Saturday’s Premieres
Oxygen: Cold Justice at 8p
NatGeo Wild: Rock Rapids Vet 9-1-1 at 10p

Sunday’s Premieres
Oxygen: Sin City Murders at 7p
A+E: WWE Rivals at 8p
History: The Food That Built America at 9p
Travel: Expedition Bigfoot at 9p
AMC: The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live at 9p
CNN: Vegas: The Story of Sin City at 10p
Paramount: Bar Rescue at 10p
ID: Signs of a Psychopath at 10p

IN THE NEWS

Amazon has scheduled an upfront event for May 14, courting advertisers during a period that in the past was set aside for traditional TV advertisers. Amazon had previously participated in New Front events for streamers, but will now join Netflix and more traditional programmers attempting to sell the bulk of their ad inventory for the next programming cycle. Amazon is expected to spotlight not only its Amazon Prime Video service, but Prime Video Sports, Twitch, Amazon Freevee and Amazon Music.

Two days before her self-produced documentary is slated to debut on Lifetime, former talk show host Wendy Williams has gone public with her diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Aphasia affects language and communication abilities, while FTD impacts behavior and cognitive functions. Williams’s daytime talker “The Wendy Williams Show” was canceled in June 2022 amid concerns over her health. The two-night documentary – “Where is Wendy Williams” – is slated to air February 24 and 25.

Paramount+ has renewed the reboot of “Frasier” for a second season. The series, starring Kelsey Grammer, debuted in October, picking up 20 years after the original series finale, with Frasier returning to Boston to reconnect with son Freddy.

Black-owned digital video network Culture Genesis struck an exclusive sales partnership with Pixability, as part of the latter’s Inclusive Media Initiative (IMI), a DE&I solution that aimed at ensuring investment in diverse communities and creators.
The partnership lets Culture Genesis combine its YouTube reserve multicultural inventory with Pixability’s network of participating IMI creators, providing scale and efficiency for advertisers to reach diverse audiences.

Republica Havas, the Miami-based agency of Havas Group, unveiled a new campaign – ‘Segundo” – aimed at bringing awareness and education concerning the six-of-every-10 Alzheimer’s Disease sufferers that get lost on public roads.

TV One announced several brand sponsors that will be participating in its “Urban One Honors: Best in Black” awards show, which premieres February 25 at 8p. Sponsors for the two-hour telecast include Ally, Procter & Gamble, Intuit TurboTax, Rocket Mortgage, Subaru, Walmart, and Walt Disney World Resort.

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JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Peacock has announced a new original series – “The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys” – following patriarch Steve McBee, the founder of a family business, and his four sons. All 10 episodes of the series will stream on Peacock March 11, with the first episode of the program premiering on USA Network the same day at 11p and airing weekly thereafter.

Oxygen true crime series “Cold Justice” kicks off a new season on February 24 at 8p. The program, produced by Wolf Entertainment and Magical Elves, has led to 22 convictions and 56 arrests.

HBO has renewed the original drama series “True Detective” for a fifth season. Issa López, who served as showrunner, writer and executive producer of season four of the series – “True Detective: Night Country,” which concluded February 18 – has signed a multi-year deal to create content exclusive to HBO and Max, including the next season of “True Detective.”

UPCOMING

HBO Original documentary “A Revolution on Canvas” debuts March 5 at 9p on HBO. The political thriller and verité portrait documentary, produced and directed by Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder (“When God Sleeps,” “The Iran Job”), dives into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of more than 100 “treasonous” paintings by Sara’s father, seminal Iranian modern artist Nickzad “Nicky” Nodjoumi.

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network will premiere an OWN Spotlight one-hour special on March 2 featuring a conversation between Winfrey and 2024 Honorary Academy Award Recipient, Angela Bassett, for a retrospective look at the acclaimed actress’ four-decade career.

Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Miami” three-part reunion will begin February 28 at 9p, with parts two and three shifting to a special time – Thursdays at 8p. Host Andy Cohen will sit down with Guerdy Abraira, Lisa Hochstein, Julia Lemigova, Dr. Nicole Martin, Alexia Nepola, Larsa Pippen and friends Kiki Barth, Adriana de Moura and Marysol Patton to discuss this season’s biggest moments.

HGTV’s 12-episode series “House Hunters: All Stars” will premiere March 21 with back-to-back episodes at 8p and 8:30p. The show features a lineup of network DIY stars.

But will they wear Prada? Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt will be among the presenters at the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards — 18 years after the release of the 2006 film “The Devil Wears Prada.” The ceremony, produced by Silent House Productions in partnership with SAG-AFTRA, will stream live globally on Netflix February 24 at 8p from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall.

PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Hulu has made a series order for “Chad Powers,” a half-hour comedy based on a sketch that was part of former NFL quarterback Eli Manning’s “Eli’s Places” series on ESPN+. Manning and his brother Peyton Manning serve as executive producers of the series, as do creators Glen Powell and Michael Waldron and Jamie Horowitz, Ben Brown and ESPN. The series stars Powell as a former hotshot college quarterback, who after his career is ruined by bad behavior, disguises himself and walks on to a struggling Southern football team.

The Impact Network has entered into a multi-year licensing partnership with A+E Media Group, which will provide Impact with a library of premium content, including “Roots” and “Black Patriots: Heroes of the Revolution hosted by Kareem Abdul Jabar” from the History Channel; and Lifetime unscripted series “Bring it” and movie “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel.”

STREAMING

A new report by Hub Entertainment Research claims that sports could be the factor that determines who wins the battle for streaming subscribers once and for all. In its new study – “What’s the Score: The Evolution of Sports Media” – Hub found that nearly 80% of sports fans say sports content is more important than anything else they watch. About 75% of avid fans said they would be likely to sign up for a new streaming subscription if they needed it to watch a sport they follow. In general, 70-80% of avid

TECH

Innovid said publisher-level outcomes analysis for all DSP and SSP campaigns is now available within its InnovidXP product, augmenting the previously provided DSP and SSP reach, frequency, and unique reach, and offers a new level of transparency and granularity for campaigns and performance-driven optimization.

SPORTS UPDATE

TNT Sports’ ninth installment of live golf event series “Capital One’s The Match,” will feature male and female golfers competing in the skins format for the first time. Four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy will face 11-time LPGA winner Lexi Thompson, golf phenom Rose Zhang and 2023 Ryder Cup team member Max Homa in the 12-hole event, to be held on February 26 at The Park golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Coverage simulcast across TNT, truTV, HLN and Max’s B/R Sports Add-On will begin at 6:30p, along with extensive highlights and content via Bleacher Report’s digital and social platforms.

Qatar will be the setting for a charity football match on February 23. “Match for Hope” will raise money and awareness for the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, a non-profit providing educational opportunities to disadvantaged children globally. The exhibition will see teams led by internet celebrities and athletes facing off at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan.

UTR Sports, formerly Universal Tennis, has named Franklin Sports the official pickleball partner of UTR Sports and the UTR Sports Pickleball Amateur Series, a new year-round series of tournaments. All participants in the Pickleball Amateur Series will compete with Franklin X-40 pickleballs, and Franklin Sports will work with UTR Sports to develop exclusive member benefits for UTR Power Subscribers.

GOING GLOBAL

The latest installment in “The Walking Dead” zombie apocalypse franchise – “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” – will be available on AMC in the CNE region, with the first episode simulcasted in the U.S. on February 26 in original language in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, then later in the Baltics: Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine.

Canadian distribution company Sinking Ship Entertainment has sold scripted series “Beyond Black Beauty” to WildBrain’s Family Channel and RTL Netherlands. Family Channel will air the show on March 19, with RTL scheduled to release the series later this year.

Banjay Media unveiled its slate of programming available during its London TV Screenings event, Banjay@BAFTA. On the scripted side, Banjay has “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” for the BBC and Masterpiece PBS; The Hardacres for Channel 5; “This Town” for the BBC; Welsh drama “The One That Got Away” for S4C; and “Invisible Boys” for Stan. Buyers can also expect a preview of the second seasons of “Marie Antoinette” for Canal+ and the BBC, and “Rogue Heroes” for the BBC and MGM+, as well as documentary offerings “Front Row,” “Anatomy of a Murder” and “Four Kings” for Prime Video.

Seoul-based Format agency Something Special has signed a memorandum of understanding to partner with Korean private broadcaster MBN to represent the broadcaster for international licensing rights of formats, co-production and local production, and development.

More than 9.4 million fans tuned in to last weekend’s Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series, with games on ABC averaging 1.37 million viewers, up 21% from last year. Sunday’s New York Islanders/New York Rangers contest averaged 1.57 million viewers, up 38% from last year and was the most-watched Series game since 2019. Saturday night’s Philadelphia Flyers/New Jersey Devils match averaged 1.13 million viewers, up 8% in the P18-49 demo.

Fox News Channel’s February 20 town hall with former President Donald Trump in Greenville, South Carolina moderated by Laura Ingraham was the highest-rated cable news telecast of the night in both total viewers and the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen Media Research. The town hall averaged over 3.3 million viewers and 358,000 in the 25-54 demo, representing 60% of the cable news share in total viewers and 55% of the cable news share in the key demo.

Fox News’ nightly news/comedy show “Gutfeld!” is still killing it in late night, even with the return of Jon Stewart to Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” on Mondays. FNC notes that the February 19 episode of “Gutfeld!” delivered 2 million viewers, versus 1.3 million for “The Daily Show.”

EXECUTIVE MOVES

BBC Studios Los Angeles Productions announced Rachel Bendavid and Angie Stephenson have jointly been named EVPs, Scripted Programming for BBC Studios Productions. Bendavid had most recently served as Head of Scripted Programming for the co-production partnership between Lionsgate and BBC Studios Los Angeles Productions, which launched the hit series “Ghosts.” Stephenson had previously served as BBC Studios’ senior vice president of Scripted Development.

Asylum Entertainment Group said its Texas Crew Productions chief content officer Brad Bernstein will relocate to Vancouver, Canada to oversee the parent company’s new office there. In addition, longtime Asylum employee James Macnab is being promoted to EVP and will report directly to Bernstein. He previously served as SVP of Content.

Tech platform Transmit has named Bo Ham chief commercial officer, where he will spearhead the development of the company’s commercial strategy.

AdLib Media Group named former Acxiom senior client managing director Cindy Kidney Chief Operating Officer.

Friday Fun Fact
New Zealand has more cats per person than any other country in the world.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Why did Marybeth’s mother move in with Marybeth and her family on “Joe Pickett” (2021-23)? Missy’s boyfriend was sent to prison. Kudos to: Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Andrew Goldman-Phanes Funding Group/NYC; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Markeing Inc./NYC; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
In the series “Frasier” (1993-2004), who were Frasier and Niles named after? (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.)