Paul Reiser is prepping his first stand-up special in 30+ years. The “Mad About You” star will tape the performance live at the Newman Center for Performing Arts in Denver, CO, on November 17, for a show produced by Comedy Dynamics.

STV Studios and NBCUniversal signed a US series development deal for “The Underdog.” The format follows a cast of contestants with large online followings who compete in a popularity contest. The twist? A group of TV’s reality stars is living next door and controlling the game.

Food Network ordered a third season of “Bobby’s Triple Threat.” Season two, which wrapped October 24, reached more than 11 million total viewers (across Food Network/Max/Discovery+), averaging a .52 P25-54 and .65 W25-54 Live+3 rating, up 11% and 16% respectively from season one and up +53% and +51% respectively vs. prior six-week benchmarks.

Propagate and World Food Championship Holdings have partnered to produce a food competition series. Michael Rucker is attached to develop the format and serve as showrunner for the project.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Something’s brewing: “Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale” debuts with a two-episode premiere on January 4. Episodes of the Sundance Now and AMC+ seven-part drama series written and created by Debbie Horsfield, and adapted from the novel by V.V. James, will air weekly.

“Brat Loves Judy” premieres on November 30 on We TV. In the five-parter, dynamic duo Da Brat and Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart take fans behind the scenes as they bring their baby home – through never-before-seen self-shot footage, social media clips, On-The-Fly interviews and verité. Each episode is framed around a ‘storybook’ chapter that they’ll narrate for their son, from changing dirty diapers to middle-of-the-night wake ups.

MotorTrend Group’s “Custom Carolina” premieres on November 21. The new series from the Warner Bros. Discovery company follows an automotive customization business located in South Carolina, run by Tommy Pike. Alongside his wife, Stephanie, and a team of artisans, Pike operates from the restoration shop to craft and customize reworked pieces.

COMING UP

Wynonna Judd is the newest mega mentor on “The Voice” season 24. Alongside returning coaches Niall Horan, John Legend, Reba McEntire and Gwen Stefani, the Grammy winner and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee is the latest country music star to join the series following Blake Shelton’s exit. Judd will mentor the remaining artists who have made it through the Battle Rounds as each team prepares for the three-way Knockouts, beginning November 6.

CBS is airing “Byron Allen Presents TheGrio Awards” on Saturday, November 25 at 8p. Honorees include Mariah Carey (The Music Icon Award), Don Cheadle (The Environmental Champion Icon Award), Misty Copeland (The Trailblazer Icon Award), Doctor Kizzmekia S Corbett-Helaire (The Science Icon Award), Tamron Hall (The Journalism Icon Award), Kevin Hart (The Comedy Icon Award), Steve Harvey (The Television Icon Award), Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (The Inspirational Icon Award), Eddie Murphy (The Icon Award), the Rev. Al Sharpton (The Justice Icon Award) and Denzel Washington (The Film Icon Award).

“Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?!” debuts next month. Reich’s first solo stand-up comedy special will debut on HBO in December. Said Reich, “To have been given the opportunity to turn this flamboyant, odd, over-the-top, exhausting show into a comedy special is a dream come true in itself. But to have been able to do it with A24 and HBO is beyond a dream.”

CNN Films’ and Max’s crime documentary “Chowchilla” premieres on December 3. The film follows a mass kidnapping on July 15, 1976, when three masked men boarded a school bus in Chowchilla, California.

Yeti marks National Anti-Bullying Week with “My Life: I Was Bullied.” Featuring appearances from Premier League stars Declan Rice and Jack Grealish, and musician Chelcee Grimes, the commission from CBBC follows the stories of three children who learned to deal with bullying through setting out personal goals. The 30-minute documentary premieres November 13-17.

STREAMING

Prime Video maintains its top position in Parks Associates’ top 10 list of US subscription video services. Based on estimated numbers of subscribers through September 2023 from the firm’s Streaming Video Tracker, Prime Video ranked above Netflix, Paramount+ moved ahead of ESPN+ and YouTube Premium pushed into the 10th position for the first time. According to the report, 89% of broadband households have at least one OTT service, 41% have used an AVOD service in the past 30 days and 29% subscribe to eight or more OTT subscriptions.

SPORTS

Sports fans want more sports video content but have trouble accessing it due to the fragmented nature of the sports video market, according to Altman Solon’s 2023 Global Sports Media Survey. Fifty-nine percent of fans surveyed said they currently have trouble finding or affording sports content they want to watch while 56% would watch more sports video content if it were available. Of the sports fans who say they have trouble accessing live sports content, 35% say it’s too expensive to access all the content they want, 30% don’t know which channels to watch, and 28% don’t know which platforms to watch. “It seems counterintuitive that the answer to the glut of sports content is more sports content, but sports fans are hungry for more,” said Altman Solon Director David Dellea. “It turns out fans actually want more content, but often can’t afford the costs of additional subscriptions or get lost in the web of channels and streaming platforms providing content. Some form of industry consolidation seems likely, either through audience aggregation or content democratization, which should be beneficial for both the industry and sports fans.”

TNT Sports and Cosm will deliver live sports in “shared reality” immersive venues. Working with the technology, media and entertainment company, TNT Sports will produce and present live premium sports programming across its footprint in 8K+ at its forthcoming venues. Set to begin in 2024, the agreement marks the first time a broadcast rightsholder will present live sports content in “shared reality” – an experience which would bridge the virtual and physical worlds through Cosm’s technology and 87-foot diameter LED domes.

Fubo and TiiCKER announced a new partnership that gives Fubo shareholders access to a tiered perks program. Through the partnership, the streaming platform offers a 20% discount on a one-month subscription to Fubo Pro for new subscribers and exclusive early access to product features through the company’s beta testing program. “Engaging with Fubo shareholders is a priority as they are often our most passionate ambassadors,” said Fubo Co-founder and CEO David Gandler.

CUSA has expanded its partnership with WSC Sports. Geared to enhance the league’s social and digital presence, CUSA will now also utilize WSC Sports across men’s and women’s basketball for the upcoming athletic year. Said Joe DaCosta, business development executive at WSC Sports, “The expansion of this partnership to now cover CUSA men’s and women’s basketball is a testament to the success of the engaging content CUSA generated throughout the 2022 football season utilizing WSC Sports’ technology.”

The Florida-Georgia game was the most-watched matchup of Week 9. The CBS broadcast delivered 5.95 million viewers, the first time since the start of the season that a game hadn’t reached 7 million viewers in the week; Ohio State v. the Wisconsin Badgers made it to second place with 4.87 million viewers.

CASTING

Taylor Kinney is back for “Chicago Fire” season 12. After 10 months off due to a personal matter, the series star returns as Kelly Severide in the firefighter drama’s upcoming season. There is no premiere date for the series as the SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing.

GOING GLOBAL

AMC Networks International UK unveiled a new look for its UK portfolio. The rebranding focuses on channels and streaming services owned by the CBS and AMC Networks UK Channels Partnership, a joint venture with Paramount Global. The rebrand will be rolled out on November 22.

Warner Bros. Discovery, Taiwan Mobile and Taicca signed a M.O.U. to bring Taiwan content to the international stage. Warner Bros. Discovery has produced several scripted and unscripted Taiwanese shows in the past five years for its networks and streaming services, including “The Teenage Psychic” and “Adventure of the Ring.” Under the multi-year agreement, the companies will create and distribute Taiwanese original content locally and across international markets.

Sesame Workshop’s new pre-school series “Bea’s Block” is now available on Sky Kids. The comedic animated series is a ‘kindness adventure’ centered on five-year-old Bea and her two best friends, Ty and Lexi. The series is available on Sky at 9a and 4:30p, UK time.

Trinity Creative Partnership has secured an all-rights deal in the UK for “Love, Courage and the Battle for Bushy Run.” Launching at AFM this week and set for release in 2024, the historical war film is set against the backdrop of the Battle of Bushy Run in 1763, directed by Dave Alan Johnson.

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Driven by the TBS telecast of MLB’s NLCS Game 7 and NBA Opening Night on TNT, Warner Bros. Discovery networks held one of their highest prime share nights this year on October 24, with a 58% share of viewing among Adults 25-54 and a 61% share of viewing among Adults 18-49 across ad-supported cable in primetime. “The tremendous quality and scale of Warner Bros. Discovery’s network portfolio was on full display Tuesday with the wide variety of must-watch programming that our viewers have come to expect and enjoy,” said Jon Steinlauf, chief US ad sales officer at WBD.

Spectrum News recorded average daily viewing of 1.9 million in October in Spectrum households.

The third 90-minute version of CBS’ “60 Minutes” delivered 9.76 million viewers on Sunday, October 29, according to Nielsen Live+SD ratings. For the seventh straight week since its September 17 premiere, the series remains TV’s #1 non-sports primetime program and was in the Top 10 for the week.

“Bodies” and “Old Dads” remain on top at Netflix. Bill Burr’s directorial debut has reached 16.3 million views as of October 29, holding onto its status as #1 in the English-language Film Top 10 category; the film has now brought in 29.6 million views. “Pain Hustlers” took second place with 14.1 million views and “No Hard Feelings,” starring Jennifer Lawrence, took third with 13.1 million views. Over on the TV side, the UK’s “Bodies” took first place with 7.7 million views, followed by “Get Gotti” and “Life on Our Planet,” narrated by Morgan Freeman.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Warner Bros. Discovery announced its latest leadership transition. WPP’s Global Chief People Officer Jennifer Remling joins the company in January and will replace Chief People and Culture Officer Adria Alpert Romm, who is stepping down at the end of June 2024. “I have been incredibly fortunate to have Adria by my side for more than 30 years as one of my closest advisors,” said David Zaslav, CEO at WBD. “A strong people culture is critical to any successful company and Adria has fought every day to put employees first.”

Rita Ferro and Kirk McDonald move up to vice chairs of The Ad Council’s Board of Directors. The company also elected 18 new members to its Board, chaired by Verizon CMO Diego Scotti.

New Pictures appointed Sandra Shuttleworth as head of production. Shuttleworth will be responsible for leading the drama production company’s production management teams, alongside working with co-founder and CEO Willow Grylls and COO Lisa Selway to drive the company’s overall business strategy.