IN THE NEWS

It’s official: Susan Rovner has joined NBCUniversal as Chairman, Entertainment Content for TV and Streaming. Rovner, who will work closely with NBCU Chairman of Entertaiment Networks Frances Berwick, left her position as Co-President of Warner Bros. Television on October 2. She’ll oversee programming across NBC, Bravo, Oxygen, E!, Syfy, Universal Kids, Peacock and USA, as well as the first-run syndication unit. “Susan is the bold creative force we need as we rethink the future of our business,” said NBCU Television and Streaming Chairman Mark Lazarus. “Throughout this process I have been consistently impressed by her strong perspective, track record of success and passion for content. Susan joins a great team that is poised to begin a new era at NBCU.”

GLOW, renewed for a fourth and final season over a year ago by Netflix, will not get another round at the streamer after all. The female wrestling dramedy faced numerous coronavirus-related challenges. “We’ve made the difficult decision not to do a fourth season of GLOW due to COVID, which makes shooting this physically intimate show with its large ensemble cast especially challenging,” said Netflix. Also canceled by Netflix was Teenage Bounty Hunters, which premiered in August.

The audience demand for diverse US scripted debuts has more than doubled since 2017, according to a new study from CAA and Parrot Analytics that was shared at Mipcom Online+. Diverse debuts for the first time overtook non-diverse debuts in 2019. “Our study empirically evidences that successful shows today are at least as diverse as the US population,” said Parrot Analytics Insights Analyst Dr. Nicole Zamanzadeh. Still, the Hispanic or Latino population remains underrepresented, with 5% of actors in scripted debuts for the period 2017-2019, despite making up 18% of the population. Whites were overrepresented, with 60% of the population and 65% of talent.

Entertainment marketing strategist Lee Hunt and business development expert Lori Pate have launched CMOmarketplace, to help connect buyers and sellers of creative services. The portal, an alternative to the traditional agency-client business development model, is accessible 24/7, and anyone can register for free. Since soft launching over the summer, more than 100 media companies have registered for the portal, which features the work of 22 creative agencies of varying sizes and specialties.

Call for Submissions: Cynopsis is producing its annual Holiday Programming Guide, which comes out on October 28 and will be sent to all Cynopsis subscribers. If your network has holiday programming airing from October 28 through January 1, please send your listing to [email protected] and [email protected] no later than Monday, October 19 with the subject line: Holiday Guide. To be included, programs must be listed by date, title of program, and start times, in the following format: “Thursday, November 19: Network Name: My One Christmas Wish at 9a, Paper Angels at 11a, 12 Days of Giving at 1p, A Christmas Kiss at 3p, A Very Country Christmas at 5p, Christmas on the Coast at 7p, A Christmas Cruise at 9p”. Holiday-related programs only! A confirmation email will be sent following each submission (if you don’t receive a confirmation email, please resubmit).

Valley of the Gods, from Pete Nowalk (How to Get Away With Murder), Joanna Coles (The Bold Ones) and ABC Studios, landed a production commitment from ABC Studios. The drama is centered on powerful people in Silicon Valley, and the outsiders trying to claw their way in.

Epix ordered Fiasco, based on the Leon Neyfakh podcast of the same name, to series. Season one of the six-parter from Prologue Projects and Left/Right will tell the story of the Iran-Contra affair. Neyfakh, Andrew Parsons of Prologue Projects and Underground’s Steven Fisher serve as executive producers, along with Ken Druckerman, Banks Tarver, and John Marks for Left/Right.

Zaftig Films’ John Requa and Glenn Ficarra struck a broadcast first-look deal with Fox Entertainment, to develop series and direct pilots. They previously had overall deals with Fox Entertainment.

London-based Fugitive announced a new development and representation partnership with New York’s MO Studios, which develops and produces film and TV projects that prioritize female/diverse creatives. The first project is The Fugitive Game, a period drama series set around the birth of the Dada movement, and the creation of The Cabaret Voltaire.

Eric Schotz and his prodco Anvil 1893 have partnered with Penske Media Corporation to develop a TV series based on Dirt, the real estate blog and Variety column that covers the homes and real estate transactions of entertainment industry heavy hitters.

Animation studio ZAG has launched a new business division, ZAG Games & Interactive Experiences, to develop gaming experiences and interactive for the properties under the ZAG Heroez label. Elinor Schops will spearhead ZAG Games & Interactive Experiences as VP.

CASTING

Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) will play Leo on HBO Max’s election-themed West Wing reunion special, airing Thursday, October 15. John Spencer, who died of a heart attack during the show’s final season, originated the role… Busy Philipps (Cougar Town) has joined the cast of Peacock’s Girls5eva, from Tina Fey, Robert Carlock and Meredith Scardino. The comedy centers on a 90s girl group that gets another shot at fame.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Season three of ID’s Twisted Sisters premieres Monday, October 26 at 9p. “Everyone knows I love true-crime, and this season we took Twisted Sisters to a whole new level with some exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage and access,” said Khloé Kardashian, executive producer of the series.

Two USA reality series kick off the the back half of seasons on Thursday, November 12. Chrisley Knows Best returns with new season eight episodes at 10p, followed by the more of Miz and Mrs’ season two at 10:30p.

NBC News Now morning show Morning News Now debuts Monday, October 12, airing weekdays from 7a-11a. Available on Peacock, YouTube TV, Fubo, Xumo, Pluto and NBC News’ OTT apps on Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV, the show will be hosted by NBC News correspondents Joe Fryer and Savannah Sellers. “NBC News Now’s success allows us to expand its programming and continue bringing more streaming content to new viewers,” said Janelle Rodriguez, SVP Editorial for NBC News. “This audience is hungry for smart and trustworthy news and we’re looking forward to meeting that demand.” Originally slated to debut in April, the show was delayed due to the pandemic.

Independent Lens returns to PBS with Feels Good Man, the story of the transformation of Pepe the Frog from lighthearted comic book character to registered hate symbol during the 2016 election cycle. The season debuts Monday, October 19 at 10p (check local listings).

Facebook Watch ordered a mental health-focused talk show with Taraji P. Henson (Empire) and co-host Trace Jade Jenkins, Executive Director of the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, which was founded by Taraji P. Henson. Peace of Mind with Taraji (wt) will focus on mental health issues affecting the Black community.

Disney+ series Meet the Chimps explores 200-acre Louisiana refuge Chimp Haven, home to more than 300 rescued chimpanzees. All six episodes, narrated by Jane Lynch, drop Friday, October 16.

Fuse is introducing a block of food shows on Tuesday, October 13. Season two of Made From Scratch launches at 11p, followed by new series Struggle Gourmet, featuring basic dishes with extraordinary ingredients at 11:30p.

ADVERTISING

Virtual and upfront and digital NewFront presentations may outlive the COVID-19 pandemic – three-quarters of senior advertiser and agency execs surveyed by Advertiser Perceptions said 2020’s presentations were just as or more effective than traditional in-person events. But when it comes to change, measurement is what matters most. Twenty-six percent of respondents said outcome measurement was their top preference for reforming the upfront ad marketplace, followed by 18% for accurate audience estimate, 15% for attribution models, 14% for measurement transparency and 13% for audience guarantees. Ten percent cited an overhaul of cancelation options, and only 5% said changing to a calendar year upfront was most important.

“The real issue around the upfront is measurement and transparency, which is at a critical crossroads for the TV business,” said Advertiser Perceptions EVP Andy Sippel, noting, “Digital media are accustoming advertisers to more granular measurement of audience and potential impact. Advertisers want more of this from TV, and they’re more concerned with the terms of the deal than the timing of the negotiation.”

Social media platforms are increasing their share of the US media mix, accounting for $7.2 billion of ad spend, or 20.9%, during 2Q20, according to data from Kantar and Pathmatics. While ad spend overall fell 30% during the quarter, with newspaper (down 49.8%) and outdoor (-43.3%) taking the biggest hits, TV spend declined -29.3%, versus a -9.8% dip for Facenook.

COMING UP

Rebuilding Paradise, the film from director Ron Howard and Imagine Documentaries, makes its broadcast premiere commercial-free on Nat Geo on Sunday, November 8 at 9p, the second anniversary of the Camp Fire in Paradise, CA. “We at Imagine Documentaries are thankful to our partners at National Geographic Documentary films for the continued effort to share this very important and timely film with a wider audience,” said Howard. “There is no doubt that climate change is a contributing factor to the historic fires burning even now on the west coast, devastating entire communities.”

Also on the way from Nat Geo: Filmed over the course of four years, The Last Ice tells the stories of Inuit communities fighting to protect the rapidly disappearing Arctic. The film premieres Monday, October 12 at 9p.

Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You streams on Apple TV+ Friday, October 23. The doc offers a behind-the-scenes look and performances from Springsteen’s studio album, Letter to You, which will be released the same day.

Mily Cyrus goes Uplugged for MTV special Miley Cyrus Backyard Sessions, airing Friday, October 16 at 7p. Cyrus will perform stripped-down and acoustic versions of her own hits, as well as covers.

Netflix’s 2016 Gilmore Girls mini-series gets a run as an event series on The CW starting Monday, November 23.The original GG ran on The WB for six seasons starting in 2000, with its seventh and final season airing on The CW.

Spectrum Networks’ national live coverage of the general election debates continues with the Vice Presidential debate on Wednesday, October 7 at 9p on its 30-plus news networks in nine states, including five key battleground states – Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin and Texas – and on the Spectrum News App. Following the debate, Spectrum News will air Decision 2020: Spectrum News Post-Debate Special, featuring a roundtable of Spectrum News political anchors from the regional markets across the country.

Fox Business Network’s Neil Cavuto will present special live coverage of the vice presidential debate beginning at 8p. Fox Business Network Presents Democracy 2020: The Vice Presidential Debate will feature pre- and post-debate analysis, as well as coverage of the debate itself.

Among upcoming “HallowScream” premieres on the Nick and Nick Jr. app are The Loud House “Ghosted!” special on Friday, October 9 at 7p, and Blue’s Clues & You! “Spooky Costume Party” on Wednesday, October 14 at 9a.

Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker will host the 54th Annual CMA Awards, broadcast live from Nashville on Wednesday, November 11 at 8p on ABC. It’s McEntire’s fifth time as host, and Rucker’s first.

The AFI Awards have moved from their usual January timeframe to Friday, February 26, two days before the Golden Globes. The awards honor teams behind 10 movies and 10 TV shows selected by a panel of experts as the best of the year.

STREAMING SCOOP

Syncbak’s new OTT platform, VUit, has launched Battlegound States, a limited time channel offering 24/7 local news segments and campaign events about the presidential election from the key swing states. The new channel will help viewers track voter sentiment, campaign engagement and real-time election updates. Gray Television, an initial lead investor in VUit, will be sourcing a majority of the coverage.

AVOD Xumo, acquired by Comcast in February, reports that since January it has experienced 2.5x growth and grown its monthly active user total to more than 24 million, with total hours streamed more than doubling. CEO Petrie-Norris attributes the growth in part to the pandemic, but also new distribution partners, expanded content and a deeper integration with Comcast Cable’s Xfinity X1 and Flex.

YouTube TV is giving Google’s new Chromecast, worth $49.99, to people who subscribe to YouTube TV and pay $64.99 the first month. While YouTube is looking to lure new subscribers with the streaming device, Google has a promotion that offers a new Chromecast with six months of Netflix for $89.99.

Audible announced a first look development and production deal with Conan O’Brien’s digital media company, Team Coco, to produce scripted and unscripted episodic series, non-fiction documentaries, and other audio original projects. Already greenlit: real-life mother-daughter duo Lea Thompson and Zoey Deutch in a scripted, episodic comedy podcast titled A Total Switch Show.

Accuweather TV is now available on fuboTV. The network is in base package fubo Standard.

TECH NEWS

Group Nine Media announced the launch of “G9 Direct,” a performance marketing solution for DTC and direct response-focused brand partners. G9 Direct leverages consumers’ brand affinities for the five Group Nine brands (The Dodo, NowThis, POPSUGAR, Thrillist and Seeker) and the digital media company’s first-party data, coupled with scroll-stopping social media creative from its branded content studio, Brandshop. The first DTC advertisers to work with G9 Direct are Casper, Fi and by Humankind. “We are combining our rich, first-party data, huge reach and social media expertise with the advertiser’s second-party data to deliver impactful, bottom of the funnel marketing campaigns with relevant messaging that drives real results,” said Group Nine’s Chief Revenue Officer, Geoff Schiller.

Workplace platform Slack experienced significant outages on Monday, starting at about 11:20a. “Some users may be unable to connect to Slack, while others are seeing general performance issues,” tweeted the company. Just after 2p, Slack said it continued to “see improvement, but some users may be experiencing delays.”

GOING GLOBAL

Keshet International has completed pre-sales for Top Hat Productions‘ 9/11: The Twenty-Year Anniversary (wt) in France (Canal+Group), Denmark (TV2), Sweden (TV4), the Netherlands (RTL), and the US (Discovery).

Paul Heaney and Dina Subhani have launched BossaNova, aimed at bringing together the producers and buyers of TV entertainment in an integrated hub. Heaney and Subhani are the founders of factual distribution company TCB Media Rights.

Fred Rogers Productions and 9 Story Distribution International are joining forces to bring preschool puppet series Donkey Hodie to international broadcasters for the first time at MIPJunior in October. The series is set to premiere in the US on PBS Kids in 2021.

eOne has secured broadcast partners for My Little Pony: Pony Life including Turner Australia, Turner South East Asia and Channel 9 GO! in Australia, TVNZ New Zealand, Mediacorp Singapore, Spacetoon in the Middle East, Tiny Pop, part of Sony Pictures Television in the UK, Discovery Kids in Latin America, Discovery Family in the US, Corus Entertainment’s Treehouse in Canada, Disney Channel in Germany, Gulli in France and Cartoonito in Italy. The show will also be available on selected digital platforms at a later stage.

The Ninth International Emmy Kids Awards will be streamed on Wednesday, October 14 during MIPCOM Online+. Honoring excellence in children’s television programming produced and initially aired outside of the United States, 12 nominees in three categories span 10 countries: Australia, Brazil, Finland, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and the UK.

Zodiak Kids Studio France and Gigglebug Entertainment are co-producing animated comedy The Unstoppable Yellow Yeti, which has been co-commissioned by Disney Channel Europe, Middle East and Africa and Nordic broadcasters YLE, DR, NRK and SVT.

Ameba TV struck a deal with French production and animation studio Dandelooo that sees The Treehouse Stories, Chico Chica Boumba, Ribbit’s Fantasy Riddles, Kiwi and animated feature filmHoudini streaming on the kids entertainment platform.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
In which 1960s sitcom did the two leads get engaged at the end of the second season, and married in the third and final season? The Farmer’s Daughter (1963-66). Kudos to: Paul Blutter-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
Who did Lois leave at the altar in season one of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-97)? (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.)