DISH’s household addressable ad inventory. “Our full stack omnichannel platform provides advertisers with a diverse set of channels powered by relevant, qualified data, while offering premium publishers and content owners superior monetization and reach capabilities,” said Kelly Liang, SVP, Partnerships at Verizon Media. “Together, our demand and supply-side platforms drive stronger efficiencies, revenue opportunities and enable us to better serve the market as a whole.”

Weta Digital inked a deal for the cloud-based set-up of Amazon Web Services to create a visual effects workflow that includes a set of technologies for VFX that will accelerate film production, and expand Weta Digital’s New Zealand operations, enabling its team of artists to collaborate on visual effects remotely. “By adopting AWS’s ultra-scale infrastructure, we can implement a proprietary cloud pipeline and globally scale our production to greater levels than ever before,” said Prem Akkaraju, CEO of Weta Digital. Weta established a remote collaborative workflow in March due to the pandemic to continue work on the Avatar sequels and other films. “With the power of AWS, we can now take that success to a global scale,” added Akkaraju. “Drawing on AWS’s virtually unlimited compute capacity, we can empower our artists to work safely and securely where they want without technical limitations.” Weta was formed by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings).

New England Sports Network and PNC Bank announced the PNC Bank Digital Studio at NESN, a state-of-the-art digital facility that produces daily video and audio content for all of NESN’s digital platforms. “PNC’s sponsorship of our digital studio aligns with our mission, as a premier sports network, in expanding our connection with Red Sox and Bruins fans throughout New England – providing digital content to capture and engage viewers across the nation,” said Sean McGrail, NESN President & CEO.

COMING UP

Kevin Hart-hosted VOMO: Vote or Miss Out, a nonpartisan comedy special event created by ATTN: in partnership with When We All Vote, will air on ABC on Monday, September 14 at 10p, after the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars. Scheduled guests for the event, aimed at encouraging electoral participation, include 2 Chainz and Lil Baby, Cristela Alonzo, Tim Allen, Whitney Cummings, Will Ferrell, Kaia Gerber, Charlamagne Tha God, Tiffany Haddish, Jon Hamm, Scarlett Johansson, Liza Koshy, Jay Leno, Jaden Smith and Willow Smith. The special will also feature prominent political figures across party lines including Michelle Obama, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD), Ann Romney and Cindy McCain, among others.

Spectrum is airing a concert featuring reggaeton star Ozuna on Saturday, September 5 at 8p. The event, presented by Spectrum Mobile for subscribers and non-subscribers of Spectrum services, will be streamed on Facebook. “I feel very excited to be able to gift my fans an exclusive presentation they will be able to enjoy from the comfort of their homes,” said Ozuna. “I thank the Spectrum family for this marvelous opportunity to connect me with my people through their digital platforms. We worked on this presentation with a lot of love.”

Motorcycle-obsessed Ken Kaplan and his son, Ken Kaplan Jr. race to get five bikes restored in a week, and return three stolen vehicles to their rightful owners, in Discovery special Kaplan America, airing Wednesday, September 9 at 10p.

Turner Classic Movies is sending off the season with The TCM End of Summer Tour over Labor Day Weekend, with performances and rare concert documentaries such as Monterey Pop (1968), Woodstock (1970), and The Kids are Alright (1979).

Moving on to fall, Circle TV is celebrating Labor Day with a full-day lineup of “Hard-Working Heroes,” with 12 hours of music kicking off Monday, September 7 at 7a with Hee Haw featuring Charlie Daniels.

TIME magazine’s annual TIME100 will for the first time be featured in an hour-long special on ABC. The show airs September 22, ahead of the list’s September 25 print debut. “Amidst this unprecedented year, we hope that viewers at home will not only be entertained but feel inspired by the impact that the honorees of the 2020 TIME100 list have made on the world,” said Rob Mills, SVP, Alternative Series, Specials and Late Night, ABC Entertainment.

STREAMING

Discovery Inc.-backed Vix, the free streaming service featuring Latino-focused films and TV shows, inked a deal with SoniFi’s guest entertainment platform that will put its content in 500,000 US hotel rooms. VIX mobile app users will be able to stream content to SoniFi’s hotel room TVs via SoniFi’s Staycast technology.

CASTING

Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones) and Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory) are onboard season two of Netflix police interrogation drama Criminal… Naomi Judd (The Killing Game), Crystal Fox (Tyler Perry’s A Fall From Grace), Gil Bellows (Patriot) and Deborah Cox (Influence) have joined the cast of Lifetime’s Ruby, a V.C. Andrews movie…A nationwide casting call at the American Black Film Festival led rap legend MC Lyte to Precious Way to co-star in UMC’s Partners in Rhyme, following a high school rapper and social media sensation…Blu del Barrio makes their screen acting debut in season three of CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Discovery, and Ian Alexander will play a transgender character, firsts for the series.

GOING GLOBAL

beIN SPORTS nabbed the rights to the second season of Karate Combat, the professional, full-contact karate league, in a 37-market deal which spans five continents and includes the US, with 12 episodes airing weekly. beIN SPORTS will broadcast weekly episodes of Karate Combat in North America, the Middle East & North Africa, Turkey, and 10 countries in Asia-Pacific

BlackBox Multimedia and Night Train Media teamed for the international co-production of The Ex Wife. The series, based on the Jess Ryder psychological thriller novel of the same name, marks the screenwriting debut of New York Times bestselling author and actress Catherine Steadman.

Channel 5 greenlit its first influencer-led series, Go Green With The Grimwades, for its multiplatform pre-school strand, Milkshake!. Produced by Doc Hearts, series will encourage young audiences to become more aware about their impact on the environment and what they can do at home to make small positive changes.

ITV Studios acquired distribution rights to Leopard Pictures’ BBC hit Worzel Gummidge, and Roadshow Rough Diamond relationship drama Bump.

Korea’s UMAX channel has licensed 200 hours of original programming from Insight TV, producer and distributor of 4K UHD HDR programming and formats. The all-UHD Korean channel will include a new branded block of Insight TV programming starting this month.

Spiral International is partnering with Fremantle on the production of Mexican series Toda La Sangre. The series will be co-produced in Mexico by Fremantle’s Latin American division; the global distributor will also handle international rights outside of the Americas.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Tuesday, September 1
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: NBA Countdown 2.10 (0.5), NBA Playoffs 3.39 (1.2)
CBS: NCIS 4.31 (0.5), Love Island 1.70 (0.4), FBI: Most Wanted 2.11 (0.3)
CW: Dead Pixels 0.40 (0.1), Dead Pixels 0.19 (0.0), Tell Me A Story 0.28 (0.1)
FOX: Hell’s Kitchen 1.21 (0.3), Prodigal Son 0.73 (0.2)
NBC: America’s Got Talent 6.40 (0.8), Transplant 3.96 (0.4)
Telemundo: Exatlon 1.30, Todo por mi Hija 1.36, Enemgo Intimo 0.75
Univision: Rosa de Guadelupe 1.31 (0.4), Medicos Linea de Vida 1.54 (0.5), Dulce Ambicion 1.33 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Allen Media Group promoted Melody Smalls to the new position of EVP of Global Human Resources. Smalls was previously Chief Human Resources and Compliance Officer & VP/Head of Human Resources at The Weather Channel/Weather Group.

ABC Signature tapped Kellyn Parker to serve as VP, Comedy Development. Parker had been VP, Original Programming & Development at Comedy Central.

Banijay appointed Sophie Kurinckx as Group Chief Financial Officer. Kurinckx joined Banijay in 2010 as Head of Group Financial Control.

EQ Media Group hired two Heads of Development: Kevin Joseph in the US, and Simon Fleming in New Zealand. Prior to joining EQ Media Group, Joseph served as a Development Executive for Fulwell 73 Productions and Original Productions; Simon’s most recent credits include working as a Series Producer for Rhys Darby Big in Japan, My Kitchen Rules NZ, and My Restaurant Rules.

Objective Media Group America named Saterah Moore to the newly created role of SVP of Current. Moore joins from MTV Networks.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which daytime soap recast the character played by Chadwick Boseman with his future Black Panther co-star, Michael B. Jordan? All My Children. Kudos to: Ken Nice-TeamPeople/Falls Church, VA, Barbara E. Bevel/Staten Island, NY, Marcy November-NBC Owned Stations/NYC, Kecia Watts-A+E Networks/Stamford, CT, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, Cherie Wall-Sandbox Entertainment/Nashville, Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
From which series was Family Matters (1989-98) a spinoff? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four.)