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CONTACT ALBERT NASSOUR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SALES

Wednesday February 7, 2024

IN THE NEWS

ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery have agreed to form a joint venture to build a new platform to house a streaming sports service. The platform brings together the companies’ portfolios of sports networks, certain direct-to-consumer (DTC) sports services and sports rights – including content from all the major professional sports leagues and college sports. The formation of the pay service, subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements amongst the parties, is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2024, and would be made available directly to consumers via a new app.

Host and actor Mario Lopez will be the latest star to save Christmas after signing a multi-picture, multi-year deal with Great American Media, home to linear networks Great American Family, Great American Faith & Living, Great American Pure Flix, Great American Adventures, and digital channel, Great American Faith & Home. Lopez will be a major part of Great American Christmas 2024, where he will star alongside his wife Courtney Lopez in a holiday film for Great American Family

Workplace comedy “Animal Control” will get a third season on Fox, Fox Entertainment president of scripted programming Michael Thorn said Tuesday. The live-action comedy, which stars Joel McHale, launched last year as the network’s most-streamed debut ever and will launch its second season on Wednesday, March 6 at 9p. The series averages 5.2 million multi-platform viewers, including 2.6 million on Hulu, a lift of +302% from Live + Same Day.

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries will officially rebrand to Hallmark Mystery with a new on-air look on March 6, while Hallmark Drama rebrands to Hallmark Family on February 28, the company said at the TCA Winter Press Tour. Other news: Make Her Mark, Hallmark’s women director’s initiative, will debut “Shifting Gears” March 23 on Hallmark Channel. Aimee Garcia and Paul Campbell will return to star in “The Cases of Mystery Lane: Death is Listening,” the second installment in the “The Cases of Mystery Lane” franchise later this year and original holiday film “Santa Tell Me,” is currently in production, reuniting Erin Krakow and Daniel Lissing from its longest-running series, “When Calls the Heart.”

AMC Networks had plenty to report at its TCA Winter Press Tour session. Highlights include ALLBLK’s first competition reality series, “Deb’s House,” and new seasons of “Kold x Windy,” “Makeup x Breakup” and “Wicked City”; AMC action drama “Parish” premiering March 31; the season two premiere of AMC’s “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire” on May 12, with David Constabile (“Billions”) onboard as a guest star; a green light for AMC’s “The Terror: Devil in Silver,” the third installment of anthology series “The Terror”; detective drama series “Ellis” at Acorn TV; and a new reality series on WE tv, “The Braxtons,” reuniting the cast of “Braxton Family Values.”

DirecTV For Business has launched a non-profit offering support for local and national 501(c) nonprofit organizations, providing specifically tailored discounted rates.

ABC’s The Bachelor Two-Night Event will begin on February 12 at 8p with the show headed overseas as Joey’s journey continues in Malta. On February 13, a cocktail party cliffhanger brings news of a trip to Spain where two one-on-ones and a group date lead to an emotional rose ceremony and a sneak peek at the rest of the season.

TV One celebrates the 50th Anniversary of “Good Times” with a weekend marathon event featuring exclusive content from stars Jimmie Walker, Bern Nadette Stanis and Ralph Carter. The marathon begins February 9 at 8p, with two episodes of “Maude,” where Evans family matriarch Florida Evans, played by Esther Rolle, was first introduced, followed by all episodes from its six seasons on the air. Interviews with Walker, Stanis and Carter will offer behind-the-scenes glimpses of the series. Outside of the marathon, “Good Times” airs each Saturday on TV One.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Max original drama “The Girls on the Bus” debuts on March 14 with two episodes, followed by one weekly through May 9. The series, from Warner Bros. Television, focuses on four female journalists covering the presidential campaign and stars Melissa Benoist, Carla Gugino, Natasha Behnam, Christina Elmore, Brandon Scott, with Griffin Dunne, Mark Consuelos, and Scott Foley.

Lifetime’s “I Wasn’t Expecting a Baby!” premieres February 8 at 10p, with true stories of women unaware they were pregnant until they are just about to give birth.

“Killer Performance” kicks off Monday, February 12 at 9p on Reelz with two back-to-back shows highlighting serial killers Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy. The series explores the personas of murderers who cry fake tears to manipulate the media and public in a disturbing attempt to exonerate themselves from their crimes.

STREAMING

Amazon’s Freevee is launching a TMZ FAST channel as well as 17 new local news FAST channels from Fox in February.

24/7 music video programmer Vevo has launched six free linear-programmed channels on Sling Freestream: “Vevo Pop,” “Vevo Country,” “Vevo 70’s,” “Vevo 80’s,” “Vevo Latino,” and “Vevo Features.”

Cineflix Rights and Pluto TV have launched FAST channel Real Disaster in the US and Canada, anchored by global hit series “Mayday: Air Disaster” (now in its 24th season) as well as shows like “Deadly Disasters,” “Rogue Earth,” and “Dangerous Flights.” The Real Disaster Channel is the latest of five FAST channels launched by Cineflix Rights on various platforms over the past nine months.

SPORTS ROUNDUP

As Super Bowl LVIII approaches, FanDuel and BetMGM may have better luck placing ads before the game starts, according to EDO. While sports betting ad effectiveness grew 32% this season, pre-game spots packed the biggest punch (65% more effective vs. in-game ads) and in-game ads underperformed by 14% compared to the average Prime Time sports betting ad. FanDuel underperformed the average sports betting ad aired during this NFL season by 27% and its “Kick of Destiny” spot was 29% less engaging than the median-performing spot last year. At BetMGM, viewers were 90% more likely to engage with its ads during NFL programming, according to EDO.

The New York Jets and Nike continue their support of Girls Flag Football, kicking off their Pilot Program to make the sport a high school varsity sport in New Jersey. The 2024 season marks the first time that girls flag football will be recognized as a varsity sport in high schools across New York, the eighth state to do so.

TECH

IAB Tech Lab’s analysis of Google’s attempt to eliminate third-party cookie-based tracking with its own “Privacy Sandbox” identified several key issues. Among the findings: Sandbox only temporarily supports essential event-based impression and click counting; introduces brand safety concerns; uses ad exchange and ad server in the Chrome browser which forces a re-tooling of the programmatic ecosystem; and it lacks consideration for commercial requirements. “Our findings highlight that the industry isn’t ready yet and identify multiple challenges to implementation due to limitations in accomplishing key advertising objectives,” said IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur.

Sinclair Broadcast Group has reached an agreement to integrate Futuri’s AI-driven sales system, TopLine, into its 186 owned and/or operated television stations in 85 markets across the country. TopLine combines AI technology with sales research and data-driven presentations, allowing sales teams to extend into new categories and reach new types of buyers. “This technology not only equips our sales team with cutting-edge tools and a competitive edge to engage new advertisers, but it also empowers them to spend more quality time with our clients, enhancing our relationships and driving our sales strategy forward,” said Sinclair Inc. SVP and chief revenue officer Ryan Moore.

GOING GLOBAL

Abacus Media Rights has completed sales of several history, true crime and music documentaries to Italy. A+E Networks Italia has snapped up 10 true crime series including “Love You to Death,” “Sleeping with My Murderer,” and “In the Footsteps of Killers Season 2,” as well as two history titles: “The Jewish Nazi?” and “Hitler’s Handmaidens.” Warner Bros. Discovery has stepped up to buy “Inside the Mind,” “Outback Farm,” “Williams & Mansell: Red 5” and “Leaving Neverland;” and RAI will air historical series “Queens That Changed the World” and “Shackelton’s Cabin.” AMR will launch its slate of new factual programming at next month’s London Screenings.

AMC Networks International and Paramount Global will premiere a new expert-led true crime series in the UK on March 20 – “Secrets of a Murder Detective.” Produced by Phoenix Television, the series will also be available to stream on Watch Free UK.

Red Arrow Studios International has partnered with Finnish production company Yellow Film & TV to distribute three scripted series: “Forgiven,” “66 North Precinct” and “The Laws of Man.”

Studio 100 Media (Germany) and 3Doubles Producciones (Spain) have started development on their new collaborative CGI feature, “Flamingo Flamenco,” scheduled for delivery in Q4 2026. The feature film will be introduced to buyers at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin by global sales agent Studio 100 Film.

Toonz Media Group and Cisneros Media have entered into a co-production and co-distribution agreement for animated series “Nerlies: Space Babies,” based on the best-selling toys from Mexican toy giant Distroller. Certified as a European Union production, Cisneros Media Distribution will exclusively handle media content distribution rights in LATAM and North America, while Toonz will oversee distribution rights for the rest of the world. Future plans include a global‐scale licensing and merchandising initiative for the project. The production is scheduled for a 2026 release.

Independent content distributor GoQuest Media said it has sold exclusive pay TV and VOD rights for crime drama “Erinyes” to Cosmote TV, Greece’s OTT platform, and Free TV linear and VOD rights for the show to Lithuanian Public Broadcaster LRT.

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Kids Universe said its animated preschool series Plim Plim has reached 34.7 billion lifetime views, with over 800 million monthly views, across its YouTube channels in six languages worldwide. The series expanded to Free-to-Air networks in 10 territories in Latin America and is available in nine Latin American territories via 24-hour cable TV channel in Spanish, El Canal del Payaso. Other milestones for the series include being named the No. 1 Made for Kids animated pre-school channel and the No. 7 in the category for all languages by Social Blade.

Basic Cable Top 10 for the week of January 22
P2+ AA (000)
Primetime
Fox News 2091
ESPN 2052
MSNBC 1085
HGTV 887
TBS 713
History 685
Hallmark Channel 679
TNT 623
INSP 583
CNN 542
Total Day
Fox News 1326
ESPN 970
MSNBC 745
HGTV 466
CNN 434
Hallmark Channel 400
TBS 376
INSP 352
History 344
TV Land 335
Source: Nielsen

EXECUTIVE MOVES

SailGP announced that Ben Johnson has been promoted to chief revenue officer, focusing on driving global growth and revenue opportunities across the business. He had previously served as SVP of strategy and development.

CBS News has made two new executive changes, promoting Alturo Rhymes to the new position of executive producer of Daily News, and naming Jim Axelrod as executive editor of “Eye on America.”

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which sitcom centered on a man posing as a pastor to evade loan sharks? “Impastor” (2015-16). Kudos to: Frank Costa-CBS/NYC; Michael Goodman-Radio One/Atlanta; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Maggie Takei-Moore Media/Paducah, KY; Adelyn Ruiz-Lopez-Paramount Global/NYC; Andrew Goldman-Phanes Funding Group/NYC; Jean Edhlund-Cooperative Network Services/Manhattan Beach, MN; Brian McCabe-2Seven Media/LA; Vic Lowry-Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone/Ventura, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which two TV series, one launched in 1998, and one in 2005, had the same name? (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