Tuesday February 6, 2024

IN THE NEWS

Netflix’s “Ratched” has been canceled after one season. The asylum drama from Ryan Murphy, an origin story for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, received a two-season order in 2017, with the first season launching in 2020.

CNN is making changes to its morning lineup. Starting later this month, “Early Start,” anchored by Kasie Hunt, will expand an hour to 5a-7a, branded “CNN This Morning.” “CNN News Central” will air from 7a-10a, followed by “CNN Newsroom,” anchored by Jim Acosta at 10a. When Pamela Brown returns from maternity leave in the spring she’ll anchor the 11a hour, “The Bulletin With Pamela Brown”; Wolf Blitzer will man the desk in the meantime. All of the morning shows will be produced out of Atlanta, which means the New York team that produces “CNN This Morning” will be disbanded. New York-based weekend and primetime programming will remain in NYC.

Describing Meta’s policy on manipulated media as “incoherent, lacking in persuasive justification and inappropriately focused on how content has been created,” the Meta Oversight Board, run independently of the company, urged Meta to make changes ahead of the 2024 elections. The move stemmed from the board’s review of Meta’s decision to leave up a video of President Biden that was edited to make it appear he was inappropriately touching his granddaughter. The oversight board found that the video did not violate the company’s manipulated media policy because the policy only applies to videos created with artificial intelligence, but argued that the current policy is too narrow and should be extended to cover content that shows people doing things they never did regardless of how it was created.

Microsoft is collaborating with media platform Semafor on the launch of a multi-source breaking news feed, Signals. Posts will be written by journalists, who will be “aided by AI tools that help them search news sources across multiple languages and geographies, allowing them to extend their reach to bring more, and more diverse, perspectives to readers,” wrote Semafor in a post. “When tapping into these AI research tools, our editors then evaluate and verify sources, compose summaries, and clearly cite and link readers to the original information.”

In a new round of cuts, Snap plans to lay off 10% of its workforce, or about 500 people. “In order to best position our business to execute on our highest priorities, and to ensure we have the capacity to invest incrementally to support our growth over time, we have made the difficult decision to restructure our team,” said the company in an SEC filing.

Showtime has picked up a second season of dramedy “Dreaming Whilst Black,” featuring star co-creator and co-writer Adjani Salmon (“Chivalry”). Season two is expected to start filming later this year in the UK.

Mark your calendars: AMC Networks’ 2024 upfront event will be held on Thursday, April 11. “Our annual upfront event is always one of our focal point moments of the year and we have never had more to talk about,” said Evan Adlman, EVP of commercial sales and revenue operations. “We can’t wait to again join with hundreds of our valued partners and friends to showcase the breakout content and technological leadership that sets AMC Networks apart and allows us to deliver reach and consumer outcomes driven by our celebrated shows and passionate and enduring fan bases.” Expect to hear about the Anne Rice Immortal Universe, reality franchises on WE tv, “Dark Winds,” “Parish,” The Walking Dead Universe and more.

CarMax confirmed as Brand of the Year!

Where will you be April 11th? We hope your answer is the Sports Media Awards in NYC! Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, CEO and Founder of Next 3 (former CMO of Peloton), Keith Dawkins, President of Harlem Globetrotters, and Brand of the Year, CarMax, will be there, and so should you! Enter now to be in the room with these industry heavyweights – entries close February 16th.

ENTER NOW

Jessica Alba has teamed with producer Tracey Nyberg to launch TV and film production company Lady Spitfire, focused on female driven, culturally diverse and Latino inspired stories. “Reimagining and redefining how women and minorities show up in the world through great stories is my passion,” said Alba. “I believe that my children and the next generation shouldn’t have to face the same barriers as I have.”

Shooting for season two of Netflix hit “The Night Agent” will take place mainly in NYC, with additional filming in Washington, D.C. – where season one was set – and Thailand. The action drama is slated to return later this year.

Season two of The CW docuseries “100 Days to Indy” returns for a second season this spring. The six-part unscripted series from Penske Entertainment follows the NTT Indycar Series drivers as they prepare to compete for the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

Production is underway on the first season of Starz’s “Outlander: Blood of My Blood,” a prequel series to time-traveling drama, “Outlander.” As with the flagship series, the 10-episode season will be filmed in Scotland.

Don Cheadle is joining Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Samuel L. Jackson and Terrence Howard in Peacock’s “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.” The limited series tells the story of the armed robbery after Muhammad Ali’s 1970 comeback fight.

NEW & RETURNING SHOWS

Apple TV+ used the first day of the TCA Winter Press Tour to announce premiere dates for new and returning series. This month’s offerings include historical drama “The New Look” (Wednesday, February 14); docuseries “The Dynasty: New England Patriots,” and special “Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin” (Friday, February 16); and conspiracy thriller “Constellation” and docuseries “Messi’s World Cup: The Rise of a Legend” (Wednesday, February 21). “These compelling series all reflect Apple’s dedication to crafting stories that not only entertain but reflect the richness of our shared human experience, foster a sense of understanding and spark cultural conversations around the world,” said Matt Cherniss, head of domestic programming, Apple TV+.

TLC’s “My 600-Lb Life” returns Wednesday, March 6 at 8p, documenting the journeys of morbidly obese patients trying to lose weight. Catch-ups on previous patients are offered in “My 600-Lb. Life: Where Are They Now?”, starting Wednesday, April 24 at 8pm.

STREAMING

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment and Swirl Films have formed a joint venture to relaunch the AVOD service FrightPIX as a FAST channel and YouTube channel, and offer it through other connected platforms. Under the terms of the deal, CSSE will provide content from its Screen Media Ventures division, including horror films.

Mansa, the streaming platform for Black culture inspired content, has expanded its relationship with Roku with the launch of Mansa Mix, its first FAST channel, now available on The Roku Channel. Mansa Mix is a live, linear channel delivering a curated selection of films and television series. In addition to the new linear channel, the Mansa streaming service is also available through the Roku platform.

Cineverse Corp. has welcomed the Sid & Marty Krofft Channel. The Kroffts’ shows can be found as branded VOD channels on select company-owned-and-operated streaming services, including Midnight Pulp, Dove Channel and Cineverse.

Crunchyroll is teaming with Samsung Electronics to enable Samsung Smart TV users to easily discover anime directly on their screens. The Crunchyroll application is now available to Samsung users in the US.

TECH

Semcasting has launched Real-Time Voter Measurement, a new voter transparency feature in AudienceDesigner. RTVM offers political campaigns, candidates and their agencies transparency across platforms into which voters they have reached, who they have not reached, and what messages have been delivered in one holistic view. RTVM is able to re-identify the recipient of an impression from the original audience as it happens, automatically creating a child segment of the original audience in ADS. This child segment can be profiled, versioned, deployed with new creative and downloaded as a postal list.

For insights on advertising this record-setting election year, register for the free Cynopsis webinar, “Political Ad Spend 2024,” here.

Ad platform Equativ announced an integration with Samba TV, provider of TV technology for audience data and omniscreen measurement. The integration enables advertisers to activate campaigns on the Equativ platform using Samba TV’s first-party data to manage audience reach, frequency, and retargeting. “Our integration with Equativ represents a step forward in targeted advertising,” said Samba TV CCO Aden Zaman. “At a time when every dollar counts, Samba TV’s comprehensive viewership data allows for a more granular level of targeting that was previously difficult to achieve, giving Equativ clients an edge when targeting audiences.”

COMING UP

Documentary “Stormy,” offering “the unvarnished truth” about Stormy Daniels, adult film actress, director, and receiver of alleged hush money from Donald Trump, launches Monday, March 18 on Peacock. The film is executive produced by Judd Apatow of Apatow Productions alongside Sara Bernstein and Meredith Kaulfers from Imagine Documentaries. Emelia Brown will also serve as producer.

COZI TV is airing a Frasier Valentine’s Day-themed week of episodes starting Monday, February 12. “The Many Loves of Frasier Crane” features episodes focused on the character’s ill-fated love life.

SPORTS ROUNDUP

In the lead-up to FOX Sports’ coverage of the Daytona 500, FOX Sports Films documentary “I Am Kevin Harvick,” chronicling the story of the NASCAR champion and FOX Sports’ NASCAR analyst, premieres Thursday, February 15 at 10p on FS1.

StatusPRO, a sports technology and gaming company, announced $20 million in new funding, led by GV (Google Ventures). StatusPRO will use the capital to broaden development into new sports titles while continuing to enhance its modes and features and further improve its technology.

GOING GLOBAL

A free streaming service from UK’s BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 is set to launch in 2Q24. “Freely will bring live and on-demand content together all in one place for free, ensuring that TV remains relevant and accessible to audiences of all ages,” said Everyone TV, a joint venture of the broadcasters.

Yes Studios’ “Bloody Murray, winner of Best Comedy at Series Mania in 2022, has been renamed “Dana & Murray” for launch on France and Germany’s arte.tv on February 9.

Toikido is working with singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor (“Murder on the Dancefloor”) on a 2D animated series based on its pre-school IP, “PeaKeeBoo.” The series is being developed in collaboration Moonbug Entertainment.

Banijay Kids & Family’s “Miniheroes of the Fores” is headed to broadcast partners Rai Kids and France télévisions. The animated series, produced by Movimenti Production and MoBo, and co-produced by Zodiak Kids & Family France, has been commissioned for two seasons.

9 Story Media Group has acquired Portfolio Entertainment’s library, production slate, and development projects. Portfolio Entertainment was founded in 1991 by Lisa Olfman and the late Joy Rosen; Olfman will join 9 Story in an executive producer role.

Australia’s Gristmill and Canada’s Sinking Ship Entertainment have partnered on new children’s series, “Lightning Primary.” Originally developed by Gristmill with the support of the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, the half-hour series is aimed at 6-9 year-olds.

As we gear up for 2024’s $10.2B political ad spend cycle, Cynopsis invites you to participate in this year’s Political Ad Spend 2024 Virtual Conference. Connect with 500+ senior executives of the media industry, and position yourself as a thought leader alongside current partners Safe Exchange, AdImpact, and LG Ad Solutions. Contact Albert Nassour, Executive Director of Sales, today.

INQUIRE NOW

Sunday’s Grammys telecast averaged 16.9 million viewers across CBS and digital platforms, according to early Nielsen numbers. That’s the biggest audience since 2020, and up 34% from last year.

“On Patrol: Live” made REELZ the #1 network in all of cable among A25-54 (254,000) from 9p-midnight on Friday, February 2, and on Saturday, February 3, the show made REELZ the #1 cable entertainment network from 9p-midnight among A25-54 (302K), a18-49 (200,000) and A35-54 (282,000).

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Family Entertainment Television has hired Michael Claffey as Vice President, Regional Sales of FETV and FMC. Claffey previously served as VP, Sales for AMC Networks in the Chicago and Detroit offices.

Cooler Screens, the technology company powering in-store retail media and merchandising, has appointed Anand Muralidaran as Senior Vice President, Chief Growth Officer. Prior to Cooler Screens, Muralidaran was Head of Global Strategy and Business Development at NVIDIA.

Thomas Nelson has been promoted to Global Vice President of Key Accounts at Vizrt. Nelson has held senior leadership positions in Asia Pacific and Europe before increasing his remit to the US in 2023.

Pablo Mancuso is joining Condista as Managing Director of International Distribution. Mancuso was previously Director of Accion Group.

IN MEMORIAM

Journalist Don West died February 4. He was 94. West, a longtime reporter and editor at Broadcasting + Cable, served as President of the Broadcasting Foundation for 12 years.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What was Chris’ job on “Get a Life” (1990-92)? Paper boy. Kudos to: Rachel Buchanan-NBCUniversal/NYC; Lou Vazquez-OMD/NYC; Joel Maxwell-Cozen O’Connor/Scott Deaner-Horizon Media/NYC, NJ; John Kukla-KDFW Fox 4/Dallas; Dan Whitford-WTTW/Chicago; John W. Burshtan-Water Planet Productions/Denver; Eric Litt-Nextstar/Chicago; Charles Conner-KOKI Fox 23/Tulsa; Justin Pierce-JP Consulting Group/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which sitcom centered on a man posing as a pastor to evade loan sharks? (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