Wednesday November 24, 2021

Today’s Finales
HBO: Black and Missing at 9p
PBS: Secrets of the Dead at 10p

Thursday’s Premieres
Amazon: All or Nothing: Juventus
BET+: Ruthless
Disney+: The Beatles Get Back
HBO Max: 12 Dates of Christmas, Gossip Girl, Looney Tunes Cartoons
Netflix: F Is for Family, Super Crooks

Friday’s Premieres
HBO: How To with John Wilson at 10p
ID: Queen of Meth at 9p
Netflix: Angele, Light the Night, School of Chocolate

Saturday’s Premieres
discovery+: Meet Your Makers Showdown
HGTV: Home Town Takover: Where Are They Now? at 8p

Sunday’s Premieres
ABC: The Great Christmas Light Fight at 9p
Bravo: The Real Housewives of Atlanta: Porsha’s Family Matters at 9p
Food Network: Buff vs. Duff: Holiday at 8p
History: The Toys That Built America at 9p
ID: Doctor’s Orders at 9p
Nat Geo: The Hot Zone: Anthrax at 9p
TBS: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses at 8p

IN THE NEWS

Hugh Dancy (“Hannibal”) has been set to star in NBC’s upcoming revival of “Law & Order.” Also in the lineup is Anthony Anderson (“black-ish”), who will reprise the role he played on seasons 18-20 of the procedural.

HBO’s “Euphoria” returns for its Covid-delayed season two on January 9. Series star Zendaya broke the news on social media.

Holiday shopping is already on the move, and that includes TV ad spending. It’s down slightly from last year, according to iSpot data. For the days between October 1-November 18, brands spent more than $319 million on holiday-related TV spots, down from $328 million in 2020. Leading all networks, over 10% of all holiday-related TV ad impressions appeared on Hallmark (with another 2.8% on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries). On the retail front, Walmart spending is up 70% and Amazon in up 49%, while other retail brands have seen more modest increases (or none at all).

“Good Morning America” co-host Michael Strahan will be a passenger on a Blue Origin flight into space on December 9. “I want to go to space,” said Strahan on “GMA.” “I think being there at the first launch, it really was mind-blowing.”

The Directors Guild of America has reached a tentative agreement with the Association of Independent Commercial Producers for a contract covering national commercials. The two-year deal was approved at a special meeting of the guild’s national board and now heads to the guild’s membership for ratification. “Our Commercial Negotiations Committee negotiated a fantastic agreement coming out of a tumultuous period for the industry,” said DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter. “This contract contains significant gains for our members and will grow this area of work for years to come.”

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Canal 22 Internacional has joined the UN-led global campaign against gender-based violence, “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.” During the 16 days of activism (November 25-December 10), Canal 22 Internacional will sport an orange logo for its national and international programming and will present special programming to raise awareness about this tragedy spreading the Spanish-speaking community in US.

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Anne Burrell (“Worst Cooks in America)” has signed an exclusive multi-year deal that includes at least two more cycles of her Food Network series. In the upcoming season, Burrell is joined for the first time by Chef Cliff Crooks to lead the newest batch of twelve culinary nightmares. The next season is set to premiere early next year.

NBCUniversal International Studios has a new name: Universal International Studios. The move is aimed at better aligning with Universal Studio Group and studio sibs UCP, Universal Television and Universal Television Alternative Studio.

Exile Content Studio has partnered with composer/musicians Beatriz “Bea” Luengo and Yoteul Romero to produce a full-length documentary “Patria y Vida,” based on Luengo and Romero’s hip-hop song of the same name. The documentary will explore how the song sparked a movement, with Cuban people taking to the streets to demand change and greater freedom and chanting “Patria y Vida (Homeland and Life).”

Jon Feldman (“Designated Survivor”) has been named showrunner of Fox’s upcoming “Monarch,” replacing Michael Rauch.

Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”) will play the lead in ITV’s “It’s a Sin,” telling the true story of a soap opera actress booted from her show after 20 years. The three-parter comes from Quay Street Productions.

Speaking of soap opera actors, “General Hospital” has one less. Steve Burton, who has appeared on the show for most of the last 30 years, says he was let go because of his refusal to comply with the show’s Covid vaccine mandate. He joins Ingo Rademacher, another long-time cast member, who also exited after refusing to comply with the mandate.

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NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Science Channel has got you covered the day before and the day after you dive into that turkey and dressing, with the start of an all-new season of “Engineering Catastrophes” on Wednesday, November 24 at 9p, and “Homemade Astronauts” on Friday at 8p.

“Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber,” Showtime’s new anthology series about one of Silicon Valley’s most successful and most destructive unicorns, Uber, is set to premiere Sunday, February 27 at 10p. The season depicts the roller-coaster ride of the upstart transportation company. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kyle Chandler and Uma Thurman star.

Sandbox Kids has launched Hopster Learning, an educational entertainment channel for preschoolers, on Prime Video Channels in the US. The new channel focuses on children’s social emotional learning.

COMING UP

Moonbbug Entertainment has partnered with YouTube Originals in a collaboration with UNICEF to premiere the prequel to the football animated series, “Supa Strikas” called “Supa Strikas: Rookie Season.” The series will teach and encourage children to practice fairness, teamwork and the importance of never giving up on your dreams. The first six of 12 episodes will be available to stream on the “Supa Trikas” YouTube channel starting December 3 at 4a.

Leading up to Turkey Day comes – gulp – “Fresh Meat: The Jeffery Dahmer Story.” The two-hour special, which begins streaming on Wednesday, November 24 on Tubi, jumps into the mind of America’s most notorious cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer, and uncovers psychological patterns of similar murderers.

TECH TALK

Game developer Niantic “Pokemon GO” has received a $300 million investment from Coature. Where’s the moneyh headed? “Niantic is building a platform for AR based on a 3D map of the world that we believe will play a critical role in the next transition in computing,” said Niantic CEO and founder John Hanke.

IBC has canceled its in-person event in Amsterdam that was slated for December 3-6 over the deteriorating COVID-19 situation in The Netherlands. The IBC Partnership Board made the decision Tuesday in order to prevent exhibitors and visitors from travelling to the area. IBC2021 will instead offer the content and technology showcase digitally.

ViacomCBS has sealed the deal on the acquisition of a majority stake in the Spanish-language content producer, Fox TeleColombia & Estudios TeleMexico from The Walt Disney Company. The acquisition will bolster ViacomCBS’ Spanish-language content production capabilities.

The immersive sound quality of VIZIO’s Sound Bars is the subject of a new creative campaign “Hear Like They Do,” which offers a glimpse into the lives of three dogs-turned-couch-potatoes who are mesmerized by what they hear while crashed in front of their TVs. “We decided to turn to the experts in sound. And since dogs hear four times better than people, we focused our creative campaign on experiencing sound as they do,” said Ben Purcell, Chief Creative Officer, of David&Goliath. To drive social engagement, VIZIO will also be asking dog owners to post photos of their pups on Instagram by calling on “dogfluencers” with the hashtag #HearLikeTheyDo.

The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment announced the results of the 2021 NYC Digital Games Industry Economic Impact Study. Findings of the report conclude that in 2020 the industry supported 7,600 jobs, $762 million in wages, and $2 billion in economic output.

STREAMING

Filmrise and Scholastic Entertainment entered into an exclusive AVOD deal to distribute nine children’s television programs. The deal gives FilmRise exclusive English and Spanish-language distribution rights to the programs on AVOD and FAST platforms and includes a total of 230 episodes of nine programs.

GOING GLOBAL

A+E Networks UK has picked up the return of true-crime series “Killer Britain with Dermot Murnaghan.” Produced by true crime specialists FirstLookTV, the series is scheduled to air in the UK on Crime + Investigation in 2022 in an extended 10-episode run.

Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing has acquired North American, UK, Australian and New Zealand rights to Sterlin Harjo’s documentary feature “Love and Fury.” The film, to be released on select screens and on Netflix beginning December 3, chronicles a group of Native artists as they work to amplify indigenous creativity in a post-colonial world and navigate their careers without seeking permission.

Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia and Australia’s satirical news publisher, The Betoota Advocate, are joining forces on a slate of premium, unscripted productions aimed at both the domestic and international market. Details of their joint future endeavours have not been announced yet, but putting Betoota’s humour (and 4 million monthly readers) to good use seems to be the goal. “With its distinct, bitingly satirical and smart approach to content, The Betoota Advocate has won a huge following. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. – with its storied TV production experience and international reach – is perfectly positioned to elevate this voice,” said Michael Brooks, Managing Director of WBITVP Australia.

German distribution company Studio Hamburg Enterprises has acquired the international distribution rights on a script basis for Finnish production company Lucy Loves Drama’s “My Husband’s Wife.” The drama written by Juuli Niemi and directed by his sister Inara Niemi tells the story of a businessman whose decades-long double life is revealed after suffering from a massive stroke. Spoiler: he dies. But the series goes on to explore what happens when the two women are forced to live together in the face of grief and betrayal.

WildBrain has signed a further wave of licensees for both the new and classic Strawberry Shortcake brand. The new Strawberry Shortcake series, “Berry in the Big City,” plus four brand-new 44-minute CG-animated seasonal specials produced by WildBrain’s Vancouver animation studio, will be available on Netflix worldwide, with the series launching Spring 2022 and specials to follow in 2023.

Banijay’s “The Money Drop” is returning to Spain for a new run by Atresmedia after a seven-year hiatus. Gestmusic, a Banijay Iberia company, will once again produce the format.

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Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson” drew 4.9 million total viewers and 891,000 among 25-54 on Monday night, for the host’s interview with Kyle Rittenhouse. Those are the best numbers for the show since the January 6 insurrection.

Univision is set to finish November as the fourth largest broadcast network, averaging 1.4 million total viewers, 546,000 A18049 and 208,000 A18-34.

In syndication, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (1.0, up 11%) matched its highest rating of the year, taking over sole possession of third place in its 19th and final season. Weekly national numbers for the show’s November 18th Meghan Markle exclusive will not be available until next week, however the Duchess of Sussex sent Ellen’s overnights up 50% in New York and 133% in Los Angeles on the day of her appearance.

Netflix’s “Tiger King 2” was #2 on the streamer’s Top 10 for the week of November 15-21, tailing only “Arcane.”

Also opening strong was Amazon’s series adaptation of The Wheel of Time fantasy novels. The show was Amazon’s most-watched debut of the year and one of its top 5 series launches ever.

How sweet it is: week two of Food Network’s “Christmas Cookie Challenge” posted a 1.0 W-25-54 Live+3 rating and was the #2 (non-sports) cable program last Thursday night among W-25-54 (#3 overall). Its W25-54 ratings grew 15% from the season premiere and more than doubled YAGO timeslot benchmarks.

Basic Cable Top 5 Nielsen Ratings for the week of November 15
Network, P2+ AA (000)
Prime Time
Fox News 2945
ESPN 2410
Hallmark Channel 1586
MSNBC 1217
HGTV 898
Total Day
Fox News 1784
Hallmark Channel 862
ESPN 774
MSNBC 746
CNN 549

Broadcast Nielsen Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of November 8 ranked in order by HH Rtg
Jeopardy (CMV) 5.6 AA
Family Feud (CMV) 5.4 AA
Wheel of Fortune (CMV) 5.1 AA
Judge Judy (CMV) 4.9 AA
Inside Edition (CMV) 2.3 AA
Entertainment Tonight (CMV) 2.1 AA
The Big Bang Theory (WB) 2.0 AA
The Dr. Phil Show (CMV) 1.9 AA
Live With Kelly and Ryan (DAD) 1.7 AA
Hot Bench (CMV) 1.5 AA
Last Man Standing (DAD) 1.2 AA

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Monday, November 23
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Dancing With the Stars 5.64 (0.9), The Good Doctor 4.22 (0.5)
CBS: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 3.81 (0.6), NCIS 3.05 (0.3), NCIS: Hawai’ 2.6 (0.3)
CW: All American 0.58 (0.2), 4400 0.35 (0.1)
FOX: 9-1-1 1.99 (0.3), 9-1-1 1.76 (0.3)
NBC: The Voice 6.33 (0.7), Ordinary Joe 2.15 (0.3)
Telemundo: Por Amor o por Dinero 0.77 (0.2), Hercai: Amor y Venganza, Malverde: el Santo Patron 1.10 (0.3), Malverde: Santo 0.83 (0.3)
Univision: La Rosa de Guadalupe 1.60 (0.40, Vencer el Pasado 1.49 (0.4), La Desalmada 1.67 (0.5)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who recurred as Paul’s Uncle Phil on “Mad About You” (1992-99)? Mel Brooks. Kudos to: Charles Lore/NYC; Heather Allen-WWE Corporation/Stamford, CT; Tori Gallarello-Alcock-Little Roosters/Bronx, NY; Sandy Spiegel-WTTW/Chicago; Louis Lewow-FITE/Atlanta; Eric Litt-Nextstar/Chicago; Randall Bosley- Studio Talent Group/ Santa Monica, CA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
A Thanksgiving episode of which comedy focused on a musical production of “The Miracle Worker”? (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.)