 IN THE NEWS |
| Disney is set to cut as many as 1,000 positions over the next few weeks, with many in the marketing department recently consolidated under Asad Ayaz, reports the Wall Street Journal. While the layoffs fall under new CEO Josh D’Amaro, plans for the reductions were already in motion before he took the helm. The company’s last major layoffs took place in 2023, when the company eliminated 7,000 jobs.
MS NOW is teaming with three nonprofit organizations to bolster investigative and local journalism. Partnerships with The Pulitzer Center will focus on climate, human rights, and AI; The Marshall Project will drive immigration coverage; and States Newsroom will expand state government reporting – building on existing deals with Sky News and AccuWeather. The company is also launching a grant program to fund local, nonprofit, and independent journalists producing accountability reporting.
Prime Video handed a straight-to-season order to a crime thriller from Davi Weil (“Hunters”). Set in a Texas border town, “Calamities” follows a small-town sheriff, a sociopathic hit woman, an FBI agent, and a ruthless sect of the cartel.
Comcast’s Xfinity is bulking up its StreamSaver bundles, adding the Disney+/Hulu combo and HBO Max to a lineup that already includes Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV. Customers can now choose from eight different package options, ranging in price from $18 to $35 per month. |
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| CYNOPSIS WEBINARS
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CTV budgets are growing—but success comes down to execution. Join Premion on April 15 at 1PM ET to learn how brands are improving performance, simplifying workflows, and making smarter cross-screen decisions.
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| NEW & RETURNING SERIES |
| A new season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” featuring a pair of UFC Hall of Famers competing head-to-head as coaches, kicks off Sunday, June 14 – the same day as UFC Freedom 250 – with new episodes premiering every Tuesday for the remainder of the 12-episode season.
TLC’s “One Day in My Body,” a look at people living with severe medical conditions, debuts Wednesday, April 15 at 9p.
TNT Sports and DAZN are partnering to bring live boxing to TNT Sports and DAZN platforms. Monthly boxing events, branded “The Fight” and promoted with DAZN and its roster of boxing promoters, launch with a showcase on Saturday, July 4. “DAZN has earned a strong reputation within the boxing community, and this will allow TNT Sports to be a player in this growing sport – expanding the reach of these events and the moments surrounding them – to an even broader audience,” said Luis Silberwasser, Chairman & CEO, TNT Sports. The deal builds on a production and commercial partnership between TNT Sports and DAZN to showcase the FIFA Club World Cup last summer.
“Partners,” a sports reality series from Shutterstock Studios produced in partnership with the Carvana® PPA (Professional Pickleball Association) Tour, premieres Tuesday, May 5 on Prime Video. The six-parter offers a look behind the scenes of professional pickleball.
RFD-TV ‘s May lineup includes season two of “A Girl’s Guide to Hunting, Fishing & Wild Cooking,” premiering Thursday, May 7 at 9:30p; “On the Record, presented by John Deere,” returning Friday, May 15 at 7:30p; and a new season of “Dailey & Vincent,” starting Saturday, May 30 at 8:30p. |
Today’s Premieres
Disney+: Perfect Crown
Hulu: Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair
Netflix: Temptation Island; Turn of the Tide
OWN: Belle Collective: Birmingham at 9p
The Roku Channel: The Reunion: Laguna Beach
Saturday’s Premieres
A&E: Million Dollar Mountain Homes at 12p
CNN: Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever at 9p
Magnolia: Building Back America’s Trades at 10a
Nat Geo: Ibiza Narcos at 9p
Oxygen: Philly Homicide at 8p
Prime Video: First of the North Star
Sunday’s Premieres
AMC: The Audacity at 9p
CNN: Eva Longoria: Searching for France at 9p
HBO: Euphoria at 9p
Netflix: At Home With the Furys |
| RENEWALS |
| HBO Max is doubling down on “Rooster.” The freshman comedy is officially renewed for a second season after a breakout start – its first four episodes are averaging 5.8 million US viewers and pacing to be HBO’s biggest new comedy launch in over a decade. The series stars Steve Carell as an author navigating a complicated relationship with his daughter.
UP Faith & Family’s “Blue Skies” has also scored a second season. The procedural follows a former military police officer as she returns to her hometown to start over as a criminal investigator for the National Park Police. |
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| PRODUCTION |
| ABC News has named Jon Schlosberg as executive producer of “This Week With George Stephanopouos,” effective May 6. Schlosberg has been senior producer for “ABC News Live Prime” with Linsey Davis since 2021. “Jon is a tenacious journalist and exceptional leader who has been instrumental across the ABC News Group for more than a decade, bringing precision, creativity and integrity to some of the most consequential stories of our time,” said Rick Klein, ABC News Washington bureau chief. |
| TECH |
The lack of standardized, performance-based measurement for Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising is an issue for 86% of retail marketers, according to new research from OOH data and technology company Accretive. While 60% of retail marketers plan to increase their OOH budgets this year, 51% still allocate less than 5% of their total media spend to the channel. Key findings in the study include:
· 27% of retail brands rank foot traffic lift as their top performance metric.
· Nearly 30% of retail marketers rely on retail and point-of-sale data to inform OOH targeting decisions
· 48.5% of retail marketers across brands and agencies rate OOH as highly critical for driving shoppers to a retailer’s digital properties.
· 62% of retail marketers agree that OOH amplifies social media campaigns more effectively than any other channel.
But despite high satisfaction levels, retail marketers pointed to inventory quality, execution complexity and a knowledge gap as hurdles to moving OOH from tactical addition to a foundational strategy. “RMN is a multi-billion dollar bet on connecting digital signals to physical behavior, and OOH is the most physical channel there is,” said Craig Benner, CEO and founder of Accretive. “Bringing standardized performance reporting to the space doesn’t just unlock OOH budgets. It connects two strategies that should already be working together.”
Software as a Service platform Frequency has launched its AI platform for Frequency Studio, powering the channel creation and distribution workflow. Frequency Studio is now fully accessible to AI agents across every core service, enabling channels to be created, programmed, and optimized at scale with reduced manual involvement.
FuboTV has upgraded its mobile app to optimize the sports streaming experience for fans. Features include live video in carousels; expanded Team Channels, including vertical video; personalized Game Alerts; and breaking news alerts. “We recognize that sports fans and news junkies aren’t always at home,” said Isaac Josephson, SVP, Product Management. “By leveraging our proprietary AI at scale, we’re transforming the Fubo mobile app from a simple streaming tool into a high-value, personalized, content engine.”
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) announced a new multi-year agreement with Great American Media to provide managed channel origination, playout, and transmission services using Comcast MediaOrigination, part of the Comcast Media360 product portfolio. “Comcast Media360 allows us to simplify our broadcast operations and ensure our programming reaches our TV distribution partners and viewers nationwide with the reliability and quality they expect,” said Bill Abbott, President and CEO of GAM. |
| COMING UP |
| Theater fan P!nk will host CBS’ broadcast of the 7th Annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 7. “Broadway has shaped my life and how I put my own shows together – it is a community that is supportive, and inclusive, and full of talent and love,” said the “Just Give Me a Reason” singer. “These people give magic every single day, and I cannot wait to celebrate them with the entire world.”
Another singer set for hosting duty is Chiquis, for the fourth annual “Billboard Latin Women in Music” special, airing Thursday, April 23 at 9p on Telemundo. At last year’s show, the artist was an “Impact” award honoree.
Long-time anime fan The Weeknd will appear at the tenth Crunchyroll Anime Awards taking place on Saturday, May 23 in Tokyo. The musician, known for weaving anime influences into his work, will present the Anime of the Year award at the livestreamed event. |
| SPORTS REPORT |
| As watching sports teams gets harder (and pricier), the DOJ is taking a closer look at the NFL. The probe zeroes in on whether exclusive streaming deals are driving up costs and crossing antitrust lines, pushing the limits of the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act. The NFL counters that it remains the most fan-friendly league, noting 87% of its games are still available on local TV.
DirecTV and San Diego FC announced the expansion of DirecTV’s “Goals for Good” program. As the Club’s official jersey partner, DirecTV will donate $250 to the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) for every goal scored by San Diego FC during the 2026 MLS regular season, up to $25,000.
Fuel TV, home of action sports including skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, skiing, BMX, motocross, has launched on The Roku Channel, marking the largest US distribution for the channel in its 23-year history. |
| RATINGS |
| FETV’s Easter Sunday airing of “Ben-Hur” drove the network’s best-ever Total Audience and Adults 35–64 coverage ratings for the Sunday 3–8p slot, according to Nielsen Big Data.
Hit film “Zootopia,” premiered on Disney+ on March 11 and jumped to #1 on Nielsen’s streaming chart with 1.72 billion minutes for the week of March 9. Adults 18-49 accounted for 44% of total viewing, and kids 2-11 contributed 39%. The original “Zootopia” film from 2016 got a boost, coming in at #5 among movies with 381 million minutes. |
Top 10 Broadcast Networks for the Week of March 30
P2+ AA (000)
CBS: 3.950
ABC 3.206
NBC 2.606
Fox 1.458
Univision 1.177
Telemundo .736
ION .514
MeTV .502
CW .425
Grit .344
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, Live+SD Primetime |
| EXECUTIVE MOVES |
| OpenAP has appointed Ryan Gould, President of US Advertising Sales, Go To Market for Warner Bros. Discovery, as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Gould was first appointed to OpenAP’s Board of Directors in 2025.
Charlie Firebrace, formerly Head of Strategy and Partnerships at AudienceScan, has joined the audience intelligence and media solutions platform Fifty as its new Growth Director. |
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This Day in History
1912 – The RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, bound for New York.
Friday Fun Fact
You can hear a blue whale’s heart from more than two miles away.
Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which short-lived series focused on a San Francisco police detective who is investigating a vampire he thinks is a mobster? “Kindred: The Embraced” (1996). Kudos to: Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA; Justin Pierce-JP Consulting Group/LA
Today’s Trivia Question
On “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (1990-96), which two colleges did Carton attend? (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.) |
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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