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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Apple TV+ has landed the latest show from Vince Gilligan, creator of “Breaking Bad” and co-creator of “Better Call Saul.” Actress Rhea Seehorn is onboard to play the lead in the untitled series, which has received a two-season, straight-to-series order.
FX’s “Reservation Dogs” has been renewed for a third season. Nick Grad, President, Original Programming, FX, announced the news on Thursday. The third season will be available in 2023 on Hulu.
Ilkkas’ Creative Studio has teamed with David Zucker and Pat Proft, best known from “Airplane” and “The Naked Gun” franchise, on comedy spoof series, “NoPoFo.” Billed as Nordic Noir meets “Police Squad,” the project centers on three elite agents from the Nordic Police Force tasked with solving gruesome ritualistic murders.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is set to executive produce “Dilla Time.” The documentary will explore the brief life and influence of music producer J Dilla.
Portal A has reteamed with Steve Nash’s CTRL Media and NBA vet Rex Chapman to bring podcast “Charges with Rex Chapman” to television. Debuting as a top five sports podcast in 2021, “Charges” offers insight into sports scandals.
HGTV has greenlit a new series headlined by social media star Galey Alix. An interior design sensation, Alix captivates millions of followers across TikTok and Instagram with her impressive home transformations. The network has ordered eight hour-long episodes that will follow Galey, a Wall Street executive by day and designer by night. The series is slated to debut in Spring 2023.
Alison Roman is headed to CNN. The chef and author will star in “(More Than) A Cooking Show” on the cable network. Produced by Zero Point Zero Production, the CNN original series will premiere this fall. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to share this show with the world – at long last,” said Roman. “It’s a dream come true to have a home at CNN.”
Tubi has begun production on original movie “Spread” from Cartel Pictures. Starring Elizabeth Gillies (“Dynasty”), Harvey Keitel (“The Irishman”), Diedrick Bader (“Veep”), Bryan Craig (“Good Trouble”), Teri Polo (“Meet the Parents”), Blake Harrison (“The Inbetweeners”), Tim Rozon (“Schitt’s Creek”) and Keith Walker (“The Upshaws”), the comedy follows an ambitious aspiring journalist (Gillies) who lands a temp job at an adult magazine run by an aging industry king.
Filming has begun on “Summer Qamp,” a feature documentary from Cineflix Productions, Hello Friend Media and Bright West Entertainment. It chronicles the stories of campers and counsellors during a session of the Centre of Sexuality’s Camp fYrefly, an LGBTQ1A2S+ summer camp nestled between the Canadian Rockies and Alberta’s Bow River Valley.
Casting Notes: Jerome Flynn (“Game of Thrones”) has joined the cast of Paramount+’s “1923,” Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” prequel…. Martin Sensmeier (“1883,” “Yellowstone”) has landed a recurring role on Season 2 of “La Brea”.
NEW AND RETURNING SERIES
FOX Nation continues to expand its library of the iseries “COPS.” New exclusive episodes will roll out beginning Friday, September 30, followed by a new offering debuting every Friday at 6p throughout the fall.
BET revealed some of the celebrities joining “After Happily Ever After,” the new dating show that asks the question, Can your ex help you find new love? Peter Funz, Tara Wallace, Amina Buddafly, Jeremy Meeks, Melissa Meeks, “Mike Mike” Phillips, actress/singer Shar Jackson, comedian/actor/host Gary “G” Thang” Johnson, YouTube personality Jayla Koriyan and more join the experience to find love again. Hosted by Bow Wow, the series premieres Wednesday, October 19 at 10p.
The haunt continues. “Ghost Brothers: Lights Out” is back for its sophomore run. Three new episodes will be released on discovery+ on Friday, October 7 as Dalen Spratt, Juwan Mass and Marcus Harvey flip the switch on paranormal lore by shining their own light on its darkest secrets.
Season 2 of “Wahl Street” debuts with 10 new episodes on Thursday, October 6 on HBO Max. The original series offers fans a glimpse into the life of Mark Wahlberg as he juggles the demands of a rigorous film schedule coupled with an ever-growing network of diverse businesses.
In other HBO news, six-part documentary series “The Vow Part Two” bows Monday, October 17 at 9p. Set against the backdrop of the federal trial of The United States against Keith Raniere, it offers a view into Raniere’s innermost circle, including NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman.
Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinksi will discuss all things nuptials in “Wedding Talk,” teaming up with wedding planner Jose Rolon and wedding designer Jove Meyer. The new series debuts Thursday, October 13 on the Chicken Soup for the Soul and Crackle ad-supported streaming apps, as well as Chicken Soup for the Soul’s free ad-supported streaming television channel.
Country music artists are thrown into the trenches with our nation’s troops in “Inside the Base,” debuting Saturday, October 1 at 10:30p on Circle Network. The series follows stars including Michael Ray, Lauren Alaina, Travis Denning, Riley Green and more as they tour military bases across the country.
“We’re Here” returns for a six-episode third season on Friday, November 25 at 10p on HBO. The series, which will also be available on HBO Max, follows drag queens Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara and Shangela as they continue their journey across small town America, spreading love and connection through the art of drag.
Univision’s “Domingos en Familia” takes over the dance floor on Sunday nights with the premiere of “Mira Quien Baila All Stars” on October 9. Acclaimed Mexican ballet dancer Isaac Hernandez joins the judging panel alongside pop star Paulina Rubio. A third and final judge will soon be announced.
Disney+ UK original series “Save Our Squad with David Beckham” will stream exclusively on Disney+ on Wednesday, November 9. It highlights Beckham as he travels back to his East London roots to mentor Westward Boys, a young grassroots team who are at the bottom of their league, facing relegation. Working with head coaches, Beckham tries to turn the team’s fortunes around.
COMING UP
“Ending HIV in America” premieres Wednesday, October 5 at 9p on PBS. The new one-hour special from NOVA explores the scientific progress that has been made in the fight against HIV and highlights the activism and commitment of communities that are still hard hit by the virus.
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network will kick off the holiday season with two movies. “The Great Holiday Bake War,” starring LeToya Luckett and Finesse Mitchell, debuts Saturday, December 3 at 9p, while “A Christmas Fumble,” starring Eva Marcille and Devale Ellis, bows Saturday, December 10 at 9p.
SPORTS
Amazon’s first outing as the exclusive home of “Thursday Night Football” saw the broadcast deliver 13 million viewers to its streaming service, per Nielsen. That figure was up 47% over last season’s week 2 Thursday night game, which aired only on the NFL Network, and tops the 12.6 million viewers Amazon is guaranteeing that advertisers will reach. That number was, however, below the average of 16.4 million viewers who watched Thursday NFL games last year, which included coverage on FOX. Amazon told Bloomberg that it had a bigger audience than what Nielsen reported and averaged 15.3 million viewers across all platforms.
MSG Networks announced that MSG+ will officially be renamed MSG Sportsnet. The name change will formally be introduced on air on Monday, to be timed with the start of the upcoming NHL preseason, when the Islanders take on the Rangers in each of their preseason openers at Madison Square Garden. MSGSN will continue to deliver a full schedule of live NHL games of the Islanders and Devils and other compelling sports content including boxing, horse racing, tennis, lacrosse, high school football and more.
Lotsa news on the talent front:
· ESPN has signed NFL Insider and Fantasy Football analyst Field Yates to a new multi-year extension. Yates hosts the daily Fantasy Focus Football Podcast and Fantasy Football Now on ESPN2.
· Stadium, announced thatNBA Insider Shams Charania has re-signed with Stadium to a multi-year deal.
· Eric Wynalda is joining Tony Meola to host the SiriusXM FC afternoon show Counter Attack.
· Rex Chapman is turning his podcast, Charges with Red Chapman into a TV show, per Variety. The new series will come from Portal A and Steven Nash’s CTRL Media.
With baseball fans watching Aaron Judge now that he is one HR away from claiming the American League record for most home runs in a single season, Twitter launched an exclusive emoji to cheer on Judge and honor his achievements. In true “Judge” fashion, a gavel emoji featuring the #99 will appear in any Tweets that include the hashtags: #AaronJudge and/or #AllRise.
Speaking of Judge, Wednesday night’s Pirates/Yankees game on YES Network averaged 600,000 Total Viewers in the New York DMA, peaking at 756,000 Total Viewers during the 9:30-9:45p quarter-hour. The 600,000 Average Total Viewers marks the YES Network’s best non-Subway Series game telecast in four years.
STREAMING
The Paramount+ Peak Screaming collection is back, featuring more than double the programming from last year, including new originals, horror movies and Halloween episodes from beloved series. Throughout the month of October, Paramount+ will roll out spooky content. In the mix are the debut of “Monster High the Movie” (October 6), thriller “Significant Other” (October 7) and a special Halloween episode of “Ghosts” (October 27).
Streaming is now the #1 video ad channel for CPG brands, according to a new report from Innovid. The top platform for delivering and measuring video ads across linear TV, connected TV and online revealed findings from a first-of-its-kind CPG report on key trends and challenges for video advertising, analyzing over 103 billion video ad impressions. Among the key findings, streaming tops mobile and desktop. For the first time CTV now accounts for half of all video ad impressions (52%), overtaking mobile (37%) and desktop (11%). In addition, over half (53%) of all CPG CTV advertisers run advanced video creative in their ads, like QR codes.
TECH TALK
Instagram is working on a feature that will enable users to block unsolicited nude photos sent via direct messages. It’s a “nudity protection” filter that will screen out and hide such photos. There’s no timeline on when the feature will be available. “We’re working closely with experts to ensure that new features preserve people’s privacy, while giving them control over the messages they receive,” said a spokesperson for Meta, Instagram’s parent company, in a statement.
Teads has added connected TV to its suite of media to expand audience reach and better deliver business outcomes for brands. Known for its inRead video and display formats, Teads’ addition of CTV gives advertisers and their agencies the ability to seamlessly buy a new array of quality media to deliver and quantify business outcomes. After running a successful one-year beta program, Teads is adding CTV as the latest channel in its mission to future proof partner success by enabling quality at scale and building an optimal ad experience for brands and consumers.
Consumers who are engaged with or interested in the Metaverse favor Music, Travel/Tourism and Shopping Virtual Stores as activities, according to research conducted by Reach 3 Insights. Older consumers are more interested in Travel and Tourism, while younger consumers are more interested in Fashion and Beauty activities. In relation to experiences that consumers are interested in participating with in the Metaverse, Travel/Tourism and Getting Together With Friends and Family were favored, with older consumers most interested in Travel experiences, while younger consumers are most interested in customizing clothes and jewelry. The study was conducted July 14 – July 22 among 401 US adults 18+ who engage with the metaverse or are interested in it.
Comscore has partnered with dentsu enabling the agency network to shift local buying to a Comscore-based currency, which supports transactions on advanced audience in all 210 local markets. As a driver of what’s next in media, dentsu will be the first agency network to place buys in local markets using advanced audiences across its three US media agencies, Carat, dentsu X and iProspect, adding a new addressable solution to the agency network’s toolkit. The move signals a significant shift for the local media industry as it seeks to utilize the same data-driven techniques that have been long employed by national buyers.
GOING GLOBAL
Fremantle, Syco Entertainment and Yoshimoto Kogyo have announced a new adaption of the “Got Talent” franchise: “Japan’s Got Talent.” It’s the first time the format will be made in Japan and will be produced locally by Yoshimoto Kogyo and broadcast by Abema TV. It’s slated to air in February 2023.
TV5MONDE and Roku have teamed to distribute French language streaming service TV5MONDEplus. The app rolled out on Roku streaming devices on Thursday, starting with France, Germany, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States; additional countries to come.
Moonbug Entertainment’s first original series “Mia’s Magic Playground” will launch its second season exclusively on all Sky platforms in the U.K. The whimsical children’s show follows Mia and her best friends, Oscar and Tilly, at they go on adventures in a magical world to learn important life lessons.
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