| A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY |
 IN THE NEWS |
 Yesterday was ABC’s turn to announce its Fall slate, with newcomer “9-1-1: Nashville” set for Thursdays, and Ryan Seacrest-hosted “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” airing Fridays – pushing “Shark Tank” to Wednesdays, after “The Golden Bachelor.” New seasons of previously announced returning series “American Idol,” “Celebrity Jeopardy!,” “The Rookie” and “Will Trent” will debut in 2026. “ABC dominated this season in multiplatform ratings, which are the most relevant metrics that reflect how audiences are consuming television today,” said Craig Erwich, President, Disney Television Group. “We are meeting viewers where they are, and this achievement really highlights our strategic approach and commitment to creative excellence.”
And the name of ESPN’s new streaming app, arriving in time for the fall football season, is – ESPN. “We kept coming back to our four letters,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told journalists on Tuesday. “There’s power in our name and there’s trust in our name.” Two tiers will be offered: The Unlimited plan, combining ESPN+ with all ESPN cable networks as well as ESPN on ABC broadcasts, for $29.99/month, or $35.99/month bundled with Disney+; and the Select plan, which will include content currently available on ESPN+, for $11.99/month. Together, ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ count 164 million viewers, up 4% from the total the company reported in January.
As for ESPN and Major League Baseball, which opted out of the last three years of their contract, “We remain ready to listen when the league is ready to have a conversation,” said Pitaro. “As I sit here right now, we are not in conversations with them. I don’t know for sure, but I’m assuming they are out there testing the market, which is their right to do. But we love the game of baseball and we would like to figure something out with them, ultimately.”
It’s been quite the week for streaming news. Fox One and ESPN are coming this Fall, and details about CNN’s upcoming streaming service will be spilled at today’s Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront event. Content will include both live programming and on-demand content. The network’s last streaming launch, CNN+, folded in 2022 after just a month.
NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Saquon Barkley introduced CEO Bob Iger at Disney’s Upfront event, and later Martin Short, with “Only Murders in the Building” co-stars Steve Martin and Selena Gomez pointed out, “There are no tariffs on standing ovations.” Charlie Cox announced “Daredevil: Born Again” is shooting its second season, and Jimmy Kimmel ended his mocking monologue on a serious note: “Support ’60 Minutes.’ They deserve it. You have the power because you have the money. Support journalism. It’s important, and it doesn’t work without you.”
“We are the heart for Hispanic connection,” said Donna Speciale, President of US Advertising Sales and Marketing, at TelevisaUnivision’s NYC Upfront event. “We deliver a connection that goes well beyond engagement.” Ignacio Meyer, President of Univision Networks Group, and Rafael Urbina, President of Streaming and Digital, introduced a content-first strategy that includes reality shows, microdramas, expanded sports rights and ViX, the company’s streaming platform, as well as the launch of music destination ViX Musica. “TelevisaUnivision is the single most powerful and enduring force in media for Hispanics – the only fully integrated ecosystem that unites premium Spanish-language content, audience insight, and cross-platform scale – all under one roof,” said Speciale. |
 Sinclair announced that CHARGE, the online destination for crime procedurals, will launch CHARGECON ’25, a two-day televised celebration of “CSI: NY” and “CSI: Miami” featuring interviews with Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of the CSI franchise. “For 25 years, I’ve had the honor of telling stories that put science and justice at the center of primetime. CSI wasn’t just a television show – it was a cultural shift,” said Zuiker. “What started as a bold idea became a global franchise, and I’m endlessly grateful to our fans who helped turn a microscope and a mystery into a movement. Thank you to my partners in crime: Sinclair and CHARGECON.” |
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SPORTS MEDIA AWARDS
One Room. Endless Opportunity.
From award-winning campaigns to executive face time, the Cynopsis Sports Media Awards is where the people driving the future of sports media gather, connect, and celebrate.
On June 4, from 4–7 PM at City Winery NYC, you’ll mix with finalists and decision-makers from across the media landscape—including NBCUniversal, The Volume, Nickelodeon, CBS Sports, and more.
More than an awards show, it’s your front-row seat to the relationships, ideas, and energy shaping 2025.
Secure your seat before prices rise on TONIGHT. |
| NEW & RETURNING SERIES |
| Prime Video’s “Legally Blonde” sequel, “Elle,” is set to launch this summer. The series from Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine is set in the years before the 2001 film. |
 “Chad Powers,” following a disgraced college quarterback who disguises himself as an affable athlete on a struggling Southern football team, premieres Tuesday, September 30 on Hulu. The series comes from co-creators and executive producers Glen Powell and Michael Waldron. Eli Manning serves as executive producer along with Omaha Productions’ Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz, Ben Brown and ESPN.
Some debut dates for FX series: All season four episodes of “The Bear” drop Wednesday, June 25 at 8p on Hulu; new drama “Alien Earth” debuts Tuesday, August at 8p on FX and Hulu; and “The Lowdown,” from Sterlin Harjo (“Reservations Dogs”) kicks off Tuesday, September 23 at 9p on FX. |
Today’ Premieres
CW: Sullivan’s Crossing at 8p
Fox: America’s Most Wanted: John Walsh’s Dirty Dozen at 8p
Magnolia: Mini Reni at 8p
Netflix: American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden; Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story; Rhythm + Flow: Poland; Snakes and Ladders |
| PRODUCTION |
| Prime Video has ordered drama series “Delphi,” an extension of the “Creed” film universe produced by Michael B. Jordan and Marco Ramirez, who will serve as showrunner. Jordan’s Outlier Society has a first-look film deal and overall television deal with Amazon MGM Studios. |
 “Beast Games” was renewed for two more seasons on Prime Video. In its first season, the competition series became Prime Video’s most-watched unscripted show, with 50 million viewers.
Prime Video also renewed post-apocalyptic series “Fallout” for a third run, ahead of its season two debut; and ordered “Barbershop,” a television adaptation of the film franchise, and a six-part docuseries about female CEOs featuring and executive produced by Serena Williams.
The CW has picked up two seasons of “Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent,” based on the Dick Wolf format. Season one aired on Canada’s CityTV.
Acorn TV renewed “Inspector Ellis” for a second season. The detective drama comes from Company Pictures, in association with All3Media International and Northern Ireland Screen.
Netflix broke ground on the construction of its new facility at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey. The 292-acre former US Army installation will transform, with the help of $1 billion, into an East Coast production hub with 12 soundstages totaling nearly 500,000 square feet. “Netflix is proud to invest in American innovation and the creative community. We estimate that these studios will create thousands of jobs for New Jersey residents, billions of dollars in economic output, and many other cultural benefits to the region and state,” said Co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Jude Law (“The Young Pope”) and Andrew Garfield (“The Amazing Spider-Man”) will executive produce and play the lead roles in Apple TV+ limited series “Wild Things,” about magicians Siegried and Roy.
Naomi Watts has been cast as Jackie Kennedy in Ryan Murphy’s upcoming anthology series for FX, “American Love Story.” The season will be centered on the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. |
| DISTRIBUTION |
| DLT Entertainment has inked distribution deals with The CW and TCLtv+ for 80’s Sitcom Flashback, the FAST Channel curated to celebrate the comedies that dominated primetime TV in the eighties. |
| SCREENSHIFT
The Future of Media Has a New Home
ScreenShift (formerly the BIG TV Summit) is where content meets commerce, strategy meets innovation, and the smartest voices in media meet each other.
On October 14 in NYC, join 300+ senior leaders from brands, agencies, platforms, and tech companies for a full day of bold conversations around AI, CTV growth, audience measurement, ad innovation, and the screen economy.
If you’re shaping where media goes next, or want to, this is where it all converges.
Register Now |
| COMING UP |
| “The 59th Annual CMA Awards” will return to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, November 19, and broadcast live on ABC at 8p. |
| SPORTS REPORT |
 ESPN is launching a female-led sports show on Disney+ in late June. The announcement about “Vibe Check” came during Disney’s Upfront presentation on Tuesday. “We are incredibly excited to launch this new show, which will provide a powerful platform for the brilliant women at ESPN,” said Burke Magnus, President of Content, ESPN. “The voices that will be leading this program have long been shaping the sports landscape, and now they’ll have this additional platform to bring their unique insights to the forefront in an even more impactful way for Disney+ subscribers.”
Fox has landed rights to air an exclusive NFL doubleheader in Week 16 of the upcoming season. The games give Fox 11 doubleheaders, the most ever by a single network in one season.
YouTube will exclusively stream an NFL game in September, the league’s annual matchup in Brazil. “We are excited to expand our relationship with YouTube to bring this year’s Brazil game to a worldwide audience,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL EVP of Media Distribution. “YouTube and YouTube TV have been incredible partners of the NFL for several years and boast an immense global reach, and we look forward to Week 1 in São Paulo.” |
 Meyer Shank Racing announced that Spectrum will be the primary sponsor for the No. 66 Honda Indy car driven by Marcus Armstrong for the 109th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 25. Spectrum will also have placements on the No. 60 Honda Indy car driven by Felix Rosenqvist and the No. 06 Honda Indy car driven by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves.
US Ski & Snowboard and Stifel Financial Corp. struck a renewal of their partnership from May 2026 through April 2034. Under the renewed agreement, Stifel will be the title partner of the Stifel US Ski Team, supporting the alpine, cross country, freeski, moguls, aerials, ski jumping, nordic combined and Para alpine teams, as well as the exclusive financial services partner of US Ski & Snowboard through the next three Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. |
| RATINGS |
| FOX had 2,021,000 viewers tune in Saturday night for a two-game Baseball Night in America slate, featuring the Chicago Cubs’ 6-5 victory over the New York Mets in most of the country as well as the Minnesota Twins’ 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.
Kyle Larson took the NASCAR Cup Series in front of 2.319 million FS1 viewers, up 1% from last year’s Kansas race.
Top 10 Basic Cable for the Week of May 5
P2+ AA (000)
Primetime
TNT 3435
Fox News 2451
ESPN 1535
MSNBC 892
HGTV 560
TBS 495
CNN 495
History 427
TLC 425
USA 422
Total Day
Fox News 1582
TNT 799
MSNBC 564
ESPN 546
CNN 375
HGTV 307
TBS 251
Hallmark Mystery 244
Hallmark Channel 242
TV Land 241
Source: Nielsen |
| EXECUTIVE MOVES |
| Finite Films & TV and Shoni Productions have appointed Aaron Anderson as Head of Scripted Development. Most recently, he served at Sir Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment, as Script Producer. |
This Day in History
1853 – Gail Borden patented his process for condensed milk.
Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which TV character’s son, born in season six of one series, did not exist in the show’s spinoff? Jackie had a son, Andy, on “Roseanne” (1988-97), but did not on “The Conners” (2018-25). Kudos to: Andrew Goldman-Phanes Funding Group/NYC; James Maxim-Disney/NYC; Karen Van Vleet-Horizon Media/NYC; Mark Prince-denstu Media Americas/NYC; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA
Today’s Trivia Question
Which actor had recurring roles on both “Homeland” and “Royal Pains” in 2012? (Email your answer to trivia@cynopsis.com and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four answers per time zone.) |
SR. DIRECTOR OF SALES, KSTU & KUPX >>
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SALES PLANNER, GENERAL RATE >>
GAC MEDIA, LLC/NEW YORK, NY: The Sales Planner, General Rate is responsible for providing support to the Advertising Sales department by working with Account Executives to service clients on a daily basis. The job requires attention to detail, industry knowledge, as well as strong communication skills. Full info HERE
CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER>>
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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
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE DIRECT RESPONSE >>
OPPORTUNITY MEDIA/NY(REMOTE/HYBRID): Seeking an energetic achiever with excellent written & organizational skills for role to assist in growing revenue for dynamic Direct Response Team: required: BA Degree, Min 2 yrs DR Experience. Wide Orbit Exp a +. 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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