| PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Peacock handed a straight to series order for comedy “Laid,” centered on a woman who finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways. Starring and executive produced by Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), the series is written and executive produced by Nahnatchka Khan (“Fresh Off the Boat”) and Sally Bradford McKenna (“Son of Zorn”). The series, based on an Australian series of the same name, comes from Universal Television.
Syndicated daytime talker “The Drew Barrymore Show” has been renewed for a fifth season on the CBS Stations. “‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ is firing on all cylinders this season,” said Wendy McMahon, President and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures. “Drew continues to catapult the show into the cultural zeitgeist with her empathetic and thoughtful interviews transporting viewers into her living room, where they feel like they are listening to a conversation between two friends that they are a part of.” The show is averaging 1.1 million viewers.
Season two of “Renovated Resort” was greenlit by HGTV Canada. Season one ranked as the #1 Canadian original series on Specialty in Spring 2023. The second season, for which casting is underway, will feature four new renovation and design duos competing to create a vacation rental.
Apple TV+ and Major League Soccer are teaming for a docuseries exploring the world of soccer in North America, produced in partnership with Box to Box Films (“Formula 1: Drive to Survive”). The eight-parter will offer access to players, coaches and teams, taking fans through the most compelling stories and personalities of the 2024 MLS season.
Isabela Merced will join the second season of “The Last of Us” as Dina, a key character from the video game franchise. “Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable. You can search forever for an actor who effortlessly embodies all of those things, or you can find Isabela Merced right away,” said co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann in a statement.
A new series from children’s content producer and distributor Nelvana and entertainment company Toikido, “Piñata Smashlings,” was greenlit. The show is set to premiere on Canada’s YTV.
Digital studio Brat TV has acquired horror studio Crypt TV. Gen Z studio Brat TV launched in 2016 and includes a video podcast network and influencer marketing division, Beeline Talent, and counts 5 million YouTube subscribers.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
“The Shift,” a Danish drama following a midwife and her colleagues, premieres Tuesday, January 16 on MHz Choice. “Six Women,” a mystery series import from Italy, makes its MHz Choice debut on Tuesday, February 20. Both shows are subtitled in English.
NewsNation will expand its weekend coverage with the debut of “Morning in America With Hena Doba” on January 27. The show will air every Saturday and Sunday from 7-10a. NewsNation will also alter its daytime lineup starting January 22, with “Morning in America” transitioning to a three-hour block from 6-9a, anchored by Markie Martin. Co-host Adrienne Bankert will go on to anchor her own, “One Nation Under God,” starting in February, alongside other schedule changes. Doba is joining the company after a five-year stint at Cheddar News, which included hosting “Wake Up With Cheddar.”
Kids and family series returning to Apple TV+ this winter include the second seasons of “Sago Mini Friends,” debuting Friday, January 26, and “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock,” launching Friday, March 29, with returning Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton”) alongside Ariana DeBose (“Schmigadoon!”), Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”) and Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”) in guest star roles. In addition, Peanuts special, “Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin” uncovers the origin story of the beloved beagle, on Friday, February 16.
Disney Branded Television acquired seasons six and seven and three original specials from animation studio Zag and Method Animation. The first special, titled “Miraculous World: Paris, Tales of Shadybug & Claw Noir,” is available now on Disney Channel and Disney+ in the U.S.
STREAMING
Advertisers will be able to buy spots across both Hulu and Disney+ in a single campaign, announced Disney Global Advertising President Rita Ferro at CES. The capability is made possible by the company’s unified technology stack. Fero also announced Disney’s Magic Words, a contextual advertising format using advanced data. The technology allows Disney to analyze scenes and visuals across their library to capture a mood or moment that will help advertisers personalize their messaging specifically around that emotion.
Conservative Broadcast Media & Journalism (CBMJ) announced its launch of Patriot.TV. CBMJ acquired the platform, a subscription based streaming service geared toward Conservative and Christian content, from LTV Streaming. “We are delighted at the opportunities to bring new influencers, streamers and podcasters to our platform and with the enhancements this will allow our new partners to share in the growth of the company with additional viewers and enhanced monetization opportunities,” said CEO Mark Schaftlein.
COMING UP
Puppy Bowl returns for a 20th year on Sunday, February 11 at 2p, simulcast across Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV, Max and discovery+. The three-hour event will feature 131 puppies, including the all-time smallest pup, Sweetpea (1.7 lbs.) and the biggest, Levi the Great Dane (72 lbs.). To celebrate the special’s 20th anniversary, four previous Puppy Bowl players will be inducted into the new Puppy Bowl Hall of Fame.
FOX News will provide live analysis and reporting leading up to the Iowa caucuses on January 15. “FOX & Friends,” “America’s Newsroom,” “The Story,” “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” “The Five,” “Special Report with Bret Baier,” “The Ingraham Angle” and “Hannity” will all report live from Des Moines. A two-hour special, “Democracy 2024: Iowa Caucuses,” will be co-anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, to analyze results and provide real-time commentary.
TECH
Disney has launched a beta program for its first native streaming shoppable ad format. With Gateway Shop, viewers will receive personalized prompts for products that are sent directly to their phones via push notifications or email. Advertisers including Unilever are part of the limited beta, aimed at driving awareness and conversion without disrupting the viewer experience. “Our goal is to help audiences connect with the brands they love with the least amount of friction, without disrupting the content they’re streaming,” said Jamie Power, SVP, Addressable Sales, Disney Advertising.
As Google phases out cookies, how do consumers feel about alternatives? According to a survey from Adlook released at CES, while 58% of respondents were positively influenced in their purchasing decisions by relevant ads, they were skeptical about exchanging email addresses for more targeted content. Forty-eight percent were not in favor of sharing their emails, with 30% prioritizing privacy and 18% considering it unlikely yet possible. Discounts were another matter – 62% showed interest, with 37% conditional on significant discounts and 25% always open to such offers. “Many in our industry see hashed email as a cookie solution, yet consumers remain reluctant to trade emails for ads,” said Patrick Gut, VP of US at Adlook. “Email addresses are becoming more difficult to manage given PII concerns, dummy accounts, and beyond. To that end, AI offers a more long-term solution, with a focus on delivering, not just on cookie-less, but identity-less advertising.”
The aforementioned study from ARF also covered ad relevance. In that survey, 15 to 20% of respondents consent to sharing data if it gives them more relevant ads, but most still favor the choice to opt-in. When asked what their concerns were regarding sharing data, people most commonly indicated that they were concerned about data being used for purposes other than advertising. Similar to 2022, the percentage of people willing to share specific information in exchange for more relevant advertising increased by between 18% and 34%. That margin is the largest for personal contact information, such as home address, landline number, mobile number and email address, for which the number of people selecting “Willing to share if more relevant advertising” is more than 30% in each case.
X announced a new partnership with Shopify, offering more opportunities for Shopify merchants to promote their products in the platform. The new deal, being developed by both X and Shopify, is aimed at boosting exposure for Shopify sellers. “A determining factor in the success of your business is the ability to reach customers wherever they are,” said Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify. “More platforms, more choice, more entrepreneurship. More details to come.”
Meta is rolling out new tools and resources to protect teens on Instagram and Facebook, including enforcing more restrictive content control settings, and limiting teens from accessing related recommendations of self-harm content across Reels, Explore, Feed and Stories, and prompting them to check their safety and privacy settings. “If teens choose to ‘Turn on recommended settings,’ we will automatically change their settings to restrict who can repost their content, tag or mention them, or include their content in Reels Remixes,” said the company. “We’ll also ensure only their followers can message them and help hide offensive comments.”
RETAIL MEDIA
A partnership between C-store retail media network Axonet and retail media platform Zitcha, announced at CES, offers a new channel for convenience store retailers and CPG brands to connect with convenience store shopper audiences. Axonet will provide insights across its first-party data and shopper audiences, integrating with Zitcha’s Retail Media Platform. “This is still an evolving ecosystem, but partnering with Axonet, we are pushing the boundaries, while simplifying this space,” said Zitcha CEO Troy Townsend. “Together we will offer the ability for C-Store retailers across the US to see immediate value participating in Retail media meanwhile fully automating the experience for CPG to buy across the category.”
CREATIVE
Remember that episode of reality show “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica” back in 2003, when Jessica Simpson was confused about whether Chicken of the Sea tuna was chicken or fish? Chicken of the Sea has partnered with Simpson for its “Chicken of the Sea, It’s the One for Me” brand campaign. With help of Reach Agency, the mix-up was recreated, featuring Chicken of the Sea’s new wild-caught tuna packets. (“Yes people, I know it’s tuna,” says Simpson at the end of the spot.)
SPORTS ROUNDUP
Hit with a report that it had created fake names for Emmy submissions for “College Game Day,” ESPN issued an apology. The fraud involved faking the names on the Emmys credit list, since on-air talent was not eligible for statuettes for Outstanding Show, and re-engraving the trophies with the talent names. “Some members of our team were clearly wrong in submitting certain names going back to 2007 (or that MAY go back to 1997) in Emmy categories where they were not eligible for recognition or statuettes,” said the network. “This was a misguided attempt to recognize on-air individuals who were important members of our production team. Once current leadership was made aware, we apologized to NATAS for violating guidelines and worked closely with them to completely overhaul our submission process to safeguard against anything like this happening again.”
Bill Belichick announced he is leaving the New England Patriots after 24 years as head coach. During his tenure, he led the team to six Super Bowl wins and is expected to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. “It’s with so many fond memories and thoughts that I think about the Patriots, and I’ll always be a Patriot,” he said during a press event. “I look forward to coming back here, but at this time, we’re gonna move on. And I’m excited for the future.”
Major League Baseball and USA Baseball will hold the seventh annual “Dream Series,” with a live broadcast of “Hot Stove” hosted by MLB Network’s Chris Young and Harold Reynolds. The amateur baseball development camp, aimed at helping diversify the talent pool of marginalized pitchers and catchers in the sport, will be held at Tempe Diablo Stadium January 12-15.
Paramount+ is in the game. The streamer will debut two new ads, one during the NFL on CBS Wild Card Game on January 14 and the other during the Super Bowl. Both ads are part of the “A Mountain of Entertainment” brand campaign, which is in its fourth year.
Telemundo, the home of Chivas de Guadalajara in the US, will present coverage of all Chivas home matches across Telemundo, Universo, and Peacock throughout the Liga MX Clausura 2024 tournament with a 1-hour pregame show and 30-minute postgame show for every match. Chivas kicks off the tournament against Santos on Saturday, January 13 with a pregame show at 7p on Universo and Peacock followed by the match at 8p airing across Telemundo, Universo and Peacock with English-language coverage available on Peacock and SiriusXM Channel 380.
SNTV, provider of sports video news and highlights, has teamed with fan engagement platform Sport Buff to create enhanced fan engagement solutions around large sports events for broadcasters and publishers. The partnership will add Sport Buff’s real-time gamification experiences to SNTV’s coverage.
SOCIAL GOOD
Charter Communications will award $2.5 million to at least 500 local nonprofits over the next five years through its Spectrum Employee Community Grants employee-driven grants program. “Over the past five years, Spectrum Employee Community Grants has supported hundreds of nonprofits that hold a meaningful connection to the Charter employees who nominate them, and to the communities they serve,” said Rhonda Crichlow, SVP, Chief Diversity Officer for Charter. “Looking forward to the next five years, we’re renewing our commitment to SECG by increasing our investment in the program in support of our employees’ dedication to volunteer work and vital community organizations that enhance the lives of local residents.”
The Sinclair Broadcast Group Diversity Scholarship program is accepting applications for the 2024 school year. Since 2013, the program has contributed $300,000 in tuition assistance to students from marginalized backgrounds. Applicants need to be a college sophomore or junior at an accredited four-year institution. The deadline for submission is April 30.
NBCUniversal’s Telemundo is teaming up with Comcast’s Project UP program and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation to donate 2,500 laptops to Latinx youth and community organizations. “Alongside our partners, we’re excited to reach the extraordinary milestone of providing 10,000 laptops to families in need. This shared initiative goes beyond mere connectivity; it’s a catalyst for new opportunities within our Latino communities,” said Christina Kolbjornsen, SVP of Corporate and External Affairs at NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.
GOING GLOBAL
In response to the unexpected abdication of Queen Margrethe II, Danish label Nordisk Film and TV is producing a live show, “Denmark’s Queen – The Biggest Thank You,” in collaboration with broadcasters DR and TV 2. The show, broadcasting live from Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen, will feature musical, artistic, and surprising gifts from the people of Denmark.
Federation Kids & Family has struck a deal with French producer and animation studio TAT Productions to handle worldwide sales of the new 3D animated series “Pil’s Adventures.”
Nippon TV announced that Mongol’s Green Show Production has finalized production of the scripted Mongolian-language format of Nippon TV’s drama series “Mother.” The film will stream first on Mongolia’s VOO IPTV platform and air on Mongolia’s Edutainment TV starting January 20. |
