Tonight’s Finale
WE tv: Tamar Braxton: Get Ya Life! at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Showtime is bringing back Dexter as a limited series. Michael C. Hall, star of the 2006-2013 serial killer drama, and showrunner Clyde Phillips will both return. “Dexter is such a special series, both for its millions of fans and for Showtime, as this breakthrough show helped put our network on the map many years ago,” said Gary Levine, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks. “We would only revisit this unique character if we could find a creative take that was truly worthy of the brilliant, original series.” Produced by Showtime, Dexter is executive produced by Clyde Phillips, Michael C. Hall, John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Bill Carraro and Scott Reynolds. Tentative premiere date: fall 2021.

President Trump has a town hall set for NBC tonight, October 15 at 8p, the same time as Vice President Joe Biden’s ABC event. The Commission on Presidential Debates had scheduled a face-off with both candidates for tonight, but when it was changed to a virtual format following Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, the president declined to take part; Biden’s campaign booked the ABC News town hall instead. NBC held off confirming its Trump (outdoor, socially distanced) town hall until an analysis of Trump’s medical data indicated the president was “not shedding infectious virus.”

Season nine of Last Man Standing will be its last. The comedy starring Tim Allen ran for six seasons on ABC before being picked up by Fox, where it launched in 2018. “As we approach the ninth season, I just admire and feel grateful for all the hard work our wonderful cast and crew have done,” said Allen. “We had all considered to end the show after last season, but together with Fox, we decided to add a year so we could produce a full season to create the gentle and fun goodbye. I’m looking forward to a memorable and hilarious final season.”

Kathleen Turner is onboard the third and final season of Netflix’s The Kominsky Method as a series regular. She’ll play the ex-wife of Michael Douglas’ character, a role she originated in a guest appearance last season. Douglas and Turner co-starred in 1980s film hits Romancing the Stone, The Jewel of the Nile and War of the Roses.

Revenue for US pay-TV operators will decline by $23 billion, to $56 billion, between 2019 and 2025, forecasts Digital TV Research. Pay-TV revenues hit a high of $105 billion in 2015.

Havas is launching Havas CX, a dedicated “customer experience” network that will “marry the technological, functional aspects of CX with its clients’ brand promise and the personal and cultural context devised from Havas and BETC’s consumer insights.” Leading the new network will be COO Yann Doussot, most recently Global CEO of Havas design agency Ekino.

Paramount’s sequel to 1988 film hit Coming to America, starring Eddie Murphy, is coming to Amazon instead of theaters, thanks to the pandemic. A deal in the works is reportedly in the range of $125 million.

Seventeen percent of US internet users viewed one or more AVOD services in the past month, according to Ampere Analysis, versus 13% in 3Q19. Ampere noted that AVOD users are on average older than SVOD viewers – 44% of AVOD users were 45-64, compared to 36% for AVOD – with half of AVOD households making less than 30%, versus a third of SVOD users.

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).

CBS All Access gave a series order to Texas 6, a docu-series following a six-man high school football team and their coach, from Jared Christopher (Titletown, TX). “Jared has uncovered an emotional and riveting story of perseverance, sportsmanship and grit, set in the little-known world of six-man football,” said Julie McNamara, EVP and Head of Programming at CBS All Access. “His commitment to and devotion to the subject and individuals is apparent from the first scene.” All eight episodes will be available Thanksgiving Day, November 26.

Join us today at 2pm ET to catch our Top Women in Media celebration. All you need to do is visit our website here. Good news – if you missed viewing it on Tuesday or Wednesday – the past videos are archived on our website for on-demand viewing! This afternoon, get ready to be inspired by our two Distinguished Company honorees (Ampersand + Starz), Directors Who Do It All, Innovators & Disruptors, Local & National News Ambassadors.

Set to star in HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls, a comedy from Mindy Kaling, are Pauline Chalamet (The King of Staten Island), Amrit Kaur (The D Cut), Renee Rapp (Broadway’s Mean Girls), and Alyah Chanelle Scott (The Book of Mormon). Kaling (The Mindy Project) and showrunner Justin Noble co-wrote the first episode and will exec produce with Howard Klein.

A modernized version of novel and movie Fried Green Tomatoes is in development at NBC, with Reba McEntire (Reba) attached to star, and Norman Lear – an executive producer on the 1991 film – executive producer. Writer Jennifer Cecil and McEntire will produce with Lear. Fannie Flagg, author of the novel, will also executive produce. The studio is Universal Studio Group.

Also getting an update is 1997 horror movie I Know What You Did Last Summer, as a YA series on Amazon. Sara Goodman will write and executive produce. “The best horror franchises always have another scare coming, and this I Know What You Did Last Summer series from Sara Goodman is a perfectly twisted update to the iconic slasher movie,” said Albert Cheng, COO and co-head of Television at Amazon Studios. “Any way you slice it, our global Prime Video customers will love this modern take on the fan favorite film.”

Ms. Pat, which had gotten a pilot order from Hulu, has been picked up by BET+. The comedy following a convicted felon turned suburban mom, based on Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams’ stand-up comedy and memoir, comes from co-creator and executive producer Lee Daniels and EP Brian Grazer.

HBO Max renewed competition series Craftopia for a second season, featuring adult contestants. Craftopia: Holiday Showdown will premiere in 2021. Also on tap are four holiday-themed special episodes featuring kid crafters, dropping October 22 and November 16.

Data on its own is not enough. Insights must be mined, stories must be discovered. Which is why Cynopsis is hosting a “Storytelling with Data” session at next month’s Measurement & Data Virtual Conference. The panelists from Amazon Advertising and OMD will explain how to make sense of all of the data that is collected, the best ways to stitch together various data sets, and how to make sense of a complicated landscape. Register for our virtual conference by 10/27 to save!

Bobby Smith (Jason’s Lyric) and Black romance author Brenda Jackson have partnered to launch a film and TV company to develop titles from Jackson’s books. “I am so excited to be joining forces with the great Brenda Jackson to celebrate and bring Black romance and Black love stories to the television screens of the world through the launching of this endeavor,” said Smith. “It’s about time that Black love and Black romance truly received the beautiful spotlight that they’ve always deserved.”

NBCUniversal International Studios’ Matchbox Pictures and Eureka Productions are teaming to co-produce the second international version of Making It, for Australia’s Network 10. Hosts and executive producers Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman lead the original US version.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Season three of Paramount Network’s Yellowstone lands on Peacock on Sunday, November 22, joining seasons one and two. Yellowstone is one of the streamer’s top performing shows. Seasons one and two of Mr. Mercedes premiere on Peacock today, along with a video, Mr. Mercedes: From Page to Screen, featuring an interview with Stephen King.

Food Network has sweet things in store for viewers next month, starting Sunday, November 1 at 8p with the return of cake masters and sugar artisans in Holiday Wars. The next night it’s sugar and spice when the new season of Holiday Baking Championship kicks off at 9p.

History channel set the premiere date for its new nonfiction programming strand, History’s Greatest Mysteries, hosted and narrated by Laurence Fishburne. First up: The Final Hunt for D.B. Cooper, chronicling the attempt to solve the only unsolved US skyjacking case.

Docuseries NASCAR 2020: Under Pressure offers a look under the hood at this year’s NASCAR Cup Series season. Episodes premiere weekly starting Saturday, October 31, on MotorTrend’s App.

COMING UP

Amazon special Yearly Departed will eulogize 2020, with comedian Phoebe Robinson (2 Dope Queens) hosting and Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) exec producing. The special from Amazon Studios and Done + Dusted will premiere this winter worldwide. “I can’t imagine a better way to lay this unfathomably awful year to rest than giving some of the world’s funniest women the last word,” said Brosnahan.

Race in America: Our Vote Counts will be simulcast on Bravo and E! on Sunday, November 1 at 10p. Host Nina Parker runs the roundtable with celebs from across the NBC broadcast and cable entertainment networks for a dialogue on the power of the Black vote.

National Geographic documentary The Real Right Stuff premieres on Disney+ on Friday, November 20. The special, chronicling the pioneering era of the space race, is a companion to the streamer’s scripted series, The Right Stuff.

The Paley Center for Media today announced the schedule for its annual Paley International Council Summit, Globally Connected: Media in the 21st Century, taking place November 10-11. On day one, Frank A. Bennack, Jr. and Henry A. Kissinger will take part in The Henry A. Kissinger Annual Keynote Address. “We’re honored to welcome this distinguished group of leaders to this year’s Paley International Council Summit, especially during such an unprecedented year as global industries navigate a myriad of issues to prepare for 2021,” said Maureen J. Reidy, the Paley Center’s President & CEO.

TECH TALK

Video ad company Pixability announced the wide release of an enhanced BrandShield solution for brand suitable campaigns at scale with maximum performance on YouTube. “For more than eight years, Pixability’s technology has ensured that every YouTube campaign we’ve powered has been both safe and brand suitable for advertisers,” said David George, CEO of Pixability. “We’re excited to announce our platform’s expanded capabilities and to share this technology with agencies and brands who are running their own self-serve campaigns on DV360 and Google Ads.”

Ninety-nine percent of US respondents plan to increase their spend on programmatic OOH in 2021, according to the State of the Nation report from programmatic OOH trading platform VIOOH. As far as omni-channel strategies, respondents ranked social media (85%) as their priority for future spend, followed by digital/programmatic OOH (74%), broadcast TV (70%), digital audio (69%), and search (65%). “In such uncertain times, where marketers are looking to maximize the value of their advertising budgets, the agility, flexibility and trigger-based decisioning that programmatic OOH offers play a crucial role in the effectiveness of campaigns,” said Jean-Christophe Conti, CEO of VIOOH. “The onus is now on us, as an industry, to ensure we are creating the best environment in which programmatic OOH can thrive.”

Telemundo has launched interactive shopping experience Shop Telemundo. The online marketplace of more than 50 retail partners is powered by NBCUniversal’s suite of content and commerce tools including NBCUniversal Checkout and ShoppableTV.

National CineMedia’s new NCM /DOOH group has joined OOH org DPAA. “As the media marketplace evolves, NCM plans to continue to diversify our offerings beyond the big screen to reach movie fans and audiences wherever they are, and digital-out-of-home is an important part of our future strategy with our new NCM/DOOH group,” said Scott Felenstein, SVP and CRO of NCM. “We believe that DPAA has much to offer in the way of marketplace insights and networking opportunities.”

DISTRIBUTION

ION Media announced an expansion of its content relationship with ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group. The deal covers all seasons of the CBS’ NCIS: New Orleans and Hawaii Five-0 for broadcast.

Banijay Rights announced that HBO Max has acquired drama series Adult Material, originally produced by Fifty Fathoms for UK’s Channel 4. Also picked up by the streamer was psychological thriller series Possessions, from Studiocanal.

GOING GLOBAL

Winners of Mipsom’s Diversify TV’s Excellence Awards included Jake and Clarice from Japan/Phillipines; UK’s The Accident and The School That Tried to End Racism; Canada’s Empoyable Me Canada; and Australia’s Total Control and And Then Something Changed.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was the first original sitcom cancelled by TV Land? Retired at 35 (2011-12). Kudos to: Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL, Lee Miller-MSGPR/Lufkin, TX, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, Carl Mayer-Active International/Pearl River, NY, Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA, Heather Allen-WWE Corporation/Stamford, CT, Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
On which short-lived 1970s sitcom did the main character have a girlfriend with the same name as a famous male comedian? (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.)