Thursday January 25, 2024

Today’s Finales
CBS: SEAL Team at 10p
Fox: Hell’s Kitchen at 8p

IN THE NEWS

Jon Stewart is returning to Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” Stewart will host the late-nighter every Monday during the election cycle, starting February 12, and executive produce every episode of the show through 2024 and 2025 to “shape” the future of the franchise. “Daily Show” correspondents will host the rest of the week. “Jon Stewart is the voice of our generation, and we are honored to have him return to Comedy Central’s ‘The Daily Show’ to help us all make sense of the insanity and division roiling the country as we enter the election season,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios. “In our age of staggering hypocrisy and performative politics, Jon is the perfect person to puncture the empty rhetoric and provide much-needed clarity.”

It’s a good time for late night. “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and newcomer “After Midnight” scored post-Super Bowl spots, Sunday February 11 on CBS. New drama “Tracker” will air immediately after the game, followed by the news and then the late-night shows.

“Sex and the City” will have its first run on Netflix starting in April. Repeats of the HBO comedy, which have been running on cable, will remain available on Warner Bros. Discovery streamer Max.

The Television Academy announced rules changes for the 76th Emmy Awards. Due to a decline in submissions, the Short Form Animated Program category has been combined with the Animated Program category and two tracks have been created, one for short form programs and one for programming over 20 minutes. The Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series and Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series have been combined into one category. The eligibility qualifications for guest performer categories were clarified, line producers have been added to receive credit in documentary and nonfiction categories, Head of Workroom for costume design has been added, and hairstyling and makeup categories for variety, nonfiction or reality shows are no longer juried awards, but have panels to prescreen submissions for nominations.

Nielsen inked a multi-year renewal agreement with FOX that includes measurement for broadcast, cable and free streaming networks, and Nielsen ONE Ads measurement across all FOX properties. FOX will continue to license Nielsen’s suite of planning and audience measurement solutions.

Mission Broadcasting and Dish Network reached a new multi-year distribution agreement. The deal ends the year-long blackout that hit 27 TV stations in 25 markets. Mission is still dark on DirecTV.

Amazon MGM Studios and Sox Entertainment struck a multi-year broadcast syndication deal for the Freevee Original Series, “Judy Justice,” featuring Judge Judy Sheindlin. Sox Entertainment has secured deals with major broadcast groups and will be distributing the series in 100+ US broadcast markets as well as Canada, starting in this fall. “What a full circle moment,” said Sheindlin. “This continues to be quite an adventure!”

This just in – Rich Greenfield of LightShed Partners joins CTV Connect’s 2024 lineup

Renowned media futurist Rich Greenfield has called the promise of streaming “liquid gold” to marketers. But the transition to streaming and CTV is not without challenges. Listen in as Greenfield and other thought leaders offer insights and solutions, March 13-14 in NYC

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Jonathan Frakes (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) has signed on to direct “Deathlands,” from producer NextCypher. Also onboard the adaptation of the bestselling book are Mark A. Altman (“Castle”) as showrunner and EP, and Thomas P. Vitale (“57 Seconds”) as EP. Jeff Garzik will executive produce. Production begins this spring in Europe.

Season three of “Reacher” will be based on Persuader, the seventh book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. The drama’s second season was the top title on Prime Video across both series and movies during its 2023 premiere weekend.

Vivica A. Fox (“The Wrong Life Coach”) is set to host food competition series “Family Recipe Rumble” (w/t), which she is developing with Rainbow Heads Productions and Woody Woodbeck (“Southern Hospitality”). “This isn’t your typical food competition show,” said Fox. “Recipes passed down by generations sometimes tell the story of a family’s rich traditions, that nourish not only the appetite but the soul.”

Animation producer and studio executive Rick Mischel (Sony Pictures Animation, Mainframe Studios) announced the launch of the Artists Animation Studio, headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia. Mischel will serve as the Founder & CEO of the venture, which emerged from his acquisition of the Yeti Farm Creative Animation Studio (“Lower Decks”).

David Duchovny (“The X-Files”), Jack Whitehall (“Bad Education”) and Carice van Houten (“Game of Thrones”) are set to star in psychological thriller “Malice” for Prime Video. Expectation and Tailspin Films are producing.

Casting notes: Malin Akerman (“Billions”) has been cast as the lead in Starz drama “The Hunting Wives,” based on the May Cobb novel….Richard Brake (“The Munsters”), Denny Love (“Looking for Alaska”), and Paula Malcomson (“Deadwood”) are onboard season three of “Mayor of Kingstown” in recurring roles.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Acorn TV crime drama “The Madame Blanc Mysteries” returns with a two-episode premiere on Monday, February 19, with additional episodes dropping weekly.

EstrellaTV is launching its “Hablamos el Mismo Idioma” (“We Speak the Same Language”) campaign with six new shows starting Monday, February 12. Leading the nightly primetime lineup is the new show “El Lavadero” at 6p, a gossip and games show, followed by family game show “100 Latinos Dijeron” at 7p and entertainment opinion show “La Hora Nichols” at 8p. The lineup continues with viral news show “Alarma TV” at 9p, and news show “Noticiero EstrellaTV: Cierre de EdicÍon” at 10p.

STREAMING

Entertainment Oxygen unveiled festival streaming and networking platform eoFlix. “With eoFlix, we’ve established a worldwide digital media ecosystem that streamlines collaboration, seamlessly guiding film and television projects from their initial script stages to the creation of the ultimate on-screen masterpiece,” said founder/CEO Apple TungFong.

TECH TALK

Half of marketing professionals do not feel that their organization is prepared to succeed in a cookieless world, according to a survey from Basis Technologies. Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed said their organizations have implemented new targeting or measuring solutions within the last year to respond to Google Chrome’s deprecation of third-party cookies, and a majority of marketers say they have no intention of using UID 2.0 (62.7%) nor digital fingerprinting (63.2%). “Marketers need to take action,” said Ryan Manchee, SVP of Brand Marketing, Basis Technologies. “It’s critical for holdouts to start testing and implementing new solutions immediately to ensure business continuity. Although brands and agencies may not have all the answers in-house, there are many peers and organizations in ad tech that can provide guidance for the next generation of customer targeting and measurement on digital channels.”

In response to a new European law aimed at curbing anticompetitive control over apps, Apple is planning to add new fees and restrictions along with allowing people to download apps without using the App store. Tech companies are facing a March deadline to comply with the new EU law.

SPORTS ROUNDUP

NBC Sports and the immersive tech and media company Cosm have entered into a partnership aimed at transforming the way US soccer fans and college football fans experience Premier League matches and Notre Dame and Big Ten football games. Cosm will produce and present LIVE Premier League soccer matches and Notre Dame and Big Ten football games in “Shared Reality” on their 87-foot diameter 8K+ LED domes. “Fans know NBC Sports delivers a best-in-class sports experience and by adding the EPL, College Football, and Horse Racing to the programming schedule, it ensures we always have live, original, immersive content,” said Jeb Terry, Cosm’s President and CEO.

The fourth annual EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 24 x HBCU Tournament will be held during the week leading up to the 2024 Pro Bowl Games in Orlando. NFL Legend, lecturer and esports coach Ahman Green, and ESPN commentator and HBCU graduate Tiffany Greene will host as eight HBCU students compete for prizes and attend the NFL Pro Bowl Games. Highlights will air on the NFL’s official YouTube channel on February 10 at 5p.

COMING UP

Billy Joel will perform at the Grammy Awards, set for February 4 on CBS. The news comes as the five-time Grammy winner is set to release “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first new song in nearly 20 years.

Ayo Edebiri, a freshly minted Emmy winner for “The Bear,” will take her first turn as host of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” on February 3. She’ll be joined by “SNL” vet Jennifer Lopez, who make her fourth musical guest appearances; Lopez has also hosted three times.

For Black History Month, music video network Vevo will offer programming blocks like Legends of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Best of Bob Marley, Best of Tina Turner, and more.

TV5MONDE USA in celebrating Black History Month with programming focused on African culture and history, airing linear on TV5MONDE USA and streaming on TV5MONDEplus.

Ramy Youssef is heading back to HBO for a new stand-up comedy special, “Ramy Youssef: More Feelings.” debuting this March. Youssef will tape this new material in front of a live audience on February 2 and 3.

Paramount+ doc “As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial” will stream exclusively on the service beginning Tuesday, February 27 in the US. The film follows Bronx rap artist Kemba as he explores the growing weaponization of rap lyrics in the US criminal-justice system and abroad.

GOING GLOBAL

OUTtv has secured a deal with Channelbox to distribute OUTtv Proud, its international FAST channel, in the UK via Freeview. Audiences can catch series via channel 271.

KO Distribution and Aroma-TV have lined up several new option deals, securing partners in Germany (Seapoint), France (Coyote Conseil) and Finland (Solar Republic OY) for their new unscripted/adventure/survival series “Extreme Couples Challenge.” The Lustitia Productions original format was produced in collaboration with Bell Media.

Get Your Slice of the Revenue!

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The finale of Telemundo’s “Exatlón All-Stars” delivered 438,000 viewers among A18-49 and 1.38 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. Telemundo also ranked as the #2 broadcast network, regardless of language, in the 8-11p timeslot, delivering 435,000 A18-49 viewers.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Christina Passariello is joining CNBC as San Francisco Bureau Chief, effective February 12. She was most recently Deputy Business Editor at The Washington Post. “Christina, an experienced leader and award-winning journalist, will help us further cement our position in Silicon Valley and put CNBC in a prime position to deepen our technology coverage on TV,” said CNBC Business News SVP Dan Colarusso.

Brand growth platform Adlook has appointed Jakub Kossut as Global Vice President of Market Entry Strategy. Kossut joins from EssenceMediacom Poland, where he has been CEO since 2018.

Chief Operating Officer Mike Carney will assume management and oversight of the Outdoor Sportsman Group’s multimedia sales efforts across television, print, digital, social, MOTV and custom production offerings. Carney has held multiple positions in media editorial, sales, sales management, brand marketing and multichannel consumer product sales management in the outdoor arena.

Saffronic has appointed Bhanu Prakash as Head of Creative, Games, to lead the company’s expansion into art and animation services for the gaming industry. Prakash most recently serving as Head of Creative Operations at Technicolor Games.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Johnny Depp starred in a film based on which TV series? Two answers are correct: 2012 film “Dark Shadows” (1966-71), and 2013 film “The Lone Ranger” (1949-5). Kudos to: Francesca Jattan-Nexstar Media Group/NYC; James Maxim-Disney/NYC; Vanessa Simms-The Nielsen Company/Oldsmar, FL; Kevin McDonough-Wavemaker/NYC; John Kukla-KDFW FOX 4/Dallas; Ken DuBow-Ken DuBow Media Distribution/LA; Ethan J. Tyler-Fox Corporation/LA; Justin Pierce-JP Consulting Group/LA; Steve Callahan-Screen Engine/ASI/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which two NBC series were inspired by the same non-fiction book? (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