PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
FOX gave a script commitment plus penalty to Triage. The hourlong medical drama hails from Grey’s Anatomy executive producer-writer Zoanne Clack, Sonar Entertainment, OutEast Entertainment and 20th Century Fox TV.
Game of Thrones writer Bryan Cogman inked an overall deal with Amazon Studios. Per the pact’s terms, he’ll create and develop original television projects for premiere globally on Amazon Prime Video.
British cult web series Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared is in the works at Turner’s Super Deluxe Studio and coming to television in the U.S. From Blink Industries, a spec pilot has been produced and will be shopped to streaming and cable networks. Series is described as a socio-political puppet show or Sesame Street if it were directed by David Lynch.
Top 10 Weekend Domestic Box Office Estimates: September 14-16, 2018
The Predator (Fox) $24.0 million, opening weekend
The Nun (Warner Bros.) $18.2 million (week 2), cume revenue $85.1 million
A Simple Favor (Lionsgate) $16.1 million, opening weekend
White Boy Rick (Studio 8) $8.8 million, opening weekend
Crazy Rich Asians (Warner Bros.) $8.7 million (week 5), cume revenue $149.6 million
Peppermint (STX) $6.1 million (week 2), cume revenue $24.2 million
The Meg (Warner Bros.) $3.8 million (week 5), cume revenue $137.1 million
Searching (SGem) $3.2 million (week 4), cume revenue $19.6 million
Unbroken: Path to Redemption (Pure Fix) $2.4 million, opening weekend
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Paramount) $2.3 million (week 7), $216.1 cume
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Disney star and United Nations youth champion Monique Coleman (High School Musical) brings GimmeMo’ to Discovery Life on Wednesday, October 3 at 8a. The actress will host the weekly docuseries that explores the social and emotional issues that impact youths.
General Hospital’s Jackyln Zeman and celebrity chef and lifestyle guru Jamie Laurita are set to co-host Make This Place Your Home, debuting Saturday, September 29 at 9a on TLC. The half hour series focuses on new and innovative products for every area of the home, indoors and out.
BYUtv’s Relative Race returns for a fourth season on Sunday, September 16 at 9p. Show follows four teams on a 10-day journey across the U.S. to find unknown relatives.
COMING UP
Oxygen Media’s Criminal Confessions, from EP Dick Wolf, returns for a new season of unsolved murders and shocking revelations on Saturday, October 6 at 8p.
Sitcoms Married with Children and The Steve Harvey Show are joining getTV’s lineup. Married with Children bows Monday, September 17 and will air Monday through Friday at 9a, 8p and 1a. The Steve Harvey Show debuts Monday, October 1 and will air Monday through Friday at 8a and 11p.
Secrets of the Dead: The Woman in the Iron Coffin bows Wednesday, October 3 at 10p on PBS(check local listings). Series tells the story of a young African American woman in a New York neighborhood, who died in the first half of the 19th century.
CASTING
Monica Raymund (Chicago Fire) was tapped to lead P-Town, the Starz drama that touches on the opioid epidemic…Telenovela alum Jencarlos Canela nabbed a recurring role on ABC’s Grand Hotel… Maya Lynne Robinson joins ABC’s The Conners as a series regular… Neal McDonough (Legends of Tomorrow) will recur on Season 2 of Paramount Network’s Yellowstone… Newcomer Jay Reeves landed a recurring role on The CW’s upcoming drama, All American… Barry Sloane (Six, Revenge) landed a recurring role on Charter’s Spectrum 13-episode series, L.A.’s Finest.
Grimm alum Elizabeth Tulloch will play Lois Lane in The CW’s Arrowverse DC/WBTV crossover, while Cassandra Jean Amell has nabbed the role of supervillain Nora Fries. The three-night event kicks off on Sunday December 9 at 8p with The Flash, followed by Arrow on Monday, December 10 at 8p and Supergirl on Tuesday, December 11 at 8p.
Ted Levine will star opposite Kirsten Dunst in YouTube Premium’s dark comedy, On Becoming A God In Central Florida, according to Deadline. Also cast as series regulars: Mel Rodriguez (Getting On, The Last Man On Earth) and Beth Ditto, lead singer of Gossip, with Usman Ally (Veep) set to recur… Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) will voice a characetr in the gen:Lock anime series.
DIGITAL DATA
DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Digital Networks launched DC Universe on Saturday. The streaming site provides superhero fans with access to new TV shows, digital comics, fan forums, merch and an archive of vintage movies and television shows for a fee of $7.99 a month. Titans, a new live-action series featuring a team of young superheroes led by Batman’s sidekick, Robin, bows Friday, October 12.
YouTube nursery rhyme channel Little Baby Bum was sold to Moonbug for an undisclosed sum, but industry watchers believe the agency likely paid millions for it.
Founded by a UK-based couple and featuring animated videos with popular nursery rhyme soundtracks, the channel has racked up over 17.5 billion views since its launch in in 2011. Co-founder Derek Holder confirmed the sale to the BBC, noting that “We are looking to take the brand to the next level. We saw who the team were behind Moonbug and what their plans would be, which would be to keep the core the same, but… make episodes for TV around the world.”
Media companies like Disney and NBCUniversal lead when it comes to cash spent on content, but Netflix and Amazon’s streaming content spend is set to double in five years. TV and video analytics firm Ampere Anaylsis estimates that in 2017, Disney spent around $12 billion on content, NBCUniversal $11 billion, Netflix $6 billion and Amazon $5 billion. Meanwhile, Netflix has already said it expects to spend $8 billion on content in 2018. Ampere estimates the number spent by Netflix and Amazon will surpass $20, split between the pair, by 2023.
With pressure intensifying to solve its fake news problem, Facebook is expanding its efforts to “fact check” photos and videos. Their coordinated efforts are comprised of partnerships with 27 third-party fact checkers in 17 countries worldwide. “To date, most of our fact-checking partners have focused on reviewing articles,” said Facebook product manager Antonia Woodford said in a blog post, noting that the expanded effort “will help us identify and take action against more types of misinformation faster.” Facebook built a machine-learning model that uses assorted engagement signals, including user feedback, to identify potentially false photos and video. After AI does its part, Facebook sends suspicious photos and videos to fact-checkers for review. Meanwhile, human fact-checkers can also flag content on their own.
CBS All Access subscribers can now keep watching CBS’s content without being connected to the internet. The broadcaster’s video subscription service added support for offline viewing, via new feature “Download & Play.” It allows eligible subscribers to download up to 25 movies or TV show episodes and play them without internet access.
Over a third of advertising executives say their digital insertion orders don’t run according to their plan, at least some of the time. The finding, part of a study of 300 advertiser and agency execs and conducted by Advertiser Perceptions in May, comes from a report on the potential for blockchain technology to reduce or remove error in the digital supply chain. While 29% of execs said their orders “occasionally” do not run as planned, 8% said they “rarely” do and 1% said they “never” do. This is not entirely new for media-buying overall, and digital media in particular, as many factors contribute to errors. However, the study suggests that the problem isn’t getting better and the industry needs a better solution.
Markus Zumkeller, Director of Technology and Engineering, Sony Europe, believes the advent of autonomous driving will mean more time to consume entertainment content. Speaking at a special IBC conference session, “DVB at 25: End of the Line or St art of a New Adventure?”, Zumkeller noted that one hour per day could be added to leisure time when the road user wasn’t driving. “Autonomous driving will give more time that could be filled by entertainment,” he said. “We will need to work out how to get content into the car. The next living room is the car.”
Smithsonian Earth continues its journey through Zambia’s Luangwa Valley with new episode of Africa’s Hunters; streaming starts Friday, September 21.
GOING GLOBAL
A&E Network UK commissioned What The Killer Did Next, produced by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Catastrophe producer Avalon Television for its Crime & Investigation (CI) channel. Series explores what killers do after their crimes.
Larry Lamb and Hayley Mills are set to star in Pitching In, a new family drama for BBC One Wales and BBC One Daytime. Acorn Media Enterprises, RLJ Entertainment’s UK development division, is the North American and Australian co-production partner. Series will make its North American debut on Acorn TV. Filming begins September 10 in Wales.
Pernel Media announced that ZDF Enterprises will distribute Monumental Revelations in all territories outside of France and UK. Series delves into the engineering mysteries behind some of the world’s largest and most famous ancient structures.
Nippon TV’s Silent Library was licensed to Thailand and Mongolia, joining more than 15 countries including the US and UK, that have adapted the unscripted studio game show.
IPCN launched officially launched a new short-form digital channel in China. Channel R features content across three stands – rhythm (music), reason (documentary and factual entertainment) and reflect (film) – and will launch grime music show Street Credit in London, featuring Chinese rapper AfterJourney.
The 2018 Belt & Road Media Community Summit Forum successfully concluded in Xi’an, China. Over 300 international media professionals attended the summit, whose theme was New era, New Achievements, New Breakthroughs, to discuss plans for future cooperation and development.
All3media International signed presales for new comedy The Bisexual, produced by Hootenanny. The series has been secured by CANAL + Group to be broadcast in France and all its territories, while Sky Network in New Zealand has acquired TV right to the series. Digital rights have gone to Stan in Australia.
Magnify Media closed a global licensing deal with National Geographic Cannels for wildlife series Wild Great Britain. Series reveals the hidden lives of a cast of engaging animals.
Drive appointed UK producer Oxford Films to distribute Queen of the World. The documentary series gives insight into The Queen’s role as a figure on the global stage.
