At a DOGE subcommittee hearing titled “Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the heads of NPR and PBS Accountable,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene branded PBS and NPR “radical left-wing echo chambers,” and called for “the complete and total defund and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.” Said PBS CEO Paula Kerger in her opening statement, “PBS stations provide something that cannot be found on commercial networks. This is because PBS stations are focused on the needs and interests of the viewers they serve, especially in rural areas….There’s nothing more American than PBS.” But the quote of the day might have come from Representative Robert Garcia, Democrat from California, who asked, “Is Elmo now, or has he ever been, a member of the Communist Party?”.

California lawmakers have set in motion plans to increase the film credit for LA shoots, expanding the effort to include animated films and TV shows, sitcoms and large-scale competition shows. An amended version of SB 630, a bill introduced last month, would increase the rebate to 35% for wages and other expenses, up from the current 20-25% credit for live-action films and scripted series.

Freshman drama “Watson” has been renewed for a second season at CBS. No mystery there – the detective series’ January 26 premiere episode is the net’s most-watched scripted episode of the 2024-25 season after 35 days of viewing, and the show is averaging 6.79 million viewers per week, according to Nielsen.

On the flip side, CBS has canceled “After Midnight,” the late-night show hosted by Taylor Tomlinson. CBS had renewed the show for a third run, but Tomlinson wanted out. “Hosting ‘After Midnight’ has genuinely been the experience of a lifetime, and I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity to be part of this incredible journey,” she said. “Though it was an extremely tough decision, I knew I had to return to my first passion and return to stand-up touring full-time.”

Rita Braver is retiring from “CBS News Sunday Morning” after over 50 years at the network. “Those who know Rita and ‘Sunday Morning’ realize how essential she’s been to our work,” wrote Rand Morrison, executive producer of the show, in a message to staff. “Not simply because of her excellent reporting, her keen sense of curiosity about all kinds of things, and her willingness to take on almost any assignment – however demanding or complex the subject – but also because Rita has always brought professionalism, clarity, and a passion for quality to every story that’s come her way.”

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Fremantle signed a first-look television deal with production company Fruit Tree, run by Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) and Dave McCary (“Saturday Night Live”). The pact includes scripted and unscripted projects. Lorenzo De Maio, President of De Maio Entertainment, will oversee the partnership alongside Christian Vesper, Fremantle’s CEO Global Drama and Film, and Seb Shorr, Fremantle’s COO of Global Drama and Film.

Wildstar Films is in production on a documentary telling the real-life story of Kanzi – the ape who could communicate using a pictures board, drive and play music –in partnership with Ape Initiative. The announcement comes following the news of Kanzi’s death last week. “Kanzi was an enigmatic figure, both in science and pop culture,” said WIldstar Films Executive Producer Chloe Sarosh. “But behind the scenes, the scientific pursuit to see how human we could make an ape, reveals some difficult questions. Wildstar has been given exclusive access to extraordinary never-before-seen archive that reveals a life that is sometimes sweet and hilarious, but at other times deeply troubling.”

“SisterS” is coming back for a second season on IFC and AMC+. The dark comedy is currently filming in Canada for a 2026 premiere. “It has been such fun to repatriate Sarah Goldberg and welcome our Irish production family to Canada for season two,” said Christina Jennings, President and Chairman, Shaftesbury. “Season one managed to deliver laugh-out-loud comedy while maintaining a unique sense of authenticity. I really look forward to seeing this continue, but with a Canadian winter as the backdrop.”

Communications agency The Right Now announced the launch of Now Studio, a creative production division spearheaded by former Snapchat executive Rylee Jean Ebsen, recently appointed Head of Digital and Creative Strategy. “We’re a full-service creative production company ready to take on projects of any kind, but there’s one challenge I’m especially eager to tackle,” said Ebseln. “Brands rely heavily on User-Generated Content (UGC), which is a powerful tool but sometimes unpredictable and not always brand-led. On the flip side, traditional marketing campaigns can feel like, well, ads – which work great in many places but don’t always work on social. That’s where we come in. We’re here to bridge that gap, crafting social first content that combines strong brand direction with the kind of authenticity audiences genuinely connect with.”

Linda Woolverton (“Beauty and the Beast”, “The Lion King”) has joined as Executive Producer of Kartoon Studios’ “Hundred Acre Wood’s Winnie and Friends” production, based on the characters of A.A. Milne. Woolverton is guiding both the animated film and television series being produced.

PBS culinary series “Lucky Chow” is back for season seven on Thursday, May 1 (check local listings). This go-round, host Danielle Chang takes viewers to her homeland, Taiwan. You can check it out in our sneak peek at new shows and seasons, Cynopsis Trailer Park.

HBO’s “Billy Joel: And So it Goes” is set to debut this summer. The two-parter comes from HBO Documentary Films presents a Pentimento Production in association with Hazy Mills Productions and Playtone Productions.

TV intelligence platform Kinetiq has teamed with creative effectiveness platform Daivid to integrate Daivid’s attention, emotional response, brand recall, and consumer intent measurement into Kinetiq’s TV intelligence network. “For years, advertisers have had to rely on fragmented data to assess ad effectiveness,” said Kevin Kohn, CEO of Kinetiq. “This partnership changes that. By integrating creative quality with real-time ad tracking, we provide a complete view of TV advertising performance – helping brands maximize their media spend and optimize creative impact.”

Claritas, provider of data-driven marketing attribution and optimization solutions, has struck a partnership with Anzu, the in-game advertising solution, to measure how intrinsic in-game advertising drives real business results. “For years, advertisers have been asking for a way to directly tie conversions and sales to their intrinsic in-game ad campaigns,” said Ben Fenster, CPO & Co-Founder at Anzu. “We spent a lot of time working out the best ways to do this, and this partnership with Claritas is a great step forward in enabling advertisers to accurately measure the bottom-line impact of in-game advertising and prove its ROI.”

MLB Network reports it will produce more content than ever in 2025, including studio programs and live games. Opening Day coverage begins today at 9a and will feature live look-ins of games across “MLB Tonight” presented by Konami and “Big Inning” presented by Nissan. MLB Network’s first live game of the season will be the Chicago Cubs visiting the Arizona Diamondbacks at 10p.

UTR Sports announced the new UTR Sports College Team Rankings, a ranking system showcasing the top-ranked college teams across Division I, Division II, Division III, and NAIA. UTR Sports College Team Rankings provide a data-driven approach to ranking the nation’s top men’s and women’s teams, and will be used for seeding at the UTR Sports NIT Championships (May 7-9 in Rome, GA).

TNA Wrestling is presenting its 2025 showcase event “Sacrifice” in a special presentation immediately following “TNA iMPACT!” tomorrow, March 27 at 10p on AXS TV. “Sacrifice” will also be broadcast on Sportsnet 360, Sunday, March 30 at 6p.

Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks and the NHL struck a multiyear North American partnership aimed at ensuring cybersecurity for the NHL. The partnership provides Palo Alto Networks with an array of marketing rights and designations that will connect the Palo Alto Networks brand with the NHL and its fans through the NHL’s marketing, digital, and social media channels throughout the duration of the partnership.

DCD Rights has secured sales for Perpetual Entertainment travel series “Sue Perkins’ Big Adventure: Paris to Istanbul,” produced for Channel 4 UK and ABC TV Australia. The show has sold to APT (US), BBC Earth (Poland, Africa, Asia), NRK Norway, AMC Networks International Central and Northern Europe (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia), MAX (Netherlands), HRT Croatian Television, RUV (Iceland) and GBC (Gibraltar).

Bell Media has acquired a majority stake in content distributor Sphere Abacus. As part of the acquisition, UK-based Sphere Abacus becomes the primary international distributor of Bell Media’s owned distribution rights. Sphere Abacus continues to be led by Managing Director, Jonathan Ford.

Kyle I. Grimes, who since 2023 has served as both President and GM of WCVB-TV, Hearst Television’s flagship Boston station, and as a Hearst Television regional VP overseeing the company’s New England stations, has been promoted to EVP.

Today’s Trivia Question
Which comedy series premiered on HBO Max in 2022, before moving to Starz in 2023? (Email trivia@cynopsis.com 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.)