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| Wednesday January 7, 2026 |
 IN THE NEWS |
| NBC reports it has sold all of its ad inventory for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games – and the sellout was the earliest the company has ever recorded. The Games, from Milan Cortina, Italy, will be part of what NBC dubs a “Legendary February” of programming with the Super Bowl and the NBA All-Star Game. “With the resurgence of the Olympic movement, our strongest Sports Upfront in history, the early sell out of Super Bowl LX, and the remarkable return of the NBA, NBCUniversal has solidified itself as a sports powerhouse and brands have taken notice,” said Mark Marshall, Chairman, Global Advertising & Partnerships, NBCUniversal. “Our partners have not only seen the power of the NBC Sports portfolio, but also the incredible results our robust sports programming delivers.”
Netflix and WWE have expanded their partnership, making the streaming giant the US home of WWE’s library including “WrestleMania,” “SummerSlam” and “Royal Rumble,” as its documentaries and original programming. WWE’s five-year deal with Peacock ended in 2025. Netflix launched TKO Group’s WWE on Netflix in January and in 2024 the streamer reached a 10-year licensing deal for “Monday Night Raw.”
Ad-supported streaming is enhancing the viewer ad experience according to Hub’s semi-annual “TV Advertising: Fact vs. Fiction” study, which shows that more viewers than ever are opting to save money by accepting ads, and fewer viewers are saying they cannot tolerate them. According to the study, in December 2025, two-thirds of viewers would “rather save money” than avoid ads, up significantly from 2021. In addition, there’s been a corresponding increase over the past 18 months of viewers opting for a strictly ad-supported mix of subscriptions, and as of December one-third said they avail themselves of ad-supported services only, significantly higher than in June 2025.
“As we head into 2026, TV viewers continue to worry about the direction the economy is headed,” said Mark Loughney, Senior Consultant at Hub. “But for TV and video streaming providers, the news is better. By giving viewers the choice of accepting ads for cost savings, they are delivering great value compared to other entertainment.” |
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| CONVERGENT TV WORLD 2026
The Voices Guiding the Next Era of Convergent TV
As the industry hits a turning point, Convergent TV World delivers the clarity leaders need. Laura Martin of Needham & Company opens the event with a keynote on AI acceleration, investment shifts, and the rebuild of measurement—followed by top executives unpacking how audiences, buyers, and platforms must adapt. Two days of keynotes, workshops, buyer meetings, and the Convergent TV Awards.
Register by Jan. 9 to save $500 before prices increase.
REGISTER NOW |
| NEW & RETURNING SERIES |
 New procedural series “Blue Skies,” will debut on UP Faith & Family on February 19. The series stars Scarlet Hunter as Detective Jodi Larsen, Markian Tarasiuk (“Mistletoe Connection,” “Virgin River”) as Ryan Miller, Veronica Long (“The Wrong Paris”) as Detective Nora Esposito, David Lennon (“Untamed”) as Detective Alex Meeks, Darius Willis as Tyson Bernard, Miranda Edwards as Superintendent Liza King and Shaughnessy Redden as Bill Larsen. |
| PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT |
| Tracee Ellis Ross (“black-ish”) has signed a deal with Fox Entertainment Studios via her Joy Mill company. The agreement includes a first-look deal on scripted projects and an overall deal for unscripted projects.
Lifetime is continuing its partnership with Mary J. Blige for three new original films. The first film under her new deal, “Mary J. Blige Presents Be Happy,” marks a collaboration between Blue Butterfly Productions, Blige’s production company, and Mona Scott-Young for Monami Productions and is produced in association with Motion Entertainment and Swirl Films.
Jason Isaacs and Sigourney Weaver have joined the cast of Amazon’s “Tomb Raider” series, according to reports. Isaacs will play Atlas DeMornay and Weaver will be Evelyn Wallis, joining Sophie Turner, who is playing the lead. Phoebe Waller Bridge is writer, creator, executive producer and co-showrunner, while Chad Hodge serves as co-showrunner and executive producer. |
| NEW & RETURNING SERIES |
| Fox is kicking off “Fear Factor: House of Fear” with a special advance premiere on Sunday, January 11 at 8p, following the NFL Wild Card game. The show’s time period premiere is Wednesday, January 14 at p, after “The Masked Singer.” |
Today’s Premieres
A&E: Alaska State Troopers at 8p; Ozark Law at 9p; Desert Law at 10p
ABC: Shifting Gears at 8p
BET: Sistas at 9p
BET+: The Ms. Pat Show
CBS: Hollywood Squares at 8p; The Price Is Right at Night at 9p; Harlan Coben’s Final Twist at 10p
CNBC: Leaders Playbook at 10p
Discovery: Expedition X at 9p
Fox: The Masked Singer at 8p
HGTV: Ugliest House in America at 8p; Cheap A$$ Beach Houses at 9p; Neighborhood Watch at 9:30p
History: Swamp People at 8p; Pawn Stars at 9:30p
Netflix: Unlocked: A Jail Experiment
Prime Video: Beast Games
TLC: My Strange Addiction at 9p; Save My Skin at 10p |
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| COMING UP |
 CBS and The Golden Globes announced presenters and special appearances for “Golden Eve: The Golden Globes Honor Helen Mirren & Sarah Jessica Parker,” a new annual primetime special airing January 8 at 8p on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. Harrison Ford will present to Helen Mirren, with special appearances from last year’s Cecil B. DeMille and Carol Burnett Award recipients Viola Davis and Ted Danson, plus Carol Burnett, Colman Domingo, Kristin Davis, Tessa Thompson and Vin Diesel.
FMC launches “Hollywood in Hawaii” January 16-23 with island-themed titles including “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” (1961), “Hawaii” (1966), “Blue Hawaii” (1961), and “Paradise, Hawaiian Style” (1966).
FETV begins its offering of 1970s police series “S.W.A.T” with a five-episode launch marathon – “Suit Up for S.W.A.T.” – on Sunday, February 1.
In the wake of Warren Buffett’s retirement as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, CNBC will debut “Warren Buffett: A Life and Legacy,” a two-hour hosted by Becky Quick, on Tuesday, January 13 at 7p. |
| SPORTS REPORT |
| ESPN announced its on-air commentator lineup for the 2026 Australian Open. Katie George will serve as host during the first week of the tournament, with Malika Andrews as host for the second, including the championship weekend. Calling the matches across ESPN networks will be Chris Fowler, Chris McKendry, Patrick McEnroe, Jason Goodall and Mike Monaco. Match and studio analysis will be handled by a roster of former players including John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Caroline Wozniacki, Mary Joe Fernandez, James Blake, Sam Querrey, Chris Eubanks and CoCo Vandeweghe. Kris Budden will report from Melbourne Park, delivering on-site updates, interviews, and feature storytelling throughout the tournament.
Sports Studio Inc.’s streaming platform Free Live Sports has reached seven new global distribution deals that will extend the platform’s reach to more than 75 million households worldwide. The new agreements include six global CTV distribution partnerships with VIDAA (including Hisense Channels), Rakuten TV, Titan OS, Whale TV, Anoki (LiveTVx), and Swift TV, expanding FLS’s availability across leading smart TV platforms and streaming ecosystems. Additionally, FLS has signed an agreement with in-vehicle entertainment company 3SS. |
| TECH |
| Basis and Mediaocean announced an integration partnership which will connect the Basis advertising automation platform with Mediaocean’s platforms, Prisma, Innovid, and Protected, to link media planning and activation to the enterprise media systems that agencies use to order, traffic, manage, measure, reconcile, and pay all types of media. Mediaocean is the foundational partner for omnichannel advertising, and this agreement lays the groundwork for AI-driven intelligent automation at scale.
The Video Advertising Bureau is recommending the choice of either Households or Persons 2+ as new co-standards for video audience guarantees. “With 2026 buyers and sellers having such precision targeting insights refined so deeply on behaviors and identity that so surpass partial age/sex groupings, those aggregations seem outmoded and artificial,” said VAB CEO and President Sean Cunningham. “Transacting across wider canvasses, guaranteeing across a choice of wider audiences with maximum stability, and then letting the precision optimization tools do their magic aligns with how video media is activated by marketers today.”
StackAdapt has launched its in-platform National Provider Identifier (NPI) Targeting and Reporting capabilities, enabling pharmaceutical marketers and healthcare agencies to run HIPAA-compliant, deterministic HCP campaigns across CTV, video, display, native, and audio without managed service workflows or third-party handoffs. |
| CES ROUNDUP |
| Gracenote and Index Exchange announced a first-of-its-kind capability that brings show-level reporting directly to the SSP…Roku is now the first major streaming publisher to use iSpot’s Outcomes at Scale product for the explicit intention of optimizing off outcomes… Magnite and Cognitiv announced a real-time data integration to expand curation capabilities available across ClearLine, Magnite’s unified activation and curation solution….Albertsons has launched in-store incrementality measurement, designed to deliver true causal insights into how in-store media drives incremental sales.
For more on CES, check out AdExchanger’s take on the latest on AI, chatbots and more. |
| RATINGS |
| The series finale of “Stranger Things” gave Netflix its most viewers ever on January 1. The entire fifth season delivered 31.5 million views for the week of December 29.
FOX News Channel’s breaking news coverage of the strike on Venezuela and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, January 3 was the most watched in all of television, according to early data from Nielsen. From 11:15a-12:45p, the network delivered over 4.4 million viewers. ABC drew 2.3 million viewers, followed by 1.6 million for CBS and NBC.
Hallmark Channel was the most-watched entertainment cable network during December and all of Q4 among key demographics, according to Nielsen. The network also ranked No. 1 in Total Day among Households and No. 2 with P2+ in 2025. Hallmark delivered all 50 of the Top 50 most-watched entertainment cable movies of the year among Women 18+ and Households, with “An Unexpected Valentine,” which premiered as part of the network’s February “Loveuary” programming stunt, the most-watched entertainment cable movie of the year |
| EXECUTIVE MOVES |
| FOX Sports President and COO, Mark Silverman, is stepping down from his current role in the coming months and will move into a consulting role with the company. Silverman joined FOX Sports in 2018 and previously was the President of Big Ten Network (BTN).
Jenn Levy has joined Amazon MGM Studios in the newly created role of Head of Unscripted and Documentary TV. Levy was previously President of 32 Flavors.
Telemundo has appointed Adrian Santucho as Senior Vice President of Unscripted Content. Santucho was most recently CEO and Chief Creative Officer at 360-POWOW.
NESN named Wade Nielsen as SVP of Advertising Sales.
Telemundo has named Adrian Santucho SVP, Unscripted Content, reporting to chief content officer and head of Telemundo Studios, Javier Pons. |
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This Day in History
1979 – Vietnamese forces took control of Phnom Penh, Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge and its leader, Pol Pot.
Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who killed Wes Gibbons on “How to Get Away With Murder” (2014-20)? Dominick Flores, a hitman hired by Laurel’s father. Kudos to: Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA
Today’s Trivia Question
What was Dick Solomon’s earthly job on “Third Rock From the Sun” (1996-2001)? (Email trivia@cynopsis.com 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.) |
DIRECTOR OF PERFORMANCE MARKETING >>
ATHLETE TO ATHLETE/SANTA MONICA, CA: Lead the performance marketing team across Meta Ads and new paid digital channels (TikTok, YouTube, Google, etc.) as well as build and execute a roadmap for channel expansion and profitable scale. Develop and run structured testing frameworks. Partner with Creative Strategist on ad briefs, testing priorities, and creative feedback loops. Full info HERE
SENIOR MANAGER, TRAFFIC >>
INSP, LLC./CHARLOTTE, SC: Oversee the Traffic staff and manage and monitor the day-to-day operations. Responsible for the prompt and accurate execution of broadcast logs for three networks. The manager assumes a leadership role within our Network Operations and consistently looks to streamline processes and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Traffic department. Full info HERE
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER >>
HEARST MEDIA PRODUCTION GROUP/CHARLOTTE, NC: Oversee daily sales pipeline operations focused on national sponsorships, integrations, and branded content tied to unscripted programming. Manage and coach the Business Development team, drive outbound activity, shape proposals and pricing, and lead CRM strategy, reporting, and optimizations via Salesforce. Full info HERE
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER >>
NTD/WASHINGTON, DC: Pitch story ideas and write scripts/segment outlines as well as research guests and interview topics. Book guests and coordinate interviews. Help with logistics and sometimes field production. Support shoots and ensure production runs smoothly. Review footage and work with editors to shape final episodes. Write headlines, teasers, and social posts. Full info HERE
DIRECTOR, HUMAN RESOURCES AND ADMINISTRATION >>
THE JIM HENSON COMPANY/HOLLYWOOD, CA: Responsible for all HR functions and oversight of administrative and management needs. This strategic role is charged with operating from a customer service driven viewpoint that prioritizes employee satisfaction as well as enforce legally compliant policies, increase efficiency by implementing administrative and record-keeping best practices. Full info HERE
SENIOR DESIGNER >>
REELZ CHANNEL/ALBUQUERQUE, NM: Responsible for the concept, design and execution of various motion graphics projects for on-air promo and sales presentations. Will be required to design and create graphics for social media, digital and print. Must be able to follow brand guidelines and expand and change the brand look when necessary. Full info HERE
EVP, COMMERCIAL & TECHNOLOGY TRANSACTIONS, LEGAL & BUSINESS AFFAIRS >>
A+E GLOBAL MEDIA/NY(HYBRID): Oversee the three major areas of commercial transactions (comprised of supporting the Distribution, Total Media Solutions and Global Content Sales divisions) and the adjacent areas supported by the attorney teams that principally support those divisions (including vendor management and privacy). Full info HERE
SR. DIRECTOR OF SALES, KSTU & KUPX >>
THE E.W. SCRIPPS COMPANY/SALT LAKE CITY: Leverage our suite of advertising solutions to unlock growth opportunities for local and national businesses. Play a role in driving the station’s revenue goals as well as serving as the home station for Utah’s new NHL team. Collaborate with our production team to create campaigns that connect our clients with their customers in meaningful ways. Full info HERE
DIGITAL MEDIA BUYER >>
FURMAN ROTH ADVERTISING/NY(HYBRID): Plan, launch, and optimize digital marketing campaigns across various paid media channels (including Display, Google products, Paid Social, CTV, and Programmatic, etc.) while managing budgets effectively. Support the execution of media plans across platforms, overseeing targeting, budget allocation, and performance tracking to drive campaign success. Full info HERE
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR; CTV BRAND PARTNERSHIPS – MID WEST/WEST COAST
FUTURE TODAY
REMOTE
Build, maintain and expand a pipeline of sales targets, contacts, and sales opportunities leveraging your relationships with a heavy focus on new business revenue. Build/nurture relationships with the investment, strategy, precision and digital agencies as well as clients. Also maintain an ongoing knowledge of the streaming media landscape. Full info HERE
DIRECTOR, AD MARKETING & SALES >>
THE SHADE ROOM/REMOTE: Develop and execute a revenue growth strategy to drive direct advertising, branded content, and sponsorship sales as well as lead the development of compelling advertising and branded content offerings tailored for TSR’s audience and cultivate and maintain strong relationships with key advertisers, media agencies, and brand partners. Full info HERE
PROFESSIONAL LECTURER OF COMMUNICATION/SPORTS BROADCASTING >>
MARIST UNIVERSITY/ POUGHKEEPSIE, NY: Teach studio and field broadcasting and new media courses in sports media and journalism as well as be able to teach a studio course on producing a newscast and help students live stream a podcast or produce short-form feature content suitable for social media streaming. Also demonstrate through their teaching, professional activity, and service. Full info HERE
SALES LEAD – AGENCY PARTNERSHIPS
UPWAVE
NEW YORK, NY
Build and manage relationships with our agency partners – mostly targeting media buyers and planners – and help them see the value of adding Upwave measurement to The Trade Desk campaigns. You will both leverage your existing network and open new doors to achieve aggressive but achievable sales targets. Full info HERE |
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| New procedural series “Blue Skies,” will debut on UP Faith & Family on February 19. The series stars Scarlet Hunter as Detective Jodi Larsen, Markian Tarasiuk (“Mistletoe Connection,” “Virgin River”) as Ryan Miller, Veronica Long (“The Wrong Paris”) as Detective Nora Esposito, David Lennon (“Untamed”) as Detective Alex Meeks, Darius Willis as Tyson Bernard, Miranda Edwards as Superintendent Liza King and Shaughnessy Redden as Bill Larsen. |
| PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT |
| Tracee Ellis Ross(“black-ish”) has signed a deal with Fox Entertainment Studios via her Joy Mill company. The agreement includes a first-look deal on scripted projects and an overall deal for unscripted projects.
Lifetime is continuing its partnership with Mary J. Blige for three new original films. The first film under her new deal, “Mary J. Blige Presents Be Happy,” marks a collaboration between Blue Butterfly Productions, Blige’s production company, and Mona Scott-Young for Monami Productions and is produced in association with Motion Entertainment and Swirl Films.
Jason Isaacs and Sigourney Weaver have joined the cast of Amazon’s “Tomb Raider” series, according to reports. Isaacs will play Atlas DeMornay and Weaver will be Evelyn Wallis, joining Sophie Turner, who is playing the lead. Phoebe Waller Bridge is writer, creator, executive producer and co-showrunner, while Chad Hodge serves as co-showrunner and executive producer. |
| NEW & RETURNING SERIES |
| Fox is kicking off “Fear Factor: House of Fear” with a special advance premiere on Sunday, January 11 at 8p, following the NFL Wild Card game. The show’s time period premiere is Wednesday, January 14 at p, after “The Masked Singer.” |
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