Saturday’s Premieres
MotorTrend App: NASCAR 2020: Under Pressure
Nat Geo WILD: Secrets of the Zoo: North Carolina at 10p
Nickelodeon: The Substitute at 9p
OWN: Iyanla, Fix My Life at 9p

Sunday’s Premieres
Bounce TV: Dying to Be Famous: The Ryan Singleton Mystery at 8p
Food Network: Holiday Wars at 8p
ID: Killer in Question at 9p
PBS: Roadkill on Masterpiece at 9p

Sunday’s Finale
Showtime: The Comedy Store at 10p

Comcast reported some better than expected 3Q20 earnings, with an assist from its new streaming service. “Peacock has exceeded every internal engagement metric without the benefit of the Olympics or content like The Office [coming in January 2021],” with nearly 22 million sign-ups. The service is “proving to be a differentiating factor for customers considering Xfinity broadband and is also improving churn,” said the company. Comcast also reported its best quarterly customer results its history, with 633,000 net adds for high-speed internet customers, versus a projected 534,000. On the downside were pandemic-related decreases in advertising, theme parks and filmed entertainment. “We are nearly eight months into this pandemic – and despite many harsh realities, I couldn’t be more pleased and proud of how our team has worked together across the company to find safe and creative solutions to successfully operate in this environment,” said CEO Brian Roberts.

As for NBCUniversal’s upfront, it was “a smaller upfront than in the past, but much better than we expected,” said CEO Jeff Shell in a call with analysts. “We didn’t even think a few months ago there would be one.” NBC wrapped “slightly up on price when we expected to be way down. Slightly down on volume.”

Fox Corp, ViacomCBS and the Independent Film & Television Alliance are among the media groups backing a cross-industry coalition for pandemic insurance. The goal of the Business Continuity Coalition is to advocate for a public/private business continuity insurance program that will enable employers to keep payrolls and supply chains intact. A hearing will take place on November 19 by the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance called, “Insuring Against a Pandemic: Challenges and Solutions for Policyholders and Insurers.”

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group has scooped up two more networks: MGM’s over-the-air multicast networks This TV, launched in 2008, and family friendly Light TV, launched in 2016. Both are available via over-the-air, cable and online, with a mix of MGM content. “We are going to continue to invest a substantial amount of capital into the programming, marketing and distribution of these networks,” said Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Entertainment Studios and Allen Media Group. “We are strong believers in broadcasting and free-streaming direct-to-consumer platforms.”

“The Baby-Sitters Club” landed as season two order from Netflix. Rachel Shukert will return as showrunner and executive producer.

Getting a toon up: CBS All Access renewed “No Activity” for season four – with a twist. “We are so excited to welcome back the hilarious team behind “No Activity” for a fourth season and can’t wait to show fans their favorite mediocre law enforcement agents brought to life in animated form,” said Julie McNamara, EVP and Head of Programming, CBS All Access.

Sci-fi drama “Brave New World,” based on the Aldous Huxley novel, has been canceled by Peacock. The series starring Alden Ehrenreich and Demi Moore was originally developed for Peacock corporate cousin USA Network.

IPG Mediabrands marketing agency Reprise introduced a new ecommerce specialist unit, Reprise Commerce, that combines Reprise’s traditional ecommerce media planning and buying expertise with a focus on retail marketing. “The industry has witnessed a decade of growth in just a couple of months, despite retail sales declining 10.5% in the US this year,” said the company. “As shoppers continue to purchase online and expand the types of purchases typically found in their digital shopping carts, it will be essential for brands to be present in the customer flow.”

NATPE announced a completely virtual NATPE Miami, from January 19-22, as well as three new events: Segregation, Segmentation & Storytelling on February 16; Sports on March 23; and News on April 7.

SESSION SPOTLIGHT: THE ISSUE OF DATA QUALITY
There’s a lot of data to choose from nowadays. Some is critical for one project but not with another. How can you smartly tell which is which? This panel on Tuesday, November 17th at 1:30pm ET features executives from New York Interconnect, Starcom and Publicis One Team (Citi) who will examine the way pros have separated the wheat from the chaff using examples from media & data companies.

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A&E greenlit two-hour documentary special “Biography: TLC” (wt), focused on the top-selling American female group of all-time. Executive produced by Roger Ross Williams (“The Apollo”) and his production company with producer Geoff Martz, One Story Up, the special will document the group’s emotional journey as T-Boz and Chilli tell their story for the first time in a feature. The special, directed by Matt Kay, will premiere on A&E in 2021.

OWN struck a first-look deal with producer Holly Carter and Relevé Entertainment, an All3Media America company. The partnership will focus on creating and producing unscripted series and specials that explore faith, love, sisterhood, relationships and unity. Carter is the founder of Relevé Entertainment, which specializes in television/film production, talent partnerships, and brand development. The first project under the new deal: an all-star holiday gospel music special, “Our OWN Christmas,” set to air on Tuesday, December 1 at 9p.

Amazon Studios gave a green light for Judith Sheindlin’s (“Judge Judy”) new court show, to air on Amazon AVOD IMDbTV. “Judge Judy Sheindlin is a TV icon and visionary who has entertained millions of fans for decades,” said Lauren Anderson and Ryan Pirozzi, Co-Heads of Content and Programming for IMDb TV. “As we build the IMDb TV slate of high-quality, ambitious Amazon Studios Originals, we are delighted to deliver customers a court program from the legendary Judge Sheindlin who, without a doubt, is the very best in the business.”

UK’s Channel 5 has commissioned October Films to produce a feature documentary special for Remembrance Day, “How Britain Won World War Two,” and a series, “The Dambusters Story: A Battle Against Time,” exploring hidden aspects of World War II.

NEW & RETURNING SHOWS

Celebrity IOU – HGTV’s highest-rated freshman series ever – returns for season two on Monday, December 14 at 9p. Joining hosts Drew and Jonathan Scott to renovate the homes of people who have made an impact on their lives are Zooey Deschanel, Justin Hartley, Allison Janney and Rainn Wilson. “In season one, we were blown away by how hands-on each celebrity was and season two is no different!” said Drew Scott. “Everyone is so dedicated because they’re doing this for people they love.”

The CW will start rolling out its new season starting Friday, January 8, with “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” at 8p, and “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” at 9p. “Two Sentence Horror Stories” and “Trickster” debut on Tuesday, January 12 at 8p and 9p, “Batwoman” lands Sunday, January 17 at 8p, and “All American” bows Monday, January 18 at 9p. Wednesday, January 20 brings “Riverdale” at 8p and “Nancy Drew” at 9p; the following night “Walker” launches at 8p, followed by “Legacies” at 9p. “Charmed” premieres Sunday, January 24 at 9p, “Black Lightning” sets down Monday, February 8 at 9p, and Tuesday, February 23 brings “The Flash” at 8p and “Superman & Lois” at 9p.

London dermatologists specializing in a variety of skin issues demonstrate life-changing treatments in TLC’s “When Skin Goes Wrong,” premiering Thursday, November 19 at 10p.

Lark Voorhies will return to make a special appearance as Lisa Turtle on Peacock’s revival of “Saved by the Bell,” premiering Wednesday, November 25.

Season 13 of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta premieres Sunday, December 6 at 8p, with Cynthia Bailey, Kandi Burruss, Porsha Williams and Kenya Moore back to stir up trouble.

“Trolls: The Beat Goes On” premieres on Universal Kids for its first US linear airing on Monday, November 16 at 2p.

SVOD PokerGo is collaborating with GGPoker on “High Stakes Feud,” a new cash game featuring a head-to-head battle between poker pros and long-standing rivals, Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk. The first episode premieres live from the PokerGO studio on November 4 at 8p.

“Tyler Perry’s Ruthless” returns for its midseason premiere Thursday, November 26, on BET+, with faithful followers beginning to uncover the evil that exists beneath the surface of the Rakudushis movement.

The inner workings of black markets are investigated in Nat Geo’s “Trafficked With Mariana Van Zeller,” premiering Wednesday, December 2 at 9p.

COMING UP

The first round of performers for “The 54th Annual CMA Awards,” hosted by Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker, include Lady A., Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Florida Georgia Line, Miranda Lambert, Ashley McBryde, Maren Morris, Rascal Flatts and Thomas Rhett featuring McEntire, Hillary Scott and Chris Tomlin. The show will broadcast live from Nashville on Wednesday, November 11 at 8p on ABC.

Thanksgiving-themed episodes of animated kids shows Pinkalicious & Peterrific and Arthur air on PBS Kids on Monday, November 16 (check local listings).

Five consecutive nights of new true crime content will be dished out on ID’s True Crime at 9 beginning Friday, November 27 at 9p with “ID Murder Mystery,” exploring the case of a 19-year-old who managed a cryptic whisper before taking her last breath. “With our True Crime at 9 stunt, ID will serve up twists and turns, with a side of justice, that we know our viewers – the best of all true-crime fans – will want to come back for seconds,” said Henry Schleiff, Group President of ID, Travel Channel, American Heroes Channel and Destination America.

Pocket.watch announced that a balloon in “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be inspired by YouTube star Ryan of Ryan’s World. Based on his alter ego, “Red Titan,” Ryan will be the first YouTube creator to be featured in the parade’s 94-year history. The parade will be broadcast Thursday November 26 on NBC.

Documentary “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” directed by Frank Marshall (“Seabiscuit”), premieres Saturday, December 12 at 8p on HBO.

STREAMING SCOOP

Fox News Media’s international streaming platform, FOX News International, has expanded its distribution to 27 countries worldwide, including Costa Rica, Ireland, Norway, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia and Iceland. The streaming service, which provides Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network’s live linear feed along with a catalog of 20 on-demand programs, will also launch on the Amazon FireTV platform in all countries, excluding Mexico, and continue to be accessible via iOS, Android, AppleTV and AndroidTV in all 27 countries.

Middle Eastern streaming service Shahid VIP is launching in the US and Canada on November 1. Broadcaster MBC Group started the service in the MENA region in January 2020, then rolled it out in the UK and Europe. “Shahid VIP’s launch in North America delivers a line-up of top-rated series and movies that will make Arabic speakers feel very much at home,” said Luis Duran, Chief Commercial Officer of Shahid VIP.

Anime content provider Funimation is partnering with Chinese entertainment platform Bilibili to bring the first-ever Chinese anime series, “Heaven’s Official Blessing,” to its streaming service. The anime is based on the series of Chinese fantasy novels first published online by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. Starting today, the series with English subtitles will be available on Funimation platforms in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Kanal D Drama is celebrating its first year in the US with an audience of over a million. The Spanish-language channel dedicated exclusively to Turkish dramas in Spanish made its debut last year through Xfinity and Xfinity On Demand.

Estrella Medi has launched Estrella News, a 24-hour multiplatform news network. Estrella News debuted this week on Tubi and will appear soon on the Roku Channel and Samsung’s TV Plus, as well as other digital networks as Estrella Media widens its distribution reach.

Netflix is raising the price of its standard tier plan by $1, to $13.99/month, and its premium tier by $2, to $17.99/month. The streamer last raised prices in May 2019.

TECH TALK

Earnings per share for Google parent Alphabet rose to $16.40 from $10.12 for the quarter, handily beating estimates of $11.37. Facebook also had good news, with a reported net income of $7.8 billion, a rise of 29% from the year-ago quarter. “We had a strong quarter as people and businesses continue to rely on our services to stay connected and create economic opportunity during these tough times,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Amazon crushed expectations, with revenue of $96.1 billion, up 37%, and earnings of $6.3 billion, while Apple reported fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday that slightly exceeded Wall Street expectations ($64.7 billion versus $63.70 billion), but investors did not receive guidance for the quarter ending in December.

Verizon Media’s Yahoo unveiled its first smartphone. The purple Yahoo Mobile ZTE Blade A3Y is available for $49.99 as part of Yahoo Mobile’s unlimited phone service, offering consumers pre-installed Yahoo news, sports and finance apps, as well as immersive platforms such as the newly launched “Watch Together.” Among the features: an 8MP rear-camera dual flash and 5MP front-facing camera flash; rear-fingerprint sensor and Face Unlock; and a 5.45-inch 720HD display.

Mobile viewing on a smartphone or tablet now accounts for over 40% of all video consumption hours among Gen Z heads of US broadband households, compared to 20% among all heads of US broadband households, according to a study from Penthera, “OTT Video Viewership: The Role of Mobile.” Other key findings include: On average Gen Z consumes 43 hours of online video per week,13 hours more per week than prior generations; and younger generations subscribe to OTT services at a much higher rate than older generations. Over 90% of millennials and over 95% of Gen Z subscribe to such services.

GOING GLOBAL

UK’s Channel 4 said despite a 50% drop in ad revenue during the COVID-19 crisis, it will end 2020 with a “significant surplus” to reinvest in content. “Channel 4 has come into its own in the pandemic, demonstrating an impressive ability to weather this unprecedented crisis and underlining the flexibility and resilience of its business model,” said Channel 4 Chair Charles Gurassa. “It has reconfirmed our role as a distinctive, trustworthy, independent and authentic British voice.”

The Royal Television Society has opened entries for the RTS Programme Awards 2021, in partnership with Audio Network. Taking place on Tuesday, March 16, the awards recognize talent across British television.

Crime drama Stella Blómkvist landed a season two commission from Icelandic broadcaster Síminn TV and Nordic region streaming company Nordic Entertainment Group, and has begun principal photography on location in Iceland. Red Arrow Studios International has also picked up worldwide distribution rights to the second season of the drama.

DCD Rights has secured distribution rights to a new season of the murder mystery drama series “My Life Is Murder,” starring Lucy Lawless (“Top of the Lake”). The new season has been greenlit by a consortium consisting of AMC Networks’ streaming service Acorn TV, which will take a package of English-speaking rights (North America, the UK and Australia premiere rights with secondary rights for NZ), DCD Rights for rest of world and producer Greenstone TV, with New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ and Network 10 in Australia also onboard.

Animated series Gormiti will drop in the US and Canada on Netflix, Tubi and Amazon Prime Video; in Latin America on Netflix; and in Southeast Asia on PowerKids TV. Season three launched in Italy in September on Rai Yoyo and Rai Gulp and has been acquired for Poland by TVP.

Meredith Corporation named Evolution USA the exclusive licensing and brand management agency for the LIFE brand and the LIFE Picture Collection in North America, Australia and New Zealand.

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As the presidential election heated up in October, average primetime viewership for the top three cable news nets rose 71%, to 10.1 million Live+SD viewers, according to Nielsen, versus 5.9 million in October 2019. Fox News was up 139%, to 4.9 million average viewers, followed by MSNBC, up 45% to 2.7 million viewers, and CNN, up 116% to 2.5 million.

“Fuse Town Hall: Our Votes Matter” on Friday lifted Fuse’s total day average by double digits among A18-49, with the Saturday encore more than doubling the network’s prior 4 week time period average.

Nielsen Top 10 SVOD Content Ratings for the week of September 28
(SVOD, Show, # of episodes, minutes in millions)
Netflix: Schitt’s Creek, 80, 968
Netflix: The Office, 192, 929
Netflix: The Blacklist, 152, 852
Netflix: Grey’s Anatomy, 361,852
Netflix: Ratched, 8, 791
Netflix: American Murder: Family Next Door, 1, 778
Amazon: The Boys, 15,655
Netflix: Criminal Minds, 277,604
Netflix: NCIS, 353, 584
Netflix: Enola Holmes, 1, 573
Source: Nielsen SVOD Content Ratings (Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix), Nielsen National TV Panel, U.S. Viewing through Television. Data does not yet reflect viewing to the program Evil, and will be updated next week if it does achieve Top 10 status.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Wednesday, October 28
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: The Goldbergs 3.66 (0.7), American Housewife 3.45 (0.6), The Conners 4.36 (0.8), black-ish 3.00 (0.6), The Con 2.58 (0.4)
CBS Amazing Race 4.17 (0.7), Big Brother 3.91 (1.1)
CW: Devils 0.47 (0.1), Coroner 0.86 (0.1)
FOX: The Masked Singer 6.26 (1.6), I Can See Your Voice 3.69 (1.0)
NBC: The Wall 3.77 (0.6), American Ninja Warrior 2.94 (0.5)
Telemundo: Domo del Dinero 0l76 (0.2), Todo Por Mi Hija 1.49 (0.4), Falsa Identidad 0.81 (0.3)
Univision: Medicos Linea de Vida 1.50 (0.4), Imperio de Mentiras 1.251 (0.4), Dulce Ambicion 1.02 (0.3)
Source: Nielsen, live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVE

Zype, the infrastructure for digital video, named George Cagle as its new VP of Professional Services. Prior to Zype, Cagle was Senior Director, Delivery at Accela.

Friday Fun Fact
1945 –The top-selling Halloween candy is Skittles.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
In season eight of Friends (1994-2004), what did Ross dress as for the Halloween party? Spud-nik. Kudos to: Aly White-KXAN, Austin, TX, Eric Litt-Nexstar TV/Chicago, Jean Edhlund-Cooperative Networks Services/Menahga, MN, Tom Boyd-WGN-TV/Chicago, Charlie Piazza-Viacom/NYC, LaKendra Kennedy-Sinclair Broadcast Group/Hunt Valley, MD, Megan Wordsworth-INSP/Charlotte, NC, Marina Fatovic-A+E Networks/NYC, Paul Walker-Walk and Talk Production Rentals/Burbank, David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
Who guest hosted the 1978 Halloween-themed episode of The Muppet Show? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four.)