Tonight’s Finale
CW: Being Reuben at 9:30p

Saturday’s Premieres
CBS: 48 Hours at 10p
HGTV: Help! I Wrecked My House at 8p
ID: James Patterson’s Murder Thy Neighbor at 8p
Ovation TV: Secrets of State at 7p

Saturday’s Finales
TLC: Say Yes to the Dress at 8p
Travel Channel: Hotel Paranormal at 11p

Sunday’s Premieres
Court TV: Judgement With Ashleigh Banfield at 8p
Food Network: Halloween Wars at 9p, Outrageous Pumpkins at 10p
PBS: Van der Valk on Masterpiece at 9p

Sunday’s Finales
CW: Fridge Wars at 8p
Showtime: We Hunt Together at 10p

IN THE NEWS

MSNBC is adding two new weekend shows, starting September 19. American Voices with Alicia Menendez will air Saturday and Sunday nights from 6p-8p, with political stories highlighting the Latinx community. The Week with Joshua Johson will follow, from 8p-10p, with “candid conversations about each week’s big stories, thinking through the challenges we all face.” Kasie Hunt’s Sunday evening show, Kasie DC, will come to an end this Sunday, with Hunt setting her alarm to anchor a revival of early morning weekday show, Way Too Early, starting Monday, September 21 at 5a.

Over at Fox News, Brit Hume inked a new multi-year deal that has him continue as commentator and panelist across daytime and evening programs, and contributing to election coverage and political events. “His extensive knowledge of the intricacies of Washington have made him a tremendous asset to our team and a popular favorite with our viewers,” said Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media. Hume joined the network in 1977, after 23 years at ABC News.

The 36th annual international television content market will take place entirely online, as Mipcom Online+. The physical gathering, previously scheduled to take place as Mipcom Rendezvous Cannes, has been cancelled. “We made clear when we announced Mipcom Rendezvous Cannes that we would only hold the physical market if conditions permitted,” said Laurine Garaude, Director of Reed Midem’s Television Division. “Due to the ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19 and recently increased travel restrictions, we believe that Mipcom Online+ is the most effective way to move forward.” Mipcom Week is open October 12-16.

Twitter is taking new steps to prevent misinformation about the 2020 election like unverified claims about election rigging, ballot tampering, vote tallying or certification of results. Tweets which “cause confusion” about the process, or are from a candidate that claims victory before election results have been certified, will be removed. “We will not permit our service to be abused around civic processes, most importantly elections,” Twitter said. “Any attempt to do so – both foreign and domestic – will be met with strict enforcement of our rules, which are applied equally and judiciously for everyone.”

Thirty-seven percent of US wireline broadband homes did not subscribe to a linear pay-TV service as of 2Q20, according to Kagan, up from 12.5% in 2014. Nearly 30% of US homes did not subscribe to a multichannel video programming distributor. And in the first half of the year, the growth rate for broadband-only homes was 80% higher than the same period in 2019, because, “Given the economic headwinds of the first half, US households likely were looking to cut back on discretionary spending,” noted Senior Analyst Tony Lenoir.

Beverly Hills is losing a Housewife. Denise Richards is exiting Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Bevelry Hills after two seasons of contentious drama that included a cease-and-desist letter in the season finale.

Let’s call the whole thing off: Content recognition companies Taboola and Outbrain canceled their merger plan, first announced in October 2019. “Over the past few months, we recognized just how fundamentally different Outbrain and Taboola are when it comes to our values, corporate culture and business approach,” said Yaron Galai, Outbrain founder and Co-CEO, and David Kostman, Co-CEO, in an email. “This culminated in Taboola’s attempt to renegotiate the original terms of the agreement, which included $250mm in cash and a 30% share in the combined company.”

Stars are lining up for Michelle Obma and ATTN’s VOMO: Vote Or Miss Out. Onboard the election comedy special are Larry David, Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, JB Smoove, Wanda Sykes, Usher, Susie Essman and LeBron James. Kevin Hart hosts the one-hour show, airing Monday, September 14 at 10p on ABC.

TBS ordered a full season of Go-Big Show, a talent competition starring Snoop Dogg, Rosario Dawson, Jennifer Nettles and “The American Nightmare” Cody. Hosted by comedian Bert Kreischer, the series will feature radical feats like monster trucks, alligator training and stunt archery – which fits right in with TBS’s new vibe. “We are going bigger and bolder with our unscripted line-up at TBS,” said Brett Weitz, General Manager, TNT, TBS and truTV. “Go-Big Show not only delivers on this promise with a thrilling new take on talent competition, but it’s also another example of our innovative spirit as we continue to create brand-defining, must-watch television.”

Starz ordered a spin-off of the film Blindspotting, with Rafael Casal (Bad Education) and Daveed Diggs (Snowpiercer), who starred in, wrote and produced the film, onboard. Casal will serve as showrunner, and have a recurring role, while Jasmine Cephas Jones will reprise her role from the film. “Rafael, Daveed and Jasmine created a beautiful film that we believe will translate perfectly into a compelling series for Starz,” said Christina Davis, President, Original Programming, Starz. “This provocative and powerful narrative couldn’t be more timely.”

Eva Longoria struck an UnbeliEVAble deal to stay with 20th Television. The three-year, first-look agreement between Longoria and Ben Spector’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment and the studio focuses on producing for network, streaming and cable. “Eva and Ben’s passion for championing meaningful stories, especially those of underrepresented voices and communities is something we believe in deeply at 20th, so we jumped at the chance to extend our relationship with them,” said Carolyn Cassidy, President, 20th Television. “They are driven producers with a keen eye, good taste and great work ethic and we are thrilled UnbeliEVAble remains housed within our studio.”

Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories and producer John Cameron have optioned the rights to adapt Marie Lu’s bestselling novel Warcross as a TV series. Papandrea and Cameron will executive produce, with Cameron slated to direct the pilot. Made Up Stories’ Steve Hutensky and Casey Haver will also serve as executive producers, with Janice Park producing. Adam Lash and Cori Uchida (Altered Carbon) will write and executive produce the series, to be developed in partnership with Endeavor Content.

Disney+ picked up to series a reimagining of 1989-93 ABC series Doogie Howser, M.D., with Kourtney Kang (Fresh Off the Boat) attached as writer and EP for 20th Television. Doogie Kame?loha, M.D. (wt) will focus on a mixed-race 16-year-old juggling a medical career and life as a teenager. Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar will executive produce and Dayna and Jesse Bochco will produce the half-hour comedy.

Former NBC News and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly is launching production company Devil May Care Media, with podcasts and shows focused on news, current events, cultural and legal issues. “With Devil May Care Media, I answer only to my audience and my conscience. Those who like what I have to say will find the experience deeply rewarding. Those who don’t can look elsewhere,” said Kelly. “The point is to give the audience authentic content that goes places where traditional media can’t or – more often – won’t.” The company’s first project, podcast The Megyn Kelly Show, is slated to debut the week of September 28.

Spectrum Originals and Paramount Network are co-producing and airing limited series George & Tammy, starring Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) as country music star Tammy Wynette. After a nine-month exclusive run for Spectrum subscribers, George & Tammy will have a second window on ViacomCBS’ forthcoming streaming service and Paramount Network.

Amazon picked up for development a scripted series starring Nicolas Cage as Tiger King’s Joe Exotic. The project comes from Brian Grazer, Dan Lagana (American Vandal) and Paul Young. Amazon Studios, Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios will produce. The show is not be confused with Joe Exotic (wt), a limited series tarring SNL’s Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin, which landed a straight-to-series order from NBC, Peacock and USA.

CJC Network gave a straight to series order for The Collins Show. The sitcom, created and written by filmmaker Carl Jackson, stars Dalon Collins (Carl Jackson’s The Jesus Freak) as a once-wealthy pastor forced to move to Dallas and start over. The comedy is slated to debut in 2021.

Shudder announced the start of production on season two of Creepshow in Atlanta. “I’ve never been happier to get behind the camera as I am today. After missing our shoot date in March by just over 48 hours, season 2 of Creepshow hits the ground running as cameras begin to roll,” said showrunner Greg Nicotero. “The cast and crew have a level of excitement and enthusiasm I’ve never seen before and it’s inspiring.” Joining the anthology series are Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect), Adam Pally (The Mindy Project), Josh McDermitt (The Walking Dead), Keith David (The Thing), and Ashley Laurence (Hellraiser).

CASTING

Kaitlyn Dever (Unbelievable) will star opposite Michael Keaton in Hulu limited series Dopesick, which focuses on Opioid addiction…Shivani Ghai (Dominion) has been cast in season two of CW’s Batwoman, as “a woman with as many enemies as aliases.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

ABC announced premiere dates for its Wednesday comedy block. Launching October 21 are The Goldbergs at 8p; The Conners at 9p; and black-ish at 9:30p. American Housewife will be added to the lineup the following week, at 8:30p. “While we had to be incredibly flexible this year, we are so lucky that we’re able to continue our long tradition of making Wednesday night comedy a strong staple of our fall broadcast schedule,” said Karey Burke, President, ABC Entertainment.

John Cena (Fast & Furious 9) and Nicole Byer (Girl Code) are set as hosts for TBS’ revival of the physical competition series Wipeout. In the re-imagined version, each game is three rounds with each round featuring a multi-stage obstacle course. The original Wipeout aired on ABC from 2008-14.

NBC’s Saturday Night Live will be back in Studio 8H for its season 46 premiere on October 3 at 11:30. The show was last taped in the studio on March 7.

What divorce? Tarek El Moussa and ex Christina Anstead are ready to buy, rehab and sell more dilapidated properties in a new season of HGTV’s Flip or Flop, launching Thursday, October 15 at 9p.

Buddy comedy Code 404 launches on Peacock on Thursday, October 1, centered on a detective who dies an untimely death and is brought back to life with glitchy AI technology.

Unscripted comedy Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party returns to truTV on Thursday, October 15 at 10p. Among the new dinner guests are Wayne Brady, Edie Falco, and Colin Jost.

Nancy Grace covers the case of Lori Vallow’s children, among others, during season two of Oxygen’s Injustice with Nancy Grace, premiering Thursday, October 8 at 9p.

Daytimer Rachael Ray is back for season 15 on Monday, September 14. In the opening episode, the chef talks about the fire that destroyed her New York home last month, and discusses fire safety with a first responder who was on the scene.

STREAMING

Free streaming options are increasingly attractive to Americans in the second wave of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, according to research from tubi. One in four Americans ages 18-34 stated that they’ve canceled an SVOD service in favor of using an AVOD service in the past few months, and 37% surveyed would try a new streaming service with ads to discover new content. To save money, one in four respondents reported starting a free trial and cancelling it before paying the subscription fee, with the average person who employs this tactic doing so three times. Meanwhile, 17% have shared passwords with others in order to gain access to streamers they don’t subscribe to, with 38% of respondents 18-24 and 31% of 25-34 participating in password swaps.

Streaming services are outpacing broadcast and cable networks when it comes to hiring women for key behind-the-scenes jobs, according to the latest Boxed In report. While women accounted for 42% of producers; 41% of writers; 35% of executive producers; 33% of creators, and 27% of editors on streaming programs, the percentages of women working in key roles on programs from the broadcast and cable channels “remained stagnant or declined slightly,” found the report.

Video ads and brand experiences together generate 4X greater purchase intent than video advertising alone, according to “Valuing the Value Exchange,” a new study from MAGNA, Roku and IPG Media Lab. The study found brand experiences felt less intrusive than most video ads, provided greater differentiation from traditional advertising, and seemed more fun. Key findings include:
· 60% of those surveyed were more likely to take advantage of a brand experience when the offer was relevant, and more relevant offers also served as a catalyst for driving more positive brand opinions.
· 61% of streamers who reported interacting with a brand experience were more likely to notice the ad; 48% were more appreciative of brands who served the brand experiences; 33% were more likely to consider buying the advertised product.
· Streamers with more frequency on branded experiences reported higher purchase intent (75%) and brand favorability (87%).
“The growth in TV streaming has become a CMO-level priority,” said Dan Robbins, VP of Ad Marketing & Partners Solutions, Roku. “Marketers can go beyond the video ad to engage with streamers and use branded experiences to drive more brand affinity, purchase consideration and intent. Media plans that miss this opportunity only give brands one piece of the puzzle.”

On the heels of its announcement of a three-year deal with iHeartMedia, ViacomCBS unveiled its podcast slate during its IAB Podcast Upfront presentation. New additions include: All Things Covered with Bryant McFadden from CBS Sports Digital; SpongeBob BingePants: The Rewatch, an Avatar / Korra Airbender Universe podcast and a PAW Patrol podcast from Nickelodeon; and an upcoming Catfish podcast from MTV in partnership with Wondery.

COMING UP

Disney+ original movie Clouds, inspired by the true story of 17-year-old Zach Sobeich, who decided to follow his musical dreams after learning his cancer had spread, premieres Monday, October 16.

BritBox is bringing the final night of the BBC’s Last Night Of The Proms to US viewers on September 12. “The BBC Proms is one of those iconic British events that music lovers around the world celebrate, with the Last Night always being the peak of the festival,” said Soumya Sriraman, BritBox CEO. “We are looking forward to sharing these incredible performances with our US viewers with exclusive access to this wonderful event, especially in a year when live musical performance has been extremely scarce.”

Lifetime gets in the spirit with a “Fear the Cheer” movie stunt that looks at the dark side of pom-pom carriers; films premiere every Saturday and Sunday from October 3-October 18. Last year, Lifetime’s “ Cheer! Rally! Kill!” movie stunt reached 9.8 million total viewers in premiere telecasts.

AXS TV will be the national television broadcaster of the 2020 SummerStage Jubilee livestream benefit concert, airing Thursday, September 17 at 8p, with an encore at 11p. The 90-minute special event aims to raise funds and awareness for New York’s City Parks Foundation.

The 2020 CMT Music Awards will air across CMT, MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, Pop and TV Land on Wednesday, October 21 at 8p. The fan-voted award show will feature outdoor performances in and around Nashville.

Seimpre, Luis, debuts Tuesday, October 6 at 9p on HBO, during National Hispanic Heritage Month. The film tells the story of pioneering activist Luis A. Miranda Jr., a decades-long fighter for Latino communities, key player in the New York and national political arena, and a father of three – including the award-winning composer, lyricist and actor, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Episodes of Luther will air back-to-back starting Monday, October 12 at 7p on Ovation TV. The British crime drama starring Idris Elba premiered on BBC One in 2010.

TECH TALK

Looking at a cookie-less future, 75% of marketers will modify their use of different advertising channels and 43% will focus on audience targeting solutions to replace third-party cookies, according to a study from people-based marketing platform LiveIntent. A survey of advertisers and publishers during July also found that with changing consumer behaviors, 80% of marketers have increased their advertising investment since quarantine began, and 62% of marketers have seen an overall increase in their sales.

US cable companies operating as mobile virtual network operators had more than one million wireless retail customer net additions during the first half of 2020 – 25% more than the postpaid phone net additions reported by the three nationwide wireless operators, according to GlobalData. Said Tammy Parker, Senior Analyst at the data and analytics company, “Operating as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), Altice Mobile, Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile and Charter Communications’ Spectrum Mobile have each created unique selling propositions, enabling them to poach customers from their own partner networks’ retail subscriber bases. Well-known brands combined with simple and affordable pricing make the cable MVNOs’ offers highly attractive.”

GOING GLOBAL

Rainmaker Content confirmed global sales for Staged to Hulu (SVOD in the US), Shout! Studios (Home Entertainment and TV in North America), Netflix UK secondary rights, ABC in Australia for TV and to Huanxi Media Group for all rights in China.

Spiral International secured a deal with Latin American Globo for Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, available starting September 15 on its streaming service Globoplay.

Animal Planet’s Pit Bulls & Parolees reached more than one million total viewers and broke season ratings records across the A25-54, Persons and Women 18-49 demos on Saturday, September 5 with its annual “You Watch, We Give” episode. The episode pushed Animal Planet into cable’s Top Five in its time period among W25-54 (#5) with a .51 rating, and into the Top 10 among P25-54 (#10), P18-49 (#8), P18-34 (#8), W18-49 (#6) and W18-34 (#7).

TV Time’s Binge Report for the Week of August 31
Lucifer (Netflix) – 5.51%
Modern Family (ABC) – 2.25%
Trinkets (Netflix) – 2.15%
The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) – 2.02%
Cobra Kai (YouTube) – 1.70%
The Office (NBC) – 1.60%
Friends (NBC) – 1.51%
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – 1.41%
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC) – 1.10%
How I Met Your Mother (CBS) – 1.08%
The weekly Binge Report ranks shows with the most binge sessions. A binge session is when four or more episodes of a show are watched and tracked in the TV Time app within a given day.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Annie Howell has been named Chief Communications Officer for Crown Media Family Networks. Prior to joining Crown Media, Howell founded The Punch Point Group, a communications and training company.

TEGNA promoted Grady Tripp to the newly-created role of VP and Chief Diversity Officer. Tripp will report to TEGNA president and CEO Dave Lougee and partner with organizational leaders to develop and execute the company’s diversity strategy.

Bruce Gibson has been elevated to VP of Network Distribution at Entertainment Studio Networks. Gibson is a ten-year veteran of the group’s The Weather Channel.

Also earning a promotion is Erin May, becoming VP, Drama Development at 20th Television. May started as a manager for the development team five years ago.

Lars Blomgren has been tapped to serve as Head of Scripted, EMEA at Banijay. At Endemol Shine Group, Blomgren spearheaded the business’ non-English scripted production engine.

Olivia Pahl has been named Head of Development and Co-production at Night Train Media. Paul previously worked at StudioCanal TV Tandem Productions.

IN MEMORIAM

Actress Diana Rigg died September 11. She was 82. Perhaps best known to TV audiences for playing Emma Peel in The Avengers, Rigg’s lengthy career also included roles in Game of Thrones and Channel 5’s new All Creature Great and Small. Rigg was nominated for nine primetime Emmy Awards, winning for 1997’s Rebecca.

Cable TV pioneer Paul Kagan died of kidney failure on August 23. He was 82. Kagan founded Paul Kagan Associates, which published more than 38 different newsletters and 95 data books. In 2006, he launched PK World Media, and was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2011.

This Day in History
1773 – Benjamin Franklin wrote, “There never was a good war or bad peace.”

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
On which drama was one Grace and Frankie star a series regular, and the other a guest star as CEO of a company? Sam Waterston was a cast member and Jane Fonda guested as CEO of a media company on The Newsroom (2012-2014). Kudos to: Charles Lore/NYC, Dory Petsrillo-CoxReps/Dallas, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Untion/Burbank, Colleen Leary-Cityside/Berkeley, CA, Jerry Jones/Walnut Creek, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which private detective had an assistant who was a part-time pool boy? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four answers per time zone.)