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Wednesday November 16, 2022

Today’s Finale
IFC: Documentary Now! at 10p

IN THE NEWS

NBCUniversal and Roku have expanded their partnership to bring The Roku Channel viewers access to four new Spanish-language regional news channels: Noticias Telemundo California, Noticias Telemundo Florida, Noticias Telemundo Noreste, and Noticias Telemundo Texas, each powered by Telemundo-owned stations in each state/region. By early 2023, additional FAST channels, including Dateline 24/7, TODAY All Day, and Sky News International, will launch on The Roku Channel. The expanded partnership also includes a renewal for NBC News NOW. “There is tremendous value in the lean-back experience our FAST offerings provide our audiences and partners,” said Matt Schnaars, President, Content Distribution, NBCUniversal. “NBC News, NBCUniversal Local and Sky News are trusted sources of information for millions and this is a great opportunity to enhance The Roku Channel on behalf of our viewers.”

Tulsi Gabbard, former congresswoman and former Democrat, has joined Fox News as a paid contributor. Gabbard, who ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, has been a critic of liberals and backed several Republicans in the midterm elections.

Can’t get enough of Hallmark Channel’s brand of holiday cheer? Hilton and the network have partnered to offer limited-time, custom-designed Hallmark Channel “Countdown to Christmas” Holiday Suites by Hilton at three Hilton Hotels & Resorts in Chicago, San Diego and Las Vegas. “Our goal during the holidays is to provide ways for people to enjoy the ultimate, most sensationally memorable Christmas experience, and this collaboration truly delivers,” said Lara Richardson, CMO, Hallmark Media.

“Today” correspondent Miguel Almaguer has been suspended as NBC News conducts an internal investigation over reporting by Almaguer that had to be retracted because it “did not meet NBC News reporting standards.” Almaguer had suggested that Nancy Pelosi’s husband had not been in danger from an assailant when police arrived at their home, fueling conspiracy theories about the brutal assault on Paul Pelosi.

Marketing and agency employees are spending more time at the office these days, but they still have it better than the average American. Seventy-six percent of marketers and agency employees now commute to the office, up from 63% in Spring but still less than the 87% of average Americans, according to a new Advertiser Perceptions study. Other insights include:
· The average number of marketer/agency office days grew from 3 to 3.5 but is less than the 4.3 office days of average Americans.
· Average Americans are clocking more days at work compared to marketing industry. 28% of marketers and agencies work 1 or 2 days at their workplace compared to only 12% of everyday Americans. 24% of brands and agencies work 3 days at the office compared to just 10% of the total US. Twice as many average Americans are commuting 5 days a week (56%) compared to the marketing industry (26%).
· Increases in the number of days in the office were driven by large marketers and agencies. The most significant growth in the number of days in the office came from marketing firms with 1000+ or more employees.
· Of the 23% of brands and agencies who are still working from home, half say they are never going back full time.

Endeavor Group Holdings has implemented a hiring freeze from Thanksgiving through the end of 2022, said company president Mark Shapiro at a conference held by RBC Markets. The move is not because of an issue with the company, clarified Shapiro, but due to concerns about the overall economic climate. “We just need a lean cost structure, quite frankly, as tight as we can have it,” said Shapiro. “Hiring over the holidays is no good, you’re just giving them vacation.”

Also speaking at the RBC investor conference, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav acknowledged that “the advertising market now is very weak….weaker than it was during Covid, and right now there is a pretty big miss of the whole Christmas season.” Not having sports over the past months didn’t help matters, but while Zaslav sees brighter days ahead with the return of the NBA and NHL, he said “It’s going to be hard” to meet 2023 financial goals in the current economic climate.

Lionsgate’s plans to spin off its studio from Starz was also a topic at the RBC conference. “When you have two very different businesses, it’s tough to put a blended multiple on that, trying to show shareholders the value of both sides of the business,” said Lionsgate vice chair Michael Burns. “A separation is the cleanest way to do that.” A deal is expected to be filed with the SEC in March.

DIRECTV announced the donation of PSA inventory to Ronald McDonald House Charities, part of a new multi-year agreement between DIRECTV and Ronald McDonald House Charities, which will harness the power of DIRECTV to promote RMHC’s mission of improving the health and well-being of children and their families across the country.

Lifetime announced four new Ripped from the Headlines movies: “How to Murder Your Husband,” starring Cybill Shepherd (“The Client List”) and Steve Guttenberg (“Ballers”) premiering on Saturday, January 14 at 8p; “Bad Behind Bars: Jodi Arias,” following the convict and the havoc she wreaked while in prison, premiering Saturday, January 21 at 8p; “Sherri Papini: I Kidnapped Myself,” starring Jaime King (“Happy Camper”), premiering Saturday, January 28 at 8p; and “Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation,” starring Jennifer Grey (“Dirty Dancing”), premiering Saturday, February 4 at 8p.

INSP has greenlit a fourth season of “Ultimate Cowboy Showdown, for an all-stars edition featuring top contestants from past seasons. Country star Trace Adkins returns as host and executive producer.

A docu-series about the late rapper Nipsey Hussle is being financed and executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill. “It’s an incredible honor for SpringHill to have a part in sharing Nipsey’s story and legacy with the world,” said James. “He used his gift to give back to his community and lived what it means to inspire, empower, and uplift others along the way. His words, his ambition, and his actions stick with me to this day as he continues to inspire myself, our company, and people everywhere.”

Porn star Stormy Daniels will serve as host and relationship advisor on OUTtv dating series “For the Love of DILFs.” “We’re thrilled to be working with Stormy,” said OUTtv COO Philip Webb. “She has a long public history of standing up for the LGBTQ+ community. That allyship, starpower, and relationship expertise makes her the perfect fit to helm a show about guys hunting for love.”

Syfy has cut its season three order for “Resident Alien” from 12 episodes to eight. While the first half of the show’s sophomore run averaged 2.3 million viewers in Live+7 Nielsens, ratings fell during the second half of the season.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Outdoor Channel original series “Ranch America” is set to debut in March 2023. The show features rancher, chef and cowboy River Klass providing a fresh perspective on the American West.

“Blockchain Life,” a seven-part series covering NFTs, the metaverse, crypto, and decentralized finance, is set to launch on Insight TV’s global network of channels in December.

HBO Original three-part docuseries “Unveiled: Surviving la Luz del Mundo” debuts Tuesday, December 6 at 9p. The series explores the story of the Christian church La Luz del Mundo and the sexual abuse that scores of members, many of them minors, say they have suffered at the hands of its successive leaders, known as the “Apostles.” T

FX’s “Fleishman Is In Trouble,” starring Jesse Eisenberg as a recently divorced 41-year-old who dives into the world of app-based dating, starts streaming on Hulu tomorrow, November 17.

“SNL” alums Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler reunite to host and executive produce season two of “Baking It” on Peacock, which will kick off with a celebrity holiday special December 12 at 10p on NBC.

COMING UP

Comedy special “Atsuko Okatsuka: The Intruder” premieres Saturday, December 10 at 10p on HBO. Tig Notaro directed the special.

Circle Network will air a two-hour “Opry Live” celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bass Pro Shops on Saturday, November 19th at 8p. The special will feature Opry members Dierks Bentley, Dustin Lynch, Chris Janson, Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox, and Rhonda Vincent.

SPORTS

adidas is honoring Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna, and Jesus Ferriera ahead of the athletes representing the US at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 with a series of murals that speak to their background and how they show up for the US and their community. The murals will be on display throughout the tournament, taking place Sunday, November 20 through Sunday, December 18.

The NFL is teaming with Skydance Sports to create a multi-sport production studio. Skydance Media and the NFL are making “substantial investments” in the new studio operation, said the league. “This partnership truly matches two companies who are considered among the best at what they do,” said NFL Chief Media and Business Officer Brian Rolapp. “Combining the unscripted expertise and storytelling of NFL Films with Skydance’s leadership position in TV, film, animation, and other areas will create the leading sports content studio in the world.”

NHL on TNT will spotlight Central Division matchup St. Louis Blues at the Chicago Blackhawks tonight, November 16 at 7:30p; at 10p, it’s the Los Angeles Kings vs. the Edmonton Oilers.

TECH TALK

Eighty-one percent of advertisers are satisfied with addressable TV advertising, up from 72% who said so this same time last year, according to research from Go Addressable and Advertiser Perceptions. Key insights include:
· 96% of those using the medium today said they are buying from either AVOD, programmers, OEMs or MVPDs.
· 77% of marketers who have used the medium said they are satisfied with the measurement solutions available for addressable TV.
· 41% of marketers not currently using the medium plan to incorporate it in 2023, up from 25% who said so this same time last year.
· 37% of those currently using addressable advertising said they plan to increase their ad spend in it in 2023.
The findings come as a survey of the Go Addressable group reveal that the industry initiative has helped to enable a monthly average of 53 billion linear advertising minutes.

iSpot has led an investment round in TVision of $16 million to help TVision secure “continued transformation and modernization of accurate person-level measurement.” TVision provides second-by-second data on how people watch TV.

STREAMING

Shopping channels QVC and HSN have launched on The Roku Channel, offering live vCommerce programming across both channels. Included are shows such as QVC’s “In the Kitchen with David” and HSN’s “Gotta See G by Giuliana Rancic.” When live programming is off-air, the channels will run previously recorded episodes.

In more shoppable news, GSTV, the video network at gas stations, and social media food-based brand So Yummy announced the release of a new integration for shoppable video content. Advertisers on GSTV can now introduce new branded content via food recipe content on social media, and users can add ingredients to virtual shopping lists and carts at retailers like Walmart. The 20-second shoppable videos will consist of recipes for desserts, snacks, and more, with each video utilizing Flowcode’s direct-to-consumer QR platform and data capabilities, including real-time analytics, geo-location and attribution across screens

GOING GLOBAL

DCD Rights has today announced pre-sales for season two of “Love Me” include Hulu (US), Acorn TV (UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, India), Viaplay (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Netherlands). Paramount+ (Italy, France, Germany) and Paramount Global across Latin America (including Brazil) and the Caribbean have acquired both seasons one and two.

Love Nature, a wildlife and nature brand with linear and streaming channels available, has launched on Romanian PayTV platform DIGI.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What subject did Pete Dixon teach on “Room 222” (1969-74)? American history. Kudos to: Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NYC; Greg Moloznik-GLM Focus/Lakewood Ranch, FL; Rev. Mark Wajda/Clermont, FL; JoAnn DiNapoli-DeSales Media Group/Brooklyn, NY; Sandy Spiegel/Chicago; John Kukla-KDFW/Dallas; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Richard Quan-Deloitte Digital/San Francisco; Sidney Clifton-The Jim Henson Company/LA; Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which series was set in Winslow High School? (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.)