Friday December 2, 2022

Sunday’s Premieres
HGTV: Home Town at 8p
Showtime: George & Tammy at 9p

IN THE NEWS

Part of cutbacks taking place at CNN included big changes at sister network HLN. HLN will no longer include live programming; its “Morning Express with Robin Meade” will be replaced by a simulcast of “CNN This Morning.” HLN crime programming will merge with ID under the Warner Bros. Discovery networks led by Kathleen Finch. CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO Chris Licht sent a memo to staffers amid layoffs that impacted about 200 jobs. “At the highest level, the goal is to direct our resources to best serve and grow audiences for our core news programming and products,” wrote Licht. “To achieve these goals, we will be reducing open job positions, reimagining our workflows and aligning our staffing, investments and focus around three key strategic priorities: programming, newsgathering and digital. All decisions are designed to strengthen the core of our business.”

“CBS Evening News” and E.W. Scripps’ Newsy network are the news nets with the highest “nutrition” – or healthiest environment for advertisers – ratings, according to ratings service NewsGuard. Both scored 10s. Fox’s “Media Buzz” and CNN’s “Inside Politics” earned 9s.

When it comes to holiday content, Hallmark is the most popular linear destination, and Netflix is tops among streamers, according to a survey from WhipMedia. Lifetime ranks second in linear, and Disney+ and Hulu ranked second and third for streaming programming.

Debmar-Mercury will offer Game Show Network’s “People Puzzler,” hosted by Leah Remini (“King of Queens”), to broadcast stations for fall 2023. The back-to-back Monday-Friday strip will be sold on an all-barter basis, with the syndicator splitting the national advertising time with stations. The show returned for a third season in August, and has been one of GSN’s top-rated original game shows.

Marketers prioritizing brand safety are extremely likely to be experiencing the impacts of ID changes in terms of campaign effectiveness, despite brand safety itself not being dependent on IDs, according to new data from Emodo. In particular, 88% of brand direct marketers with in-house agencies who rely on brand safety say they are experiencing ID-related changes in the effectiveness of their campaigns. Other findings include:
· Marketers that rely on upper-funnel KPIs like reach report that their campaigns are affected less by ID loss. Less than a third (32%) of marketers measuring performance by reach say they are experiencing a change in campaign effectiveness due to ID loss.
· Engagement and Attention KPIs may be protected from ID loss. Over 60% of agency marketers who rely on either engagement or attention, or both, say they are not experiencing any ID-related changes in the effectiveness of campaigns.
· Nearly 80% of brand marketers who rely on Brand Lift say they are experiencing ID-related changes in the effectiveness of their campaigns.
“Many marketers are starting to grasp the significance of ID loss, but much of the focus tends to be on targeting,” said Megan Saunders, SVP of Global Marketing & Growth at Emodo. “The impact on measurement is potentially even more severe, but that element is not as widely understood. Advertisers need to rethink the way they evaluate the success of their campaigns.”

Without an infusion of cash, Evoca will be forced to shut down by the end of the year, said the company on its website. The TV service started in 2018 delivers channels via ATSC 3.0 broadcast technology. “We have seen tremendous growth and have thousands of loyal subscribers,” said Evoca. “However, this is a difficult economy for a company like ours to raise the funding that we need to grow. Should we be unable to raise more capital, we are sad to say that Evoca TV will discontinue operations and programming on December 31st, 2022.”

FOX Entertainment’s animation studio Bento Box Entertainment and Dublin-based animation studio Boulder Media have entered a multi-year production services agreement. The deal will be spearheaded by Bento Box’s Head of Production, Dana Cameron, who said, “Ireland boasts some of the strongest animation talent in the world. It’s a deep well of creatives we were fortunate to tap into on ‘The Bob’s Burgers Movie,’ and since then we’ve been looking for ways to re-apply Dublin’s creative community to our growing slate of programming.”

CBS Studios and Damon Wayans Jr. are teaming to develop a new version of African drama “MTV Shuga” for Paramount+. Wayans Jr. and Kameron Tarlow are co-producing through their Two Shakes Entertainment, with Paramount Global and MTV Staying Alive Foundation’s Georgia Arnold, Sara Piot and Richard Warburton serving alongside them as executive producers for “Shuga: Baltimore.”

FX has ordered a pilot for animated series “The Trenches” from Drew Goddard, who is under an overall deal with ABC Signature. The comedy focuses on a family of monster hunters.

Array Releasing and JetBlue have partnered to offer an in-flight pop-up channel offering independent features from artists of color and women directors. The videos are introduced by Array’s Ava DuVernay. “Over the years, I’ve experienced transformative moments by watching films while flying. Something about the intimacy of being in the air as stories unfold has always appealed to me,” shared DuVernay. “Our hope is that JetBlue travelers will sit back and enjoy the magic of these films, exploring new visions and new voices while in the majesty of mid-air.”

A series based on YA suspense thriller We Were Lies is in development at Amazon Prime Video. The project comes from Julie Plec and her My So-Called Company and Universal Television.

Studiocanal announced development of action drama “Agoodjie.” Commissioned by Canal+ International, the show is based on the true story of a female army in 19th century Africa. The series is created by Didier Lacoste (“Guyane”) and Joy Fleury (“Tristesse et beauté”), along with Nigerian screenwriters Ukamaka Olisakwe, Jude Idada and Adachioma Ezeano.

Riley Keough (“The Terminal List”) will EP and star in Hulu limited series “Under the Bridge,” based on the book by Rebecca Godfrey. Keogh will produce the ABC Signature series via her production company, Felix Cupla.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Season two of Netflix’s “Ginny & Georgia” drops January 5. This go-round, Ginny will have to figure out how to live with the fact that her mother is a murderer.

“The Mandelorian” returns to Disney+ for season three on March 1. The last episode of season two premiered in December 2020.

“What Am I Eating? with Zooey Deschanel,” a newly-greenlit at discovery+ series, follows the “New Girl” star and mom as she sets out to solve the everyday food dilemmas people face while food shopping. The series is set to premiere in early 2023.

Coming-of-age story “The Most Beautiful Flower” launches Wednesday, December 7 on Netflix. The series is inspired by the life of Mexican comedian Michelle Rodriguez.

COMING UP

Laurence Fishburne will present LeVar Burton with Lifetime Achievement honors at the first annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards ceremony on Sunday, December 11 in LA. Children’s & Family Emmy nominee Jack McBrayer hosts the ceremony.

Circle Networks “Holly Dolly Christmas” marathon begins Saturday, December 3 at 8p. The network will air specials around Dolly Parton’s “A Holly Dolly Christmas” and “A Smoky Mountain Christmas” as well as “Christmas at Home.” The three films will repeat throughout the month, including an all-day marathon on Christmas Day.

HBO Max doc “Call Me Miss Cleo” premieres Thursday, December 15. The film chronicles the rise, fall and reinvention of ‘90s TV psychic Miss Cleo.

TECH TALK

Adform announced an expanded global partnership with Comscore to provide Adform customers more flexibility in targeting, measurement and frequency capping without using third-party cookies, through Comscore Predictive Audiences. With Comscore’s global opt-in panels and AI contextual categorization engine, Adform customers can target their campaigns to a precise audience, based on a variety of criteria including demographics, TV viewership habits, life stage, gaming behaviors, interests and more.

STREAMING

Talker “The Jennifer Hudson Show” will stream exclusively on The Roku Channel. In addition to all previously aired episodes, new episodes will be available on the platform the day after their linear debut.

Warner Bros. Discovery streamer discovery+ is now available to DirecTV and DirecTV Stream customers. Customers have access to the full library of 70,000+ episodes of original series and library content from the WBD family of networks.

Pluto TV has debuted in Canada, streaming more than 20,000 hours of free programming, introducing a lineup of over 110 thematic and single-series channels curated from a library containing titles from Paramount and global media partners.

Fuse Media has secured carriage for its new FAST channel, Latino Vibes, through a new agreement with Roku. The channel is now available through The Roku Channel on Roku TVs and devices.

SPORTS ROUNDUP

Fox Sports delivered the most-watched English-language USMNT FIFA World Cup Group Stage coverage on record, with 11.71 million cross-platform viewers. The event is averaging 3.15 million viewers across Fox and FSi through the first 31 matches. Portugal vs. Uruguay delivered 3.65 million viewers on November 28, up 46% from 2018.

unikrn, an esports betting company, has returned to the market under new leadership and backed by Entain. unikrn launched in Brazil and Canada on December 1. The platform, first introduced eight years ago, also offers betting options across traditional sport and casino games.

GOING GLOBAL

Cineflix Rights has acquired global distribution rights to “Bon matin Chuck” (Good Morning Chuck), the new French-language scripted series co-produced by St-Laurent TV and Connect3 Media for Crave (Canada).

Australia’s Seven Network has partnered with Imagine Communications as part of a fully automated and optimized Total TV trading solution that will enable Seven and its agencies and partners to streamline processes.

WildBrain has partnered with Ukrainian kids’ producer Glowberry to bring the “Brave Bunnies” preschool brand into its portfolio of kids’ and family franchises. Under the arrangement, WildBrain has assured the continuation of the popular “Brave Bunnies” series which was disrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who bought Alvin a harmonica on Christmas Eve on “A Chipmunk Christmas” (1981)? Mrs. Claus. Kudos to: Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Deerfield Beach, FL; Rev. Mark Wajda-Clermont, FL; Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NYC;
Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA; Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA; Lois Lewow-FITE/Atlanta

Today’s Trivia Question
Which was the first animated children’s TV series to air a Hanukkah episode? (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.)