For the last three weeks, OAN has achieved historic ratings, beating ALL cable news networks, except for CNN, FNC & MSNBC.
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Source: Weeks of 10/26, 11/02, & 11/08, all day parts, excl. broadcasters, AT&T STB data.

Today’s Finale
CW: Supernatural at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Apple TV+, which acquired rights to the Peanuts catalog last month, is gifting holiday classics “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1973) and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1966) to viewers not on the platform. PBS and PBS Kids will air the specials ad free on Sunday, November 22 and Sunday, December 13, respectively. The Thanksgiving show starts streaming on Apple TV+ on November 18, and will be available to non-subscribers from November 25-27; the Christmas special starts streaming December 4, and will be available for free December 11-13.

Fifty percent of US advertisers said selecting the media type was an important step to delivering a relevant video ad experience, according to Xandr’s annual “Relevance Report.” Other findings include:
* 41% of US advertisers say ensuring data compliance and identifying audiences across screens are top challenges.
* 79% of US advertisers and 97% of UK advertisers made an investment in data in the last 12 months.
* 35% of US advertisers hired a data scientist in the last 12 months.
* 55% of US video ad spend is allocated towards audience-based buying.

Layoffs following a restructuring at NBCUniversal are estimated to include about 5% of the Television & Streaming division this week, followed early next year by cuts in the Entertainment Programming unit. Overall, Comcast is expected to trim its workforce of 35,000 people by about 10%.

Also undergoing another round of layoffs is ViacomCBS, which in its continued post-merger streamlining efforts cut about 100 staffers on Wednesday. Technology, finance and legal departments were among those impacted.

Fox Television Stations gave two-year renewals to “25 Words or Less,” the game show launched in syndication in fall 2019 after a 2018 test; “Divorce Court,” now in season 22; and comedy and entertainment strip “Dish Nation,” launched in 2011.

Tina Fey will host two-hour special “One Night Only: The Best of Broadway,” airing Thursday, December 10 on NBC. The show will raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, helping those in the Broadway community who are suffering during the COVID-19 shutdown of productions.

A streaming performance of Tennessee Williams’ “The Night of the Iguana” will stream December 2-6 to benefit the Actors Fund. Dylan McDermott (“Hollywood”) and Phylicia Rashad (“The Cosby Show”) star in the production, shot with each cast member recorded at home.

Chris Ruddy, Founder and CEO of Newsmax, denied a Wall Street Journal report suggesting Hicks Equity Partners is talking about the possibility of acquiring the conservative news network. The Hicks family has ties with President Trump, who has floated the idea of starting a rival for Fox News. “I think it was pretty clear in the Journal article a lot of people are trying to see a tie with the president,” Ruddy told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I’ve been friends with him a long time. The Hicks family has been friends with him for a long time, but I think they’re reading into it a little too much.”

YouTube has launched 15-second audio ads, a format now in beta that is aimed at connecting brands with YouTube users who listen ambiently. Advertisers can also buy across dynamic music lineups, in genres like country, K-pop and Latin. During testing, YouTube found more than 75% of measured audio ad campaigns on YouTube drove a significant lift in brand awareness.

CNN en Espanol notched three wins at the Daytime, Sports and Documentary Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Entertainment Show in Spanish (“Destinos”). Univision and Telemundo each scored two wins.

MTV greenlit a new season of “Siesta Key,” from Entertainment One Reality Productions. Filming of the relationship series will take place at an international private resort.

Singer/writer Tisha Campbell and producer Andrew Jameson have partnered with Good Caper Content, an ITV America company focused on crime and investigative programming, to develop and produce a new unscripted series featuring Toni Rivera, the activist and human-trafficking survivor. Campbell and Rivera will executive produce the series, alongside Good Caper Content President Kathryn Vaughan and Jameson.

NBC gave a put pilot commitment to drama “Get Lucky,” from Rob Thomas (“Veronica Mars”). Thomas is exec producing through his Spondoolie Productions alongside Dan Etheridge. The project focuses on the six single musicians in a wedding band.

Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation”) and Mary Louise Parker (“Weeds”) will play the adoptive parents of Colin Kaepernick in the Netflix series, “Colin in Black & White,” created by the former NFLer and Ava DuVernay. Jaden Michael (“Get Down”) plays Kaepernick.

Cybill Shepherd (“Cybill”) will star in Showtime pilot “I Love This For You,” starring and executive produced by Vanessa Bayer (“Saturday Night Live”). Shepherd will play the founder of a home shopping network.

TECH TALK

Verizon and Snap Inc. released the first 5G-enabled Landmarker Lens, exclusively for Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband customers with 5G smartphones. The Lens uses AR technology and Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband increased capacity for a performance by psychedelic soul band Black Pumas at the New York Public Library, the first 5G experience from Verizon and Snap Inc.’s 5G innovation partnership. The virtual concert experience features the first full-length song ever used in a Snapchat AR lens, and the 3D Bitmoji Avatar performance also marks the first musical performance shot on the RYOT motion capture stage for a 5G phone experience. “The 5G Landmarker Lens is an example of how 5G can redefine music experiences through augmented reality,”
said Frank Boulben, Verizon SVP of Consumer Marketing and Products.

Mediaocean, the platform for omnichannel advertising, introduced a new set of tools aimed at modernizing local TV planning and optimization. Available in Mediaocean’s Prisma product and integrated with the company’s broader media management and finance solutions, the new capabilities aim to make it easier to apply historical and predictive intelligence to improve local TV investments. “For most brands and agencies, local TV remains a unique channel driven by specialized teams of buyers and planners,” said Anupam Gupta, Chief Product Officer at Mediaocean. “With all the convergence underway across TV and video, it’s our role to standardize workflow across channels and enable truly omnichannel advertising strategies.”

Apple is reducing App Store commissions on paid apps and in-app purchases by half, to 15%, in a new developer program for businesses earning up to $1 million a year. “Small businesses are the backbone of our global economy and the beating heart of innovation and opportunity in communities around the world,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook. “We’re launching this program to help small business owners write the next chapter of creativity and prosperity on the App Store, and to build the kind of quality apps our customers love.” The new program, which starts January 1, does not apply to Epic Games, which is in a legal battle with Apple over its commission structure.

In more Apple news, the tech giant will pay $113 million to settle allegations that it slowed down iPhones to get users to purchase new devices, state officials announced on Wednesday. The deal is separate from a proposed settlement Apple reached in March to pay iPhone owners up to $500 million. In 2016, Apple updated software on models of the iPhone 6, 7 and SE so that aging batteries on the devices would not send power spikes to the phone’s processor and cause it to unexpectedly shut down. States maintained Apple should have replaced batteries or disclosed the issue. Apple has denied wrongdoing.

Show them the money: A new version of Google Pay rolled out Wednesday that enables users to open mobile bank accounts and send peer-to-peer payments. Google partnered with Citi Bank and Stanford Federal Credit Union for the launch, and plans to add eleven new partner institutions next year.

Comcast activated Watchwith, an interactive livestream app for its X1 and Flex platforms, with Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” A pre-show stream let viewers interact with the “Housewives” cast members, live-tweet with the #RHOSLC hashtag, and unlock new clips using the “Sneak Peel” polling feature.

Amazon has brought Alexa Routines to its Fire TV platform. Amazon customers can include Fire TV commands – like pausing a program and turning on the lights for a snack break – in their Alexa routines. Amazon cited a Morning Consult survey that found 75% of US customers pause their TV show or movie at least once per night to get a snack or drink, and 32% said they fall asleep watching TV more in 2020 versus last year.

STREAMING

NBCUniversal News Group inked a new long-term deal with SiriusXM, under which the simulcasts of MSNBC and CNBC and the Today Show Radio channel will continue to air on SiriusXM. Under the new agreement, SiriusXM also becomes the exclusive advertising representative and ad tech platform for a broad slate of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC podcasts. “Audio and podcasts have become a significant way for audiences, and in particular younger audiences, to engage with our trusted journalism,” said Elisabeth Sami, NBCUniversal News Group’s Executive VP of Global Strategy and Business Development. “We’re committed to growing our audio storytelling and reach, providing unique opportunities for advertisers across our news brands.”

Paid subscriptions to Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max and Netflix will grow 62% by 2025, hitting 678 million, according to a forecast from Digital TV Research. Disney+ is projected to grow 58%, to 112 million, surpassing current #2 Amazon Prime Video; top dog Netflix is expected to rise 36%, to 274 million.

Pandora and Lifetime Movie Club (LMC) are partnering to bring audiences a curated selection of holiday movies and music. In a content cross-promotion, each service will offer three months free of their premium services – a three-month Lifetime Movie Club trial and three months of Pandora Premium. Lifetime holiday-themed music playlists are now available on Pandora.

Insight TV has launched on Local Now, which is expanding its local news and information content to include entertainment channels. Local Now is owned by Entertainment Studios, which also owns The Weather Channel.

New channels coming to Crackle on December 1 include A Very Crackle Christmas; Unlikely Heroes; “Star Trek”-focused Stream Me Up, Scottie; Ringmasters, featuring fight programming; and History Lovers.

Season three of cable’s most-watched series of 2020, Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone,” will be available to stream exclusively on Peacock starting Sunday, November 22. The first two season are already available on the platform.

COMING UP

The lineup of sponsors for Univision’s broadcast of the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards includes long-standing sponsors Bulova, Ford, Google Pixel 5, McDonald’s, and Walmart, who are joined by first-time partner Frontera Wines and digital sponsor, U.S. Army. The theme, “Music Makes Us Human,” will be brought to life with experiences across Univision and The Latin Recording Academy ecosystems. The ceremony airs tonight, November 19, at 8p.

“Daily Show” correspondent Michael Kosta’s first stand-up special, “Michael Kosta: Detroit. NY. LA.” premieres Friday, December 11 at 11p on Comedy Central. The three-city special offers a reminder of pre-pandemic life.

Nat Geo WILD kicks off its annual Vetsgiving on Thanksgiving, November 26 at 8p. The weekend-long event features the network’s star veterinarians, along with the season finale of “Secrets of the Zoo” on November 28 at 9p.

EstrellaTV and Sony Music Latin joined forces to discover the next big Regional Mexican band in the US; the five winners and the band’s name will be revealed on EstrellaTV’s “Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento.” The three-part special airs November 23, 24 and 25 at 8p.

Apple TV+’s “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special” will premiere Friday, December 4. Guest lineup includes Tiffany Haddish, Billy Eichner, Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, Misty Copeland and Mykal-Michelle Harris, Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson.

Shawn Mendes & Justin Bieber’s “Monster” music video will premiere Friday, November 20. Both artists have teased the video on their social media; this will be a new track from Shawn Mendes’ upcoming album Wonder (coming December 4).

GOING GLOBAL

all3media International has signed a new format deal with Australian broadcaster Network 10, for hound-human matchmaking show “The Dog House,” originally created by Five Mile Films.

Red Arrow Studios International has secured a deal with Australian public broadcaster SBS Television for a package of premium scripted titles including “Departure,” “Vienna Blood,” “Stella Blómkvist” and “Dignity. “The series will broadcast on SBS and stream on SBS On Demand.

Abacus Media Rights announced factual programming sales to Latin American platforms: HBO Latin America has acquired feature documentary” Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn”; “Can I Be Me” has been picked up by Globoplay (Brazil); “Lennon’s Last Weekend” a has been acquired by DirecTV Latin America; and Paramount Network Latin America landed “Margaret Atwood: A Word after a Word after a Word is Power.”

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was the first TV series to be #1 in the Nielsen ratings for five years in a row? “All in the Family,” from 1971-76. Kudos to: Austin Cassidy-Nectarine Media/Jacksonville, FL, Greg Greenwald-CNN Original Series/NYC, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, John Kukla-KDFW/Dallas, Anthony Salerno-Horizon Media/NYC, Michael Ritz-Lenox Advisors/NYC, Joe Swaney-Purchasing Power/Atlanta, Greg Stewart/LA, Heidi Flydal-KFMB/San Diego, CA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
What was boxing champ Rocky Graziano’s first series regular TV job? (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.)