Cynopsis 03/26/26: CBS Media Ventures Sets 2026-27 Slate

Cynopsis
Thursday March 26, 2026

   IN THE NEWS

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski have renewed their contracts with MS NOW, reports Axios, and will remain with the news net through 2029. “We are about to celebrate 20 years of ‘Morning Joe’ – Joe and Mika have created something that cannot be replicated,” MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler told Axios. “As we build towards the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election, ‘Morning Joe’ will continue to be a singular destination for presidents and newsmakers from all political parties.” Last week, it was announced that the morning show, which expanded to four hours in 2022, is going back to three – but not because of falling ratings. “Morning Joe” averaged 810,000 viewers in February, up 16% versus the year prior, with the 9a hour rising 24%.

CNN is preparing to lay off a “few dozen” employees, reports the Daily Beast, as CEO Mark Thompson continues to pivot the network away from its traditional TV model and toward digital. The cuts arrive ahead of Warner Bros. Discovery’s pending acquisition by Paramount, signaling that further reductions could follow.

The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors has voted to analyze the potential economic impact the Paramount/WBD merger could have on the region’s workforce. “Entertainment is more than what we watch on a screen – it’s part of who we are as Angelenos and a cornerstone of our economy. Thousands of families rely on this industry for their livelihoods, and we must protect their jobs and our signature industry,” said Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath. “As the proposed merger moves forward, we need a clear understanding of its impacts on jobs, competition, and the future of storytelling.”

President Trump announced the first members of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Among the group are Oracle founder Larry Ellison (father of Paramount CEO David Ellison); Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg; Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. According to the White House, the council “will focus on topics related to the opportunities and challenges that emerging technologies present to the American workforce, and ensuring all Americans thrive in the Golden Age of Innovation.”

A California Superior Court jury on Wednesday found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young user through addictive platform design, awarding $6 million in damages. TikTok and Snap settled with the plaintiff before the case went to trial. The verdict follows a separate New Mexico ruling a day earlier, in which a jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil damages for failing to protect children from online predators.

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   NEW & RETURNING SERIES

For sneak peeks, go to Cynopsis Trailer Park.

“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is set to debut Christmas 2026. The series, based on J.K. Rowling’s books, is written and executive produced by Francesca Gardiner. Mark Mylod will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the series for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television.

CBS Media Ventures announced its syndicated slate for the 2026-27 broadcast season, including eight returning series and three new titles. Coming back are “Entertainment Tonight,” “Inside Edition,” “Hot Bench,” “Flip Side,” “The Perfect Line,” along with “The Drew Barrymore Show,” “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” Newcomers include court show “Adam’s Law,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” and extreme video program “American Mayhem.”

“Love & Hip Hop: Miami” returns for its mid-season seven premiere on Wednesday, April 8 at 8p. Prepare for “broken hearts, buried secrets, and burning bridges.”

TelevisaUnivision streamer ViX announced four new original productions: season four of anthology series “Mujeres Asesinas”; docuseries “Implacables y Divinas,” looking at the luxurious lives of four entertainment stars; action thriller “Carnada”; and drama “Yo No Creo en los Hombres.”

Today’s Premieres
Hulu: Love Overboard
Netflix: Jo Nesbe’s Detective Hole; The Prosecutor; Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen

   PRODUCTION

Creator TV has entered into a partnership with Convergence, a creator-led management and venture studio. Convergence will produce storytelling for Creator TV across genres, including sports and lifestyle. “The ground is shifting. Creators now hold the audience, the attention, and the cultural momentum,” said Charles Ifegwu, Founder and CEO of Convergence. “Our partnership with Creator TV is about building for that reality.”

Longtime “Grey’s Anatomy” cast members Kim Raver and Kevin McKidd will be leaving at the end of this season, which wraps Thursday, May 7 on ABC. “Over the years, we have had the privilege of watching Owen and Teddy’s love story evolve and deepen – two characters who always seem to find their way back to each other,” said the medical drama’s creator, Shonda Rhimes. “It is both bittersweet and joyful to give this couple the happy ending their story deserves.”

ITV has commissioned “Two Birds,” a mystery thriller from AC Chapter One and co-produced by STAN, and filmed in Western Australia.

Disney+ has begun production on “The Koreans,” a reimagining of FX series “The Americans” (2014-18). Produced by Imaginus and Studio AA, the drama joins Disney+ APAC’s expanding slate of Korean originals.

Banijay Iberia is moving into vertical microdrama with the development of three innovative short-form projects: “F**cking Honeymoon,” “Fortu & Jazz,” and a new anime project.

CYNOPSIS SPORTS AWARDS

Celebrating the Women Changing the Game

The 2026 Top Women in Sports honorees have been announced, featuring leaders from ESPN, Nike, the NFL, NBA, NHL, the Professional Women’s Hockey League and more.

These trailblazers are redefining how sports are produced, marketed and experienced across every platform.

Meet this year’s honorees.

VIEW THE HONOREES

   TECH

Data collaboration platform InfoSum, a WPP company, announced a strategic partnership with AI ad targeting company Dstillery to enable automated, privacy-first predictive audience activation at scale. The partnership combines InfoSum’s decentralized data collaboration technology and automated activation capabilities with Dstillery’s predictive modeling and proprietary 24-hour audience refresh technology, for an integration aimed at enabling brands and agencies to build and activate high-value audiences derived from first-party data without moving, centralizing, or exposing sensitive information.

Media performance platform VideoAmp announced an integration with O-N-X, an automated transaction infrastructure platform purpose-built for local broadcast television, that calls for the O-N-X platform to incorporate VideoAmp’s audience and measurement dataset to power predictive delivery intelligence. “Local broadcast remains one of the most important, yet least modernized, parts of the TV advertising ecosystem,” said Bryan Goski, Chief Revenue Officer at VideoAmp. “By integrating VideoAmp’s commingled set-top-box and smart TV dataset into O-N-X, we are helping bring greater transparency, automation, and predictive intelligence to the local marketplace.”

During their first combined NewFronts event as a fully integrated company, Walmart and Vizio execs announced that unified account logins are coming to smart TVs using Vizio’s operating system. The unified login experience establishes a “secure identity framework across devices, connecting streaming engagement directly with retail interaction,” according to the company blog post published early on Monday. And that identity framework creates a major advertising and data opportunity for advertisers – for details, go here.

Marking its 20th anniversary, Future Today took the stage at the IAB NewFronts to highlight a breakout year for its flagship channels, Fawesome and HappyKids. Over the past 12 months, the channels have expanded their reach to more than 75 million U.S. households, generating over 2 billion monthly impressions. “We placed a big bet twenty years ago that the future of streaming would be free, accessible, and powered by advertising,” said Vikrant Mathur, Co-Founder of Future Today. “What started as a bold idea in 2006 has now become the industry standard. Free streaming has won – and Future Today is just getting started.”

Also at the IAB NewFronts, Comcast Advertising unveiled Outcomes+, a new solution designed to drive stronger performance through a suite of AI-powered products fueled by Comcast’s data and attribution capabilities. The company also announced a partnership with Amazon Ads, expanding access to Prime Video inventory for local and small-to-medium sized businesses for the first time. Comcast Advertising is partnering with Amazon DSP to execute the media buys. It wasn’t all business, though – Comcast got assists from Seth Meyers, “SNL’s” Mikey Day and legendary MLB shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. as the company made its pitches.

DoubleVerify has partnered with Spectrum Reach to boost transparency and performance in streaming TV campaigns. Through the collaboration, Spectrum Reach will provide show-level data across its programming – including news and live sports – covering both direct IO and programmatic buys. The insights will be integrated into DV Authentic Streaming TV™ reporting, giving advertisers verified, post-bid visibility into the exact programs their ads appear alongside.

Programmatic media partner MiQ signed an agreement to acquire the Latin America business of digital advertising provider, Adsmovil. The combined company will form the region’s largest independent programmatic solution for brands and agencies.

   SPORTS REPORT

Who’s got game? Among the nominees for the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards are Charles Barkley, Tom Brady, Jason Kelce, J.J Watt, Alex Rodriguez, Candace Parker and “Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli.” The ceremony will be held Tuesday, May 26 in NYC; the complete list of nominees can be found here: theemmys.tv/sports/.

Soccer program Alianza announced the return of Chobani as an official partner for the 2026 season. It’s the third consecutive year of partnership, which will extend into digital storytelling.

   DISTRIBUTION

Crime drama “A Taste for Murder” has been acquired by ITV for the UK, VMTV for the Republic of Ireland, Seven Network for Australia, TVNZ for New Zealand, Mystery Channel for Japan, TV 2 in Denmark, YLE in Finland, and HOT for Israel.

   RATINGS

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on The CW delivered 1.182 million Total Viewers, making it the most-watched Darlington race since 2019 on NBC.

Top 10 Basic Cable for the Week of March 16
P2+ AA (000)
Primetime
Fox News 2475
TBS 2236
TNT 2205
truTV 1261
MS NOW 1194
CNN 786
ESPN 741
HGTV 844
Fox Sports 1 626
Hallmark Channel 581
Total Day
Fox News 1666
TBS 725
MS NOW 719
TNT 644
CNN 570
ESPN 469
truTV 398
HGTV 352
Hallmark Channel 297
Food Network 283
Source: Nielsen

   EXECUTIVE MOVES

Mediaocean has appointed Guy Kuperman as Chief Strategy Officer. Kuperman previously held that title at Innovid.

Jamie I is joining Fred Media as APAC Sales Manager. I was previously Vice President, Asia Pacific for MGM International Television Distribution.

This Day in History
1830 – The Book of Mormon was published in Palmyra, New York.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which series had an episode focused on the search for a dolphin serial killer? “NTSF:SD:SUV::” (2011-13). Kudos to: Justin Pierce-JP Consulting Group/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which spy drama featured recurring characters played by Angela Bassett, Isabella Rossellini and Amy Irving? (Email your answer to trivia@cynopsis.com and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone – a limit of four answers per time zone.)

Cynopsis Team

Lynn Leahey
Editorial Director
lleahey@accessintel.com

Stephanie Cronk
Brand Director, Convergent TV World, Top Women Network
scronk@accessintel.com

Dave Colford
SVP, Media
dcolford@accessintel.com

 

Advertising Opportunities
Kelly Mahoney
Group Director, Sales
kmahoney@accessintel.com

Kerry Smith
Division President
Access Intelligence

 

Cynopsis Job Listings Sales
Rob Hudgins

Cynopsis General Inquiries
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EXECUTIVE >>
TBS INTERNATIONAL/LOS ANGELES, CA: Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of entertainment and media agreements, with a primary focus on unscripted television, format licensing, and intellectual property distribution. Handle development, production, and co-production agreements, including situations where TBS is designated as the production entity providing production services. More info HERE

PRINT TRAFFICKER AND TECHNICAL COORDINATOR >>
FILM FEST DC/WASHINGTON, DC: Coordinate direct communication between print sources and the festival to ensure the on-time inbound and outbound delivery of all film materials and work with venue staff to deliver and test each film and KDM. Request and collect KDMs for all encrypted DCPs and maintain a spreadsheet that contains all the aspects of the film. Full info HERE

MANAGER, MEMBER ENGAGEMENT AND ANALYTICS >>
TELEVISION ACADEMY/NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA:
Lead the execution of initiatives such as the Peer Circle program and Your Voice Matters, reviewing data to enhance program participation and ensure metrics are achieved; collaborate with the Senior Director of Engagement and Retention and stakeholders across marketing to manage delivery and optimization of the Member Benefits Perks newsletter. Full info HERE

BROADCAST ENGINEER >>
HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY/HIGH POINT, NC: Ensure high-quality production environments and provide technical leadership to faculty, staff, and students in live and recorded productions and play a role in supporting the school’s mission to provide industry-standard production experiences for students and will have opportunities to contribute to the development of emerging media technologies. More info HERE

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF THE PRACTICE, MULTI-EPISODE TELEVISION PRODUCING >>
BOSTON UNIVERSITY – COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION/BOSTON, MA: Develope, produce, and manage scripted and unscripted multi-episodic series for linear television and/or streaming. Qualified applicants will be distinguished multi-platform practitioners with a significant body of “boots on the ground” work in the TV and streaming industry. The position will require in-class instruction and on-set exercises. Full info HERE

PROFESSOR OF THE PRACTICE: STUDIO AND/OR FIELD DIRECTING; MULTIPLE CAMERAS >>
BOSTON UNIVERSITY – COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION/BOSTON, MA: We seek a colleague with a significant body of practical work in television directing using multiple cameras for linear television and/or streaming platforms. Familiarity with visual effects and AI-supported tools is considered a plus. This position includes teaching directing of scripted and/or unscripted content using multiple cameras at many levels. Full info HERE

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF THE PRACTICE: VERTICAL FILMMAKING/CONTENT CREATOR >>
BOSTON UNIVERSITY – COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION/BOSTON, MA: We seek a colleague with a professional track record in the creation and development of original short-form content aimed at promoting, activating, and motivating young people through social activism, experimentation, entertainment, brand building, and audience engagement across today’s leading content platforms and social media ecosystems. More info HERE

SALES MANAGER – AP AD INSIGHTS HUB >>
ADVERTISER PERCEPTIONS/NEW YORK, NY: Drive direct sales of the platform offering, focusing heavily on new client acquisition. Reporting to and working closely with the GM of the Ad Insights Hub, this individual contributor will partner cross-functionally with Sales, Business Intelligence, Operations, and Client Services teams to build awareness and engagement with new clients. Full info HERE

SALES DIRECTOR – OMG
MOONBUG ENTERTAINMENT
NEW YORK, NY
Deliver and exceed sales revenue targets as well as build, manage and grow a strategic account list with a focus on Omnicom agencies and their clients directly, within the northeast. Ability to navigate holding company structure and negotiate strategic partnerships with key stakeholders (ratecards, preferred programmatic deals, content deals, etc.). More info HERE

DIRECTOR OF PERFORMANCE MARKETING >>
ATHLETE TO ATHLETE/SANTA MONICA, CA: Lead the performance marketing team across Meta Ads and new paid digital channels (TikTok, YouTube, Google, etc.) as well as build and execute a roadmap for channel expansion and profitable scale. Develop and run structured testing frameworks. Partner with Creative Strategist on ad briefs, testing priorities, and creative feedback loops. Full info HERE

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER>>
HEARST MEDIA PRODUCTION GROUP/CHARLOTTE, NC: Oversee daily sales pipeline operations focused on national sponsorships, integrations, and branded content tied to unscripted programming. Manage and coach the Business Development team, drive outbound activity, shape proposals and pricing, and lead CRM strategy, reporting, and optimizations via Salesforce. Full info HERE

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
>>
NTD/WASHINGTON, DC: Pitch story ideas and write scripts/segment outlines as well as research guests and interview topics. Book guests and coordinate interviews. Help with logistics and sometimes field production. Support shoots and ensure production runs smoothly. Review footage and work with editors to shape final episodes. Write headlines, teasers, and social posts. Full info HERE

DIRECTOR, HUMAN RESOURCES AND ADMINISTRATION
>>
THE JIM HENSON COMPANY/HOLLYWOOD, CA: Responsible for all HR functions and oversight of administrative and management needs. This strategic role is charged with operating from a customer service driven viewpoint that prioritizes employee satisfaction as well as enforce legally compliant policies, increase efficiency by implementing administrative and record-keeping best practices. Full info HERE

SR. DIRECTOR OF SALES, KSTU & KUPX >>
THE E.W. SCRIPPS COMPANY/SALT LAKE CITY: Leverage our suite of advertising solutions to unlock growth opportunities for local and national businesses. Play a role in driving the station’s revenue goals as well as serving as the home station for Utah’s new NHL team. Collaborate with our production team to create campaigns that connect our clients with their customers in meaningful ways. Full info HERE

DIGITAL MEDIA BUYER >>
FURMAN ROTH ADVERTISING/NY(HYBRID): Plan, launch, and optimize digital marketing campaigns across various paid media channels (including Display, Google products, Paid Social, CTV, and Programmatic, etc.) while managing budgets effectively. Support the execution of media plans across platforms, overseeing targeting, budget allocation, and performance tracking to drive campaign success. Full info HERE

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR; CTV BRAND PARTNERSHIPS – MID WEST/WEST COAST

FUTURE TODAY
REMOTE
Build, maintain and expand a pipeline of sales targets, contacts, and sales opportunities leveraging your relationships with a heavy focus on new business revenue. Build/nurture relationships with the investment, strategy, precision and digital agencies as well as clients. Also maintain an ongoing knowledge of the streaming media landscape. Full info HERE

DIRECTOR, AD MARKETING & SALES >>
THE SHADE ROOM/REMOTE: Develop and execute a revenue growth strategy to drive direct advertising, branded content, and sponsorship sales as well as lead the development of compelling advertising and branded content offerings tailored for TSR’s audience and cultivate and maintain strong relationships with key advertisers, media agencies, and brand partners. Full info HERE

PROFESSIONAL LECTURER OF COMMUNICATION/SPORTS BROADCASTING >>
MARIST UNIVERSITY/ POUGHKEEPSIE, NY: Teach studio and field broadcasting and new media courses in sports media and journalism as well as be able to teach a studio course on producing a newscast and help students live stream a podcast or produce short-form feature content suitable for social media streaming. Also demonstrate through their teaching, professional activity, and service. Full info HERE

SALES LEAD – AGENCY PARTNERSHIPS

UPWAVE
NEW YORK, NY

Build and manage relationships with our agency partners – mostly targeting media buyers and planners – and help them see the value of adding Upwave measurement to The Trade Desk campaigns. You will both leverage your existing network and open new doors to achieve aggressive but achievable sales targets. Full info HERE

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