PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Showtime renewed Daisy Haggard’s Back to Life. The series’ second season will be a co-production with BBC Three. The comedy series, created and written by Haggard and Laura Solon, follows Miri Matteson (Haggard), who returns home after 18 years behind bars and stumbles back into adult life in the coast town she once knew, while the mystery of her past looms. Show wraps its first season on Sunday, November 24 at 10p.
Nickelodeon ordered a second season of Blue Clues & You! Series was the number one preschool show when it premiered on November 11.
Kevin Hart will headline Netflix documentary series Don’t F**k This Up , which gives a behind-the-scenes look at the stand-up comedian and actor’s life. Series will launch globally on Friday, December 27.
On the heels of Lifetime’s Fall Ripped from the Headlines slate , which reached 16.4 million total viewers, the net ordered three new original movies for its Winter 2020 slate of five movies centered on true-life events. Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story, starring Nia Vardalos, follows the tale of a woman whose black widow tendencies are revealed with her murder plots to take down her ex-husbands and daughter; psychological thriller The Neighbor in the Window (wt), starring Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Jenn Lyon, explores the story of a suburban wife who finds herself and the security of her family threatened by another seemingly friendly neighborhood mom; and You Can’t Take My Daughter, about a young woman who fought to keep her rapist from gaining custody of her daughter, stars Lyndsy Fonseca and Kirstie Alley.
Fox is developing Every Other Weekend , a half-hour comedy from Adrienne Carter (everybody Hates Chris), Will Packer Media and Fox Entertainment’s Sidecar Content Accelerator, reports Deadline. Carter is writing the series about four single mothers who try to reclaim their fun sexy selves two weekends a month, after discovering their custody weekends are in sync.
CBS greenlit an adaptation of British comedy Ghosts with New Girl’s co-executive producers Joe Port and Joe Wiseman. It’s the first project announced after a deal struck between Lionsgate and BBC Studios. Comedy centers on a young couple whose dreams come true when they inherit a beautiful country house, only to discover it’s falling apart and inhabited by many of the deceased previous residents.
NBC bought Private Dickersons, a couples comedy from writer David Young (Carpool Karaoke); Late Late Show with James Corden and Carpool Karaoke producer Fulwell 73; and CBS Television Studios. Project focuses on a bored couple who spends every night watching true-crime shows like Dateline NBC and 48 Hours and decides to spice things up by taking matters into their own hands and trying to solve local unsolved crimes.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Some 40 superstar acts will compete on the second season of America’s Got Talent: The Champions , bowing Monday, January 6 at 8p on NBC. Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Heide Klum and Howie Mandel will judge the competition series, with Terry crews returning as host.
History’s Project Blue Book returns on Tuesday, January 21 at 10p. In its sophomore season the drama series explores real-life cases Roswell and Area 51.
Lights, more lights, action! Season 7 of The Great Christmas Light Fight debuts on Monday, December 2 at 8p on ABC. Lifestyle expert Carter Oosterhouse and interior designer Taniya Nayak return as celebrity judges.
Homicide detective Fil Waters recounts his six most famous cases in The Interrogator. New series debuts on Thursday, December 5 at 10p on ID.
Science Channel is ringing in the new year with a bang. The Explosion Show bows Wednesday, January 1 at 10p. MythBuster’s Tory Belleci and Nitro Circus daredevil and stuntman “Streetbike” Tommy Passemante host the series.
A&E Network released its programming lineup heading into 2020. A two-hour special commemorating the 15th anniversary The First 48, on Wednesday, January 1 at 8p, launches a new season of the homicide investigation series. Immediately following, Alaska PD debuts at 10p, bringing viewers to America’s Last Frontier, where the line between civilization and lawlessness can be razor thin. On Thursday, January 2 at 10p, 60 Days In returns, as more participants struggle to survive the intense program.
Pasiones announced the premiere of popular Brazilian novela , Sombras del Ayer, on its Latin America feed on Monday, November 25. Times vary by country.
COMING UP
Nickelodeon will debut original television event The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage! on Saturday, December 7 at 7p, across Nickelodeon, TeenNick and Nicktoons. Joining the cast is veteran SpongeBob SquarePants voice actor Tom Kenny as Patchy the Pirate, performing the Sara Bareilles song Poor Pirates.
CASTING
Juliette Lewis and Christina Ricci joined Showtime pilot Yellowjackets as series regulars … Anna Chancellor, James Fleet, Ingrid Oliver, Ruth Madeley, Hakeem Kae-Kazim and Bianca Simone Mannie have boarded the cast of BBC America original series, The Watch… Denee Benton (Hamilton), Louisa Jacobson (Gone Hollywood), Taissa Farmiga (The Twilight Zone), Blake Ritson (Krypton) and Simon Jones (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) will co-star in HBO drama series, The Gilded Age, reports Deadline.
ADVERTISING
Although the 2020 election is year away, political ads are already seeing a ton of engagement. LiveIntent analyzed political ad campaigns across their platform, which reaches 250 million each month, and found that political ads are performing with a 10x higher conversion rather and a 3x CTR compared to typical ads. Additionally, mobile is giving these ads 2x CTR and 50% higher conversion rate as compared to PCs and tablets.
Marvels, from Stitcher and Marvel New Media, premieres Wednesday, November 20. The 10-episode podcast series takes place in the aftermath of the Fantastic Four’s battle with Galactus, high above New York City, for the fate of the world. It will air weekly exclusively on Stitcher Premium.
STREAMING
Thousands of customers claimed to have had their accounts hacked shortly after the launch of Disney+. However, Disney said, “Disney takes the privacy and security of our users’ data very seriously and there is no indication of security breach on Disney+.”
The Design Network launched on The Roku Channel on Tuesday , as a free live network featuring 24/7 programming all about home. “TDN’s new programming lineup will super serve and audience of design fanatics,” said Katlyn Wilson, President of The Design Network. “The slate is stacked with original series we can’t wait to unveil – including celebrity home tours, a look at young couples ditching the big city to move ‘back home,’ and a first-of-its kind design talk show hosted by the one and only, Carson Kressley.”
beIN Sports is debuting a free, ad-supported network on the Roku Channel , that will feature live sports, including soccer, as well as original series. The English language 24/7 network, beIN Sports Xtra, will launch first on the Roku Channel with more platform and device compatibility coming soon.
The Big Blind, Poker Central’s first game show, premieres November 25 on PokerGO. The series brings the strategy of poker play to a trivia show format, where special guests be of their knowledge of poker, gambling, casinos and everything else Las Vegas.
TECH TALK
Snapchat is growing faster than some top researchers expected. By the end of 2019, eMarketer expects the app to boast about 293 million users worldwide. That would represent about 1 4% growth year-over-year, which is more than the research film had been expecting. According to eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson, a redesigned Android app and some new features are responsible for the increase. By 2023, eMarketer forecasts Snapchat to add more than 63 million users, worldwide. That’s up from the previously predicted 53 million users.
Amazon opened up availability of its free music streaming service with ads to anyone who uses the Amazon Music app on iOS and Android devices, Fire TV and Amazon Music on the web, in the U.S., U.K. and Germany. The ad-supported service, which was previously only free on Echo devices, offers the same 2-million song catalog as Prime Music. However, Prime Music is ad-free and requires a Prime membership.
GOING GLOBAL
GoQuest Media Ventures sealed a deal with Tanweer Group for exclusive TV rights to Ruby Ring for the MENA region. The drama, which currently airs on Fox’s first Arabic channel FOX Rewayat, follows the roller-coast relationship of two sisters whose lives change drastically by events that alter their destiny.
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