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Today’s Premieres
Hulu: Connect
Netflix: I Hate Christmas; The Most Beautiful Flower; Smiley; Too Hot to Handle
TV5MONDEplus: Téléclub; Les maitres du café; Sur la routes des vins du nord ; Les hôtels historiques de Suisse; Les 100 lieux qu’il faut voir

Today’s Finales
CW: DC’s Stargirl at 8p
Syfy: Reginald the Vampire at 10p

IN THE NEWS

NBCUniversal announced new resources and activations to help marketers reach consumers, including launching the inaugural Local Innovation Forum, expanding Open Doors locally, and activating new integrations supporting small businesses. “Whether you’re a minority-owned small businesses (SMB) who needs guidance on marketing and social media, a local marketer who wants to learn about the future of local advertising, an emerging brand interested in exploring commerce technology, or a major global business on a mission to give back, NBCU’s One Platform is the gift that keeps on giving,” said Josh Feldman, Global Chief Marketing Officer, NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships, in a blog post.

NBCU also set a new date for One23, its third annual developer conference. The in-person-only event has been moved up from February 16 in NYC to February 8.

The potential remarriage of Fox Corp. and News Corp., split in 2013, has some shareholders calling foul, but both companies released statements saying they will abide by the decisions of the special committees that have been formed to evaluate the prospect. Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of the Board of Fox and Executive Chairman of News Corp., also pledged to follow the recommendations of the committees, whose members are not affiliated with the Murdoch family.

Speaking of, Rupert Murdoch will be deposed on December 13 and December 14 as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which alleges the network knowingly aired false claims about Dominion to boost ratings. According to a filing in Delaware’s Superior Court, the 91-year-old media mogul’s deposition will be conducted remotely.

Creating a more streamlined business is “hard work…It does affect people,” acknowledged Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish at the UBS media conference. “But unquestionably it will produce superior financial and strategic results.” Bakish also said that while Paramount is doing what he labeled “consolidation economics” work around Showtime, “the brand still matters, and the slate is going to matter even more.”

“The D’Amelio Show” has been renewed for a 10-episode season three on Hulu. The docuseries follows the D’Amelio family as they deal with the pressures of sudden fame.

HBO Max has canceled “Legendary” after three seasons. The voguing competition was produced by Scout Productions.

“The 71st Miss Universe Competition” has found a streaming partner in The Roku Channel. The broadcast will stream live on Saturday, January 14, and in Spanish on Telemundo.

AXS TV has joined forces with Spectrum to launch “AXS TV’s Band Together For Music Education,” a new initiative connecting AXS TV with affiliates, local communities, and schools to support music education programs. “AXS TV’s Band Together” is set to launch this month in five markets across California, Florida, New York, Ohio and Texas.

Between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Hershel Walker, $412.6 million has been spent on Georgia’s 2022 midterm race, according to data from OpenSecrets.org. The candidates’ campaigns spent $181.2 million, with $213.4 million coming from outside groups.

Buzzfeed is cutting its staff by 12%, citing “challenging macroeconomic conditions” and the move by viewers to short-form, vertical video. The restructuring is expected to be substantially completed by 1Q23.

With Trevor Noah signing off, guest hosts for Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” starting January 17 will include Al Franken, Chelsea Handler, D. L. Hughley, Leslie Jones, John Leguizamo, Hasan Minhaj, Kal Penn, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes and Marlon Wayans along with TDS correspondents and contributors. “As we enter Trevor’s final week, we want to thank him for his many contributions,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO Paramount Media Networks. “Trevor redefined the show, as did Jon Stewart before him, and as we look to the future, we are excited to reimagine it yet again.”

2023 Best of the Best & Rising Star Awards

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PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Cineflix Productions and executive producers Valerie LoCascio, Anne Kenny, and Amrita Gandhi announced the development of “The Descendants,” a four-part documentary anthology that explores what it’s like to honor and uphold the legacies of legends through the perspectives of descendants in the family line. The families of Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King Jr will share private collections of archival materials and untold stories.

Dynamic Television announced that ZDF has joined season two of Acorn TV’s Irish mystery thriller “Harry Wild,” and Acorn TV has extended the season’s episode order, which will now consist of two six-episode seasons. The series is produced by Dynamic Television and Metropolitan Films with Dynamic handling worldwide distribution.

There’s more than one Taylor (that would be “Yellowstone” co-creator Sheridan) heading West. Taylor Kitsch (“Waco”) will star in Netflix limited series “American Primeval,” an exploration of the American West from Pete Berg (“Friday Night Lights”), Eric Newman (“The Watcher”) and Mark L. Smith (“The Revenant”). “We are very appreciative that Netflix is trusting us to take a big swing with ‘American Primeval,’” said Berg. “I’m looking forward to taking viewers into the most dynamic, intense, and heart pounding survival tale humanly possible. We are going into the belly of the beast.”

Newly formed production house Fireworks Media Group, helmed by CEO Jesse Fawcett, has entered into a co-production partnership with home-renovation series creator and CEO Paul Taylor at Lucky Stars Media. Fawcett and Taylor created and produced HGTV titles including “No Demo Reno” and “Selling the Big Easy.”

Hugh Grant will guest on HBO’s “The Palace.” The limited series follows the unraveling of an authoritarian regime.

Changes at CNBC, effective December 19: Anne Tironi has been named Senior Executive Producer in charge of “Squawk Box”; Rebecca White has appointed Supervising Producer and will move from “Power Lunch” to “Squawk Box,” replacing Anne as second-in-command; Executive Producer Maria Boden will move from “The Exchange” and “Power Lunch” to “TechCheck”; Senior Executive Producer Matt Quayle rejoins the daily ranks of Business News by taking the helm of “The Exchange” and “Power Lunch”; and Senior Executive Producer Max Meyers will begin work on a new 7pm business news program.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

The ninth and final season of CW’s “The Flash” premieres Wednesday, February 8 at 8p, leading into the midseason debut of “Kung Fu” at 9p. “’The Flash’ will be remembered as one of the greatest shows in the history of The CW, and everyone involved in its excellent nine-season run should be very proud,” said Brad Schwartz, The CW’s President of Entertainment. “The team has delivered an epic final season, filled with plenty of twists, guest stars and surprises that will delight every fan.”

Season 35 of “American Experience” kicks off Tuesday, January 3 at 9p on PBS. First up is “The Lie Detector,” tracking the “good intentions, twisted morals and unintended consequences” of the device.

A three-episode second season of “I Hate Suzie Too” premieres Thursday, December 22 on HBO Max. The British dramedy focuses on child star-turned-actress Suzie Pickles (Billie Piper).

“Daisy Jones and the Six,” adapted from the bestseller by Taylor Jenkins Reid, makes its debut March 3 on Prime Video. Riley Keough (“The Girlfriend Experience”) stars as the lead singer of a fictional ‘70s band.

“Ready to Love” returns to OWN for season seven on Friday, January 6 at 8p. The dating series features 16 ready-to-mingle singles in Miami.

COMING UP

“Puppy Bowl “returns for its 19th year on Sunday, February 12 at 2p on Animal Planet. The three-hour event will showcase Team Ruff and Team Fluff as they take to the gridiron in the Puppy Bowl stadium to win the Wayfair™ “Lombarky” trophy.

Can’t wait til February for a canine fix? “AKC Heroes: 2022 Awards for Canine Excellence” airs on ESPN2 on Sunday December 11 at 10p. The show, honoring dogs who’ve provided extraordinary service to people, is done in participation with ESPN’s V Week to raise funds and awareness for life-saving cancer research. “AKC Heroes” is sponsored by Eukanuba, YuMOVE and Tractor Supply.

The lineup of performers for ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2023” will include (pre-taped at Disneyland) Ciara; Maddie & Tae; Shaggy; Ben Platt; Aly & AJ; Halle Bailey; TXT; Bailey Zimmerman; and Lauren Spencer Smith. Performers at the LA party will include Wiz Khalifa; Finneas; Armani White; Betty Who; Dove Cameron and Nicky Youre.

HBO will air the 1996 film “If These Walls Could Talk,” examining abortion through three stories set in 1952, 1974 and 1996, on Friday, December 9 at 8p. Directed by Cher and Nancy Savoca, the film stars Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek, Cher, Xander Berkeley, Hedy Burress, Anne Heche, Jada Pinkett Smith, Shirley Knight, and CCH Pounder.

“Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair” begins streaming exclusively on Peacock Monday, December 26. “Many stories have been told about The Nature Boy over the past 50 years,” said WWE Hall of Famer Flair. “I’m thrilled to have partnered with WWE and Peacock to produce the most accurate depiction of my life to date and hope audiences enjoy the ride. Woooo!”

DECADES will remember the late Kirstie Alley with special episodes featuring the actress in her breakout role of Rebecca Howe in “Cheers,” during the regular weeknight time slot for the series at 11p and 11:30p, through Friday. This weekend, the net will air a tribute Weekend Binge with back-to-back episodes airing Saturday and Sunday.

“The 54th NAACP Image Awards” airs Saturday, February 25 at 8p on BET. Three new submission categories have been added: Outstanding Hairstyling, Make-Up and Costume Design.

CBS Sports and Nickelodeon will deliver a slime-filled presentation of the National Football League’s Christmas Day game between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, December 25, at 4:30p. The “Nickelodeon NFL Nickmas Game” will air alongside CBS Sports’ coverage, which will be broadcast on CBS and stream live on Paramount+.

WBD Sports will present the seventh edition of live golf event “Capital One’s The Match,” featuring Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, on Saturday, December 10. Coverage will center on TNT, with simulcasts available on TBS, truTV and HLN, along with content available across Bleacher Report’s platforms leading up to and during the competition. The evening’s programming will start at 6p with “The Conversation Presented by Deloitte,” a 30-minute roundtable discussion with Woods, McIlroy, Thomas and Spieth. “The Capital One’s The Match Pre-Match Show presented by ZipRecruiter” will follow at 6:30p, leading into the live competition.

STREAMING & TECH NEWS

NBCUniversal reported robust numbers across its programing lineup Thanksgiving weekend, with families and viewers highly engaged and invested in not only the content but also the creative advertising integrated throughout the weekend. On Thanksgiving Day alone, NBCUniversal reached close to 40% of the ad market, achieving nearly 100 million viewers ahead of a shopping weekend that broke records with $9.12 billion in online sales on Black Friday alone, and over 196 million consumers who shopped both in stores and online throughout the weekend, up 17 million from 2021, according to data from Adobe Analytics and the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

Meta has threatened to pull news content from its platforms if legislation favoring news media is added to the annual defense authorization bill. The proposed bill, known as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, would create a four-year exemption under US antitrust law allowing news outlets to bargain collectively against social media platforms for a larger share of ad revenue. “If Congress passes an ill-considered journalism bill as part of national security legislation,” said Meta said in a statement, “we will be forced to consider removing news from our platform altogether rather than submit to government-mandated negotiations that unfairly disregard any value we provide to news outlets through increased traffic and subscriptions.”

HBO Max is back on Prime Video. HBO Max left the platform in September 2021 when a distribution deal could not be reached. But now, “Warner Bros. Discovery is committed to making HBO Max available to as broad an audience as possible while also advancing our data-driven approach to understanding our customers and best serving their viewing interests,” said Bruce Campbell, WBD’s Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer. “We are thrilled to take an important step forward by announcing that HBO Max is returning to Prime Video Channels.”

WMX, the artist services, media & creative content division of Warner Music Group, has partnered with Roku to launch three FAST channels exclusively on The Roku Channel: WMX Pop, WMX Rock, and WMX Hip-Hop. The channels are now available to stream for free on The Roku Channel through the service’s Live TV Guide.

ViralGains and LiveRamp announced a partnership that will enable marketers and advertisers to extend ViralGains’ Zero-Party & VoiceAlike® Audiences across 400+ partners in LiveRamp’s digital portfolio. “ViralGains’ Zero-Party and VoiceAlike® Audiences have been invaluable compared to standard third-party advertising audiences,” said Cindy Brown, Chief Revenue Officer of ViralGains. “It sets marketers up for success with a solution that addresses the deprecation of cookies.”

MEASUREMENT

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement announced five new Working Groups and the appointment of their respective industry leader Chairs:.”
· Media Measurement – Focused on exploring topics core to CIMM’s mission of improving cross-platform TV and video measurement. Chair: Howard Shimmel, President, Janus Strategy & Insights
· Multi-Currency – In support of the transition to a multi-currency TV market. Chair: Joan FitzGerald, Founder and CEO, Data ImpacX
· Content – Content research and measurement across the TV marketplace (from ratings and metadata to analytics). Chair: Lisa Heimann, EVP, Analytics, Insights & Measurement, NBCUniversal
· TV Data – Optimizing and supporting the new TV data ecosystem (from data quality, IDR, and matching processes to clean room infrastructure and attribution). Chair: Jonathan Steuer, CEO and Co-Founder at Anonymous Media Research
· CTV/Streaming/Programmatic – Measurement and metrics across the CTV, streaming and programmatic ecosystem. Chair: Frans Vermeulen, VP, Strategy & Market Development, Media Vertical, TransUnion
“I am very pleased to welcome our fantastic Chairs, all of whom are uniquely equipped to support CIMM in our effort to fund, test and develop new ideas that promote innovation and explore new high quality ways to measure audiences across traditional and new media,” said Jon Watts, Managing Director, CIMM.

Innovid has struck a partnership with Kinetiq to power second-by-second linear ad-occurrence data directly into InnovidXP, the new measurement platform built for converged TV. The addition of Kinetiq data, alongside Innovid’s CTV footprint, establishes a source of automatically detected TV ad airings that cover the converged marketplace. “Integrating Kinetiq’s best-in-class technology and global ad catalog within InnovidXP is another step toward providing the most advanced, always-on measurement infrastructure for converged TV,” said Jo Kinsella, President of InnovidXP. “Kinetiq’s real-time linear data powers actionable insights, and its local and national linear coverage expands InnovidXP’s footprint across the converged TV ecosystem in a way that makes it fast and simple for advertisers to achieve cross-platform TV analytics.”

SPORTS ROUNDUP

The fight between WBO welterweight world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) and David Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17 KOs) in a PPV showdown on December 10, now has an official broadcast team. Lupe Contreras will serve as the ring announcer, Zab Judah will offer behind-the-scenes insight and backstage interviews, and Todd Grisham will lead the commentary crew with broadcast journalist Paulie Malignaggi, along with former world champion Antonio Tarver. Cheyenne McCargo will serve as the undercard scoring voice to conclude the crew. Crawford vs. Avanesyan, a 12-round WBO welterweight world title clash, will stream live on BLK Prime and across all cable and satellite outlets for $39.99.

Victorinox has been named the title sponsor of the Tampa Tip-Off, a neutral-site men’s basketball contest between the Florida Gators and Ohio Bobcats. The Victorinox Tampa Tip-Off will be held December 14 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

On3, the college sports digital media, data and marketing company, is launching the On3 Athlete Network, an interactive platform to allow high school and college athletes to further understand their respective On3 NIL Valuation and capitalize on additional revenue opportunities. Athletes can join the On3 Athlete Network by claiming their On3 profile to unlock an experience that allows each member of the Network to see the detail behind their own NIL valuation, report and verify NIL deals to build that value, and see how that valuation changes based on which school they attend or are considering.

Bud Light and Top Rank are expanding their partnership to bring in Bud Light Seltzer as the exclusive hard seltzer of Top Rank. “Boxing continues to have one of the most engaged fanbases in the world and we look forward to continuing to bring fans closer to the sport they love as Bud Light deepens its commitment to the sport in 2023,” said Daniel Blake, Group Vice President of Mainstream Brands at Anheuser-Busch. New elements in the partnership include a ringside seating area for celebrities and distinguished guests; Anheuser-Busch Product Integration throughout domestic Top Rank ESPN broadcasts; and elevated social media content opportunities through both Bud Light & Top Rank channels.

GOING GLOBAL

UK’s The Media Pioneers struck new deals for animated series. Hong Kong entertainment TV channel ViuTV has acquired the Pay TV rights for “Boris & Rufus,” “Mironins” and “Mini Town.” Deals for “Mironins” were also signed with MBC for the Middle East and North Africa for Linear TV and VOD rights and kid’s educational network Knowledge (Canada) for Free TV and FVOD rights. The Nordic region’s Viaplay also acquired “Boris and Rufus” for the Nordics, Poland and the Netherlands.

2022 Model D + It List Awards

Congratulations to our winners!

Cynopsis is thrilled to be hosting so many exceptional finalists and showcasing their innovative work in the media industry, across the spaces of content, innovations, talent, and solutions. This was once again one of the most competitive pools of finalists we have had to date, and we would like to thank all that entered for this year’s awards. And of course, an enormous congratulations to all of our category winners! To learn more about our 2023 events, visit the link below.

VIEW 2023 EVENTS

RATINGS

The seventh week of “Countdown to Christmas” holiday programming boosted Hallmark Channel to be the #1 entertainment cable network of the week in Total Day and Weekend Total Day among Households, Women 18+, Total Viewers, Women and Persons 25-54, and Women 18-49, delivering 2 out of the Top 3 most-watched entertainment cable programs of the week among Women 18+ and the most-watched programs of the day on Friday and Saturday among Households, Women 18+, and Total Viewers.

The penultimate episode of HBO’s “The White Lotus” scored a series-high viewership of 2.8 million across HBO and HBO Max, up 23% from the record set a week earlier and up 85% from the season two premiere.

Argentina’s Round of 16 win over Australia drew 5.45 million viewers across Fox and Fox Sports streaming services on December 3, up 11% from the Round of 16 average in 2018. England vs. Senegal delivered 2.787 million viewers on FS1 and Fox Sports streaming services on December 4.

Netflix’s “Wednesday” now ranks as the streamer’s third most popular English-language series ever, having collected 752.52 million hours viewed since its November 16 premiere. “Stranger Things 4” and “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” are first and second.

BET’s “Soul Train Awards 2022” drew 1.4 million Total Viewers P2+ (Live+3), simulcast across four Paramount Global Networks including BET Her, Logo, MTV2, and VH1, with 1.1 million Total Viewers P2+ tuning in on BET alone.

Basic Cable Top 10 Ratings for the week of November 28
P2+ AA (000)
Primetime
ESPN 2359
Fox News 1957
Hallmark Channel 1326
MSNBC 1204
HGTV 799
Paramount 793
TLC 773
History 761
USA 680
Food Network 673
Total Day
Fox News 1331
ESPN 770
MSNBC 751
Hallmark Channel 731
CNN 495
HGTV 430
USA 402
Food Network 399
ID 372
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries 365
Source: Nielsen

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Monday, December 5
Show, P2+ 000s, (A18-49)
ABC: Great Christmas Light Fight 2.60 (0.4), The Good Doctor 3.22 (0.4)
CBS: The Neighborhood 5.21 (0.5), Bob Hearts Abishola 4.89 (0.4), NCIS 6.43 (0.5), NCIS: Hawai’i 4.52 (0.3)
FOX: TMZ’s Merry Elfin Xmas 1.24 (0.2), The Cleaning Lady 1.54 (0.2)
ION: Criminal Minds 0.67 (0.1), Criminal Minds 0.56 (0.1), Criminal Minds 0.57 (0.1)
NBC: The Voice 6.32 (0.7), That’s My Jam 2.39 (0.4)
CW: Waltons’ Homecoming 0.53 (0.1)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos: All Stars 1.03 (0.3), La Reina del Sur 0.91 (0.2), Amor Y Traicion 0.83 (0.2)
Univision: Vencer La Ausencia 1.31 (0.3), Mi Camino Es Amarte 1.44 (0.4), La Madrastra 1.29 (0.4)
Source: Nielsen live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Sandra Stern has been promoted to Vice Chairman of Lionsgate Television Group. Stern was upped to President of Lionsgate Television Group in 2015.

Warner Bros. vet Jeff Brown, most recently EVP, Warner Bros. Discovery Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics, has left the company after 26 years. “I feel truly blessed to have worked with so many great people, creating and distributing such wonderful content,” said Brown. “I loved every minute of it.”

Canoe Ventures’ Joel Hassell will retire as CEO at the end of January 2023. David Porter, currently SVP and GM of Addressable Advertising, will serve as interim general manager and take over the day-to-day operations on December 12.

Recurrent Ventures has made two appointments to its Home vertical. Jason Lepore has been named Senior Vice President, Home, and Nicole Wolfgram has been named Chief Revenue Officer, Home.

Tin Roof Media has named Rod Henwood as Executive Chairman. Henwood previously served as Non-Executive Chairman of the private equity owned group.

Woodcut Media has promoted series producer Nick Mavroidakis to Executive Producer, effective January 2023. Koulla Anastasi has also been promoted to Managing Director of Woodcut’s sales operation Woodcut International, alongside her existing role as Commercial Director for Woodcut Media, and Victoria Baderman recently joined Woodcut Media as Head of Finance.

This Day in History
1979 – “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” premiered.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
In the season six Christmas episode of “I Love Lucy” (1951-57), Fred paid $5 for the first Christmas tree he brought to the Ricardos’. How much did he pay for the second tree he bought to replace it? Fifty cents. Kudos to: Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo, CA; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
What was the name of Johnny Rock’s new band on “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” (2015-16)? (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.)

Cynopsis Team