09/14/17: MacFarlane among latest wave of Emmys presenters

CYNOPSIS

Good morning. It’s Thursday September 14, 2017 and this is your first early morning briefing.

Tonight’s Premieres:

Food Network: The Zimmerman List at 9p

FX: Better Things at 10p

Vice: The Pizza Show at 10p

Viceland: Bong Appetit at 10:30p

Tonight’s Finales:

Fox: Beat Shazam at 8p and Love Connection at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Viacom CEO Bob Bakish yesterday didn’t confirm reports that Viacom is on the verge of a soft launch of a $20/month sports-free bundle, but he didn’t deny them either. “We are highly confident that a product will exist at this price point in this calendar year,” Bakish said at the Goldman Sachs Annual Communacopia Conference. The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday had reported Viacom was working with A+E, AMC Networks, Discovery and Scripps Networks Interactive on a service to be called “Philo” to be offered via cable and satellite distributors. “Very quickly you get to a point where all distributors offer all price points,” he said yesterday. “You don’t want to churn consumers. You want to upsell and downsell them.”

Hand In Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief, the star-saturated, multiplatform telethon to raise money for those in need after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, drew more than 15.7 million viewers on broadcast television Tuesday night, according to fast-affiliate stats. NBC grabbed the largest audience, about 6.1 million, CBS logged 4.1 million, ABC drew 4 million viewers and Fox attracted 1.6 million. More than $44 million was raised by talent that included on-air appearances from Beyonce, Stephen Colbert, Billy Crystal, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Nicole Kidman, Justin Timberlake, Kerry Washington and Oprah Winfrey.

Wow Unlimited Media, which focuses on the youth animation business, and Bell Media executed a definitive asset purchase agreement through which Wow! Unlimited Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wow, will acquire a Category B specialty service from Bell Media in exchange for equity in Wow. The transaction is subject to approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

The Rising Star Awards Reception is now

SOLD OUT

Cynopsis Rising Star Awards

September 15 | Midtown Lofts |NYC

3PM – 5PM

Sponsored by enJoie

PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

ABC beat out in the competition to land family comedy We Can Do Better, from former Fox series The Last Man On Earth scribe/producer Liz Cackowski and its exec producers Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Seth Cohen. The series received a script commitment with significant penalty. Studio is 20th Century Fox TV.

Sour Mash, a half-hour family workplace comedy, is in development at NBC. From Blacklist writers Michael Gagerman and Andrew Waller (Search Party), Vertigo Entertainment, producer of feature film It, and Warner Bros. TV, the series is about a Latina chemist from Brooklyn with a passion for making bourbon who becomes the master distiller at a failing family-owned distillery in Kentucky.

The Viagra Diaries are opening a new chapter, as the CW and More/Medavoy are developing a one-hour series based on the critically acclaimed novel. Executive producers are Erwin More and Brian Medavoy (American High, Just Shoot Me). Alan Nevins and Suzy Unger are producing.

Starz gave the green light to its development project Vida (formerly Pour Vida). Tanya Saracho (How to Get Away With Murder) will serve as showrunner with Alonso Ruizpalacios (Gueros, Verde) directing the first episode of the series, which focuses on two estranged Mexican-American sisters from the Eastside of LA who are brought back together. Veronica Osorio (Hail, Caesar!, The Carmichael Show) and Melissa Barrera (Club de Cuervos, La Mujer de Judas) are set to star. Big Beach TV will produce the series with exec producers Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf and Robin Schwartz. Lionsgate will retain all domestic and international multiplatform rights, including broadcast, home entertainment and digital for the series.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

CBS is getting its game back on. The network will kick off new seasons of The Price Is Right and Let’s Make A Deal on Monday, September 18. Price, the top-rated daytime program in network TV and the longest-running game show on television, celebrates Drew Carey’s 10th anniversary this year.

Cooking Channel dishes out a new season of Choccywoccydoodah on Friday, October 6 at 11p. Then, Southern food expert Damaris Phillips teams with NASCAR personality Rutledge Wood to talk Southern food and culture on the new series Southern and Hungry, premiering Monday, October 9 at 10p. MasterChef Canada is back with a new season Tuesday, October 10 at 8p, and Man’s Greatest Food is back Wednesday, October 11 at 8p. Food: Fact or Fiction? returns Sunday, October 22 at 10p, as does Carnival Eats on Thursday, October 26 at 9p.

Uncanny timing for the debut of Smithsonian Channel’s new series Make It Out Alive in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The show takes viewers behind some of the world’s greatest disasters and reveals the stories of those that faced split-second decisions that made the difference between life and death. Series, which debuts Sunday, October 15 at 9p and covers events including the eruption of Mount St. Helens, will be preceded by a sneak peek on Saturday, October 7.

New Science Channel series Strange Evidence investigates mysteries caught on surveillance cameras and uncovers the science behind some bizarre recorded occurrences. Debuting Tuesday, October 17 at 10p, series features analysis of footage that seems to defy explanation, including levitating cars on a freeway, a statue that appears to move on its own and a spontaneous burst of flames.

ADVERTISING & BRANDS

DISH Media Sales completed its first cross-platform addressable ad campaign, executed through Mindshare North America on behalf of Volvo Cars. The nine-week campaign united DISH and Sling TV’s distinct audiences, allowing Volvo to target four segments of luxury car enthusiasts across both platforms with a single buy. It deployed four ad creatives designed to capture market share within the luxury car category, as well as influence those looking to upgrade.

AWARDS SHOW NEWS

Dave Chappelle, James Corden, Viola Davis and Seth MacFarlane are among the latest round of presenters announced for the 69^th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Stephen Colbert on Sunday, September 17 at 8p. Additionally, Christopher Jackson is onboard to perform an In Memoriam tribute at the event.

Reba McEntire will debut as host for the eighth annual CMA Country Christmas event from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House on Monday, November 27 at 8p on ABC.

CASTING

Keke Palmer (Scream Queens), RJ Cyler (I’m Dying Up Here), Jessica Sula (Recovery Road), Giorgia Whigham (13 Reasons Why) and Giullian Yao Gioiello (Julie’s Greenroom) joined the season 3 cast of MTV’s Scream, which heads into production Monday in Atlanta.

Bonnie Hunt (Life With Bonnie) will co-star opposite Benicio del Toro, Patricia Arquette and Paul Dano in Showtime limited series Escape At Dannemora, based on the true story of a 2015 prison break in upstate New York.

DIGITAL DOINGS

truTV is partnering with Reddit to launch an interactive viewing experience for The Chris Gethard Show on Thursday, September 14 at 11p. The episode features guest John Oliver (Last Week Tonight). Fans will be able to livestream the full episode on Reddit as a one-night event, interact in real time with other fans within the Reddit platform and submit questions and comments to Gethard, Oliver and the cast.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Harnessing the Power of the New Hispanic Demo

Thursday, October 12 @ 1:30 pm ET

In Cynopsis’ newest live online event, we’re examining the major shift in both what’s being watched and where with this demo that represents 18% of the country’s population. With buying power topping $1.5 trillion in 2017, it is critical for media industry players to craft programming that reaches this growing and influential group. Check out our expert panel here!

RATINGS

According to recently released C3 Nielsen data, WGN America scored a double-digit primetime uptick YoY in August. The network boosted its performance by a whopping 59% vs. same time a year ago, ranking WGNA as the No. 1 general entertainment network and top five network in primetime growth. In C3, the network also experienced growth in key dayparts including total day (+27%), early fringe (+25%) and late fringe (+25%). Plus, there was also a C3 boost among W25-54, with primetime growing 45% year to year.

In results released today in the latest Beta Research Cable Subscriber Study – Evaluation of Basic Cable Networks, Discovery Channel for the 24^th year ranked No. 1 for average perceived value among total adults, and for importance to enjoyment of cable among A25-54 and potential cord cutters.

Top Ten Basic Cable Network Live+7 Performance among Total Viewers for the week of August 21, 2017  

Primetime (000)/Total Prog. Day (000)

FOXN 2445/FOXN 1442

USA 2006/NICK 1260

MSNB 1840/MSNB 1009

HGTV 1512/CNN 920

TBSC 1391/ADSM 895

CNN 1384/HGTV 803

ESPN 1191/USA 790

ID 1172/ID 747

HIST 1156/DSNY 723

DISC 1121/TOON 698

Source: Turner Research from The Nielsen Company data. All ratings based on Total US Television Universe of 116,400,000 homes. * + Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24 hour day. Notes: Data based on most currently available Nielsen Data stream; Preliminary: Live+7. Primetime is Mon-Sat 8p-11p and Sun 7p-11p. Total day is Mon-Sun 6a-6a for household and demographic performances.

Top Ten Basic Cable Network Live+7 Performance among A18-49 for the week of August 21, 2017  

Primetime (000), Total Prog. Day (000)

USA 807/ADSM* 555

MTV 670/NICK 389

TBSC 640/NAN* 351

ADSM 582/USA 291

VH1 494/TBSC 275

ESPN 487/ESPN 266

FX 415/ID 262

HGTV 397/TOON 255

BRAV 385/MTV 245

AEN 382/CNN 227

Source: Turner Research from The Nielsen Company data. All ratings based on Total US Television Universe 116,400,000 homes. * + Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24 hour day. Notes: Data based on most currently available Nielsen Data stream; Preliminary: Live+7. Primetime is Mon-Sat 8p-11p and Sun 7p-11p. Total day is Mon-Sun 6a-6a for household and demographic performance.

Top-Rated Cable Shows among A18-49 for the week of August 21, 2017 (000) 

Rick & Morty (ADSM) 3664

Teen Mom II (MTV) 1985

Love & Hip-Hop Hollywood (VH1) 1918

2017 MTV Video Music Awards (MTV) 1903

The Sinner (USA) 1824

WWE Entertainment (USA) 1808

WWE Entertainment (USA) 1698

WWE Entertainment (USA) 1647

NY Giants/Cleveland Browns (ESPN) 1559

The Real Housewives of Orange County (BRAV) 1558

Live + Same Day Viewers AA (millions): Tuesday, September 12, 2017 time period averages

Source: NTI, Galaxy as dated Live+SD

NBC: 8.73

Hand in Hand: A Benefit For Hurricane Relief 6.09, America’s Got Talent 11.36

FOX: 1.59 million

Hand in Hand: A Benefit For Hurricane Relief 1.59, The Orville 1.58

CBS: 4.28 million

Hand in Hand: A Benefit For Hurricane Relief 4.08, NCIS 5.18, Bull 4.47

ABC: 2.56 million

Hand in Hand: A Benefit For Hurricane Relief 3.95, Black-ish 2.48, Black-ish 2.16, Somewhere Between 1.65

Univision: 1.17 million

Hand in Hand: A Benefit For Hurricane Relief 1.00, Mi Marido Tien e Familia 1.44, Hoy Voy a Camblar 1.12

CW: 1 million

The Flash 1.25, Legends of Tomorrow .77

Tuesday A19-49 Rating: ABC .5/2 and 2.6 million, FOX .4/2 and 1.6 million, NBC 1.9/8 and 9.6 million, CBS .6/2 and 4.6 million, UNI .4/2, CW .3/1 and 1

EXECUTIVE MOVES

E! Entertainment has hired TV veteran Amy Introcaso-Davis as EVP, development & production. Introcaso-Davis most recently served as EVP, programming & development at GSN.

MGM Television, headed by Mark Burnett, is expanding its scripted team. The company brought in Andrew Mittman as SVP, television production and development. Additionally, Max Kisbye was promoted to EVP, television production & development. Mittman joins MGM TV from Whalerock Industries, where he served as president of film & scripted television.

Several executive moves at A&E Network. Sean Gottlieb has been promoted to VP, development and programming, Molly Ebinger has been promoted to executive producer, and Rachel Deel has been promoted to associate producer. Additionally, Marcie Hume joins the network as senior executive producer. Hume previously worked at Two Four Productions.

Pilgrim Media Group development executive Nicole Silveira has been upped to head of development and VP of the company. Silveira joined Pilgrim in early 2016 as VP, unscripted development.

Creative agency We Are Royale brought in Heidi Netzley as director of business development. Most recently, she was director of new business at Digital Kitchen, where she led show launch campaigns for CBS and E!.

This Day in History: 1999 – Disney World closed down for the first time in its 28-year history, due to Hurricane Floyd heading for Florida.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question: How many spin-offs did Cheers (1982-1993) have? Two: The Tortellis (1987) and Frasier (1993-2004). Kudos to: Rick Dascher-Turner Studios/Atlanta; Michael Goodman-Radio One/Atlanta; Linda Grillo/NY; Jerry A. Kapner-Kapner Group/Montclair, NJ; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Deerfield Beach, FL; James Ryan-A+E Networks/NY; Anthony Salerno-Horizon Media/NY; Matthew Willence-ITN Networks/NY; Tom Boyd-WGN-TV/Chicago; Eric Litt-Tribune Broadcasting/Chicago; Charlie Conner-KOKI/KMYT/Tulsa, OK; Paul Gygli-NBCUniversal Television Distribution/Universal City, CA; Larry Hutchings/Nipomo, CA; Jim Katz; Radcliffe Road Pictures/LA

Today’s Trivia Question: Which actor broke from his traditional form to play a sex-obsessed amateur screenwriter on Extras (2005-2007)? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: A limit of four correct answers from each time zone will be selected.).

Answer to Our Last Anagram: Ten Brightest = Better Things. Kudos to: Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Competition series anagram: Iron car remain ajar win (Email [email protected]; first three respondents with the correct answer who aren’t in trivia will be posted in tomorrow’s newsletter.)

Lynn Leahey Editorial Director @Lynn_Leahey
Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Diane K Schwartz Senior Vice President Media Communications Group	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina \| 203-218-6480 VP, Sales	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak \| 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

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JOB OPENING: SR ANLYST RESEARCH & ANALYTICS/SPE/NY: Consumer/Industry/Program insights for SPT Research; supports sales, production and distribution across all platforms of television: Network, Cable, SVOD & Synd. Exp. In TV Research, Nielsen & MS systems. Resume & cover HERE (9/20)

JOB OPENING: MEDIA PLANNER/RPM/NYC: Dvlp overall mktg campaign objectives/strategy along w/internal team members. Monitor, analyze & optimize campaign performance and synthesize into client-facing reporting. 3+ yrs media plan’g exp & digital media planning exp req’d. Client mngmnt exp a +. Resume/cvr HERE (9/20)

JOB OPENING: SOCIAL MEDIA CORRESPONDENT TEMP/IMG/6 Locations: Work w/athletic dept social content teams to grow/engage college sports social/digital aud, while dvlpg new rev driving opps. Mng various social media accts daily. Creative story teller w/min 1 yr exp working in creative prod. Full info/apply HERE (9/20)

JOB OPENING: NAT’L SALES ASSISTANT/UP/NYC: Provide support to ad sales by working with AEs, Sales Plners & Pricing/Inv to service clients. Work w/agency buyers. Maintain order entry, inventory moves & allocations. Strong organizational skills and attn to detail. Send res HERE (9/20)

JOB OPENING: SEGMENT PRODUCER/MAD MONEY/CNBC/NYC: Dvlp/Produce live and taped guest segments. Generate orig content ideas daily, tapping into a broad array of sources. 5 yrs exp booking and segment producing in a live TV environment, with demonstrated writing, research and comm skills. Full info/apply HERE (9/20)

JOB OPENING: JR ASSOC. SALES CREATIVE PARTNER/Pond5/NYC: Seeking an energetic, driven & entrepreneurial talent to work directly w/customers to make most of our library (world’s largest royalty free). 1-2 yrs sales exp in TV/Prod space, can talk to anyone, lives for above/beyond service. Full info/apply HERE (9/16)

JOB OPENING: SR RESEARCH ANALYST/TV ONE/SILVER SPRING MD or NYC: Assist Sr. Rsrch, Dir w/interpreting media rsrch results & effectively communicating results. Strong knwlg Nielsen software & 3^rd party systems. BA/BS deg & 2+ yrs rsrch expe @ media co., agency or advertiser. Full info/apply HERE (9/16)

JOB OPENING: PROMO WRITER/PRODUCER: Seeking innovative promo producer for nationally syndicated talk show in New York. Candidate must be experienced in a fast-paced environment, demonstrate articulate client interaction and direct high profile talent. Apply at studiocity.com/careers (9/16)

JOB OPENING: ASSOCIATE WEB PRODUCER/Crown Media Family Networks/LA: Support Sr. Producer with content updates for consumer web initiatives. Experience using Content Management skills and tools. Cable or Digital Web experience. BA/BS req & Min 2 yrs exp. Apply HERE (9/16)

JOB OPENING: SALES SERVICE EXEC/ONE SOLUTION (CROSS PLATFORM)/NYC: Responsible for helping to generate sales revenue, creating prospect lists & supporting sales teams’ efforts. Min 3-4 yrs exp digital, TV & or radio. Highly skilled PP, Excel, Sales force. Very orgnz’d/detail oriented. Full info/apply HERE (9/16)

JOB OPENING: PRODUCTION ASSISTANT/BIGBADBOO/NYC: Responsible for daily operational tasks incl assisting executive team ongoing production needs, filing documents, archiving scripts and production related assets etc. 2-4 yrs exp in relevant field. MS Office exp a must. Full info/apply HERE (9/15)

JOB OPENING: SALES SERVICE REP/Weather Channel/Chicago: Candidates looking to grow career and knowledge supporting AE’s and Dir of Chicago Office. Must have 1+ yrs. current Cable TV media experience to be considered. Go to https://careers.weathergroup.com/ to apply or email [email protected] (9/15)

JOB OPENING: SR ANALYST or MGR, AD SALES/AMCN/NYC: 3+ yrs Sr Analyst/5+ yrs Mgr related media rsrch exp (digital exp pref). Provide aud measurement, consumer insights, mktg positioning & strategic rsrch dev. Resp for producing & presenting creative & effective rsrch stories/presentations. Full info/apply HERE (9/15)

JOB OPENING: AD SALES ASST DR/FUSE Media/NY: Recent grad w/previous ad sales/adv internship exp. to asst ad sales dept. Strong Excel & multi-tasking a +. Good comm, interpersonal & organzt’l skills. Apply HERE (9/15)

JOB OPENING: DEVELOPEMENT DIRECTOR/FUSE Media/LA: Developing ideas from concept through presentation or pilot. Work with internal depts and ext. productions partners, pitches, create and dev. concepts, manage presentation and pilot prod. Good comm, interpersonal & organzt’l skills. Apply HERE (9/15)

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT – Thursday September 14

ABC: Celebrity Family Feud, Truth and Lies: The Murder of Laci Peterson

CBS: The Big Bang Theory, Mom, Big Brother, Zoo

CW: Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Who’s Line Is it Anway?, Who’s Line Is it Anway?

FOX: Beat Shazam, Love Connection

NBC: American Ninja Warrior, Chicago Fire

PBS: This Old House Hour, Earth’s Natural Wonders, Antiques Roadshow

Telemundo: Jenni Riveria, Sin senos si Hay Paraiso, El Senor de los Cielos

Univision: Enamorandome de Ramon, Mi Marido Tiene Familia, Hoy Voy a Cambiar

09/14/17: James Corden, Viola Davis and Seth MacFarlane join Emmy presenter roster

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