 IN THE NEWS |
| As Sony and CBS battle over the distribution rights to “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy,” Sony has inked streaming deals for the game shows with Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and Peacock that give the platforms rights to air them the day after their linear premieres. The deals also include access to library episodes. While the latest court ruling handed distribution rights back to CBS (at least for now), streaming deals would be considered separate from the linear rights that are in front of the court. “We are thrilled to bring America’s favorite game shows to an even wider audience on Hulu, Hulu on Disney+, and Peacock,” said Keith Le Goy, Chairman of Sony Pictures Television. ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ are two of the most successful game shows in television history and we look forward to giving fans the best possible streaming access to our shows this fall.”
YouTube is opposing Disney’s lawsuit that attempts to block YouTube’s hiring of top distribution executive Justin Connolly. While Disney filed a restraining order against Connolly, who was recently hired to lead YouTube’s global sports division despite having negotiated a new multiyear deal with Disney late last year, YouTube maintains an order requiring Connolly to either return to work at Disney against his will and/or quit his new position at YouTube is “expressly prohibited by statute and other controlling California law.”
Mattel is combining its film and television units to form Mattel Studios. Mattel vet Robbie Brenner will head the effort as President and Chief Content Officer, while Jennifer Breslow is joining as Head of Television, after four years as Legendary Entertainment’s EVP of TV and Digital Media.
As part of a settlement resolving a shareholder lawsuit that alleged antitrust violations, Google will spend $500 million over ten years to establish new oversight structures. A dedicated “Risk and Compliance Committee” will be formed to ensure the company adheres to regulatory laws, and Alphabet will create a committee composed of senior vice presidents tasked with implementing advanced and comprehensive internal compliance measures, according to the terms of the settlement. |
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| SPORTS MEDIA AWARDS
Tonight: The Industry Gathers
The Sports Media Awards take center stage this evening at City Winery NYC.
Expect a room full of visionaries from CBS Sports, Aflac, PBR, Monumental Sports & more—celebrating the boldest work in the game. 4-7PM | Limited walk-up available
CELEBRATE WITH US |
| NEW & RETURNING SERIES |
 Season five of “Slow Horses” premieres with two episodes Wednesday, September 24 on Apple TV+. The thriller series has already been renewed for season six.
Hulu’s new series of standup specials, “LOL Live,” premieres Friday, June 6. Among the comedians featured is the late Ken Flores, whose performance was taped shortly before his death in January at age 28.
Docuseries “Call Her Alex” premieres Tuesday, June 10 on Hulu. The two-parter follows podcaster Alex Cooper as she prepares for her first tour.
Season 12 of “Love Island UK” hits Hulu on Thursday, June 12, with host Maya Jama – “the official CEO of Love” – presiding. |
Today’ Premieres
Apple TV+: Stick
BritBox: Mr. Loverman
E!: Honestly Cavalarri: The Headline Tour at 9p
ESPN+: Rabil’s Places
HGTV: Holmes Family Rescue at 9p
Netflix: Power Moves with Shaquille O’Neal; Criminal Code; Eve Lasting |
| CYNOPSIS SCREENSHIFT
ScreenShift Opens with Impact
Samantha Rose, EVP at Horizon Media, sets the tone for ScreenShift 2025—offering unmatched insight on CTV’s evolution and investment strategy.
One day. One stage. One powerful kickoff.
VIEW THE AGENDA |
| COMING UP |
| “CMA Fest presented by SoFi” will air Thursday, June 26, at 8p on ABC, hosted by Cody Johnson and Ashley McBryde. The three-hour event is set to be filmed in Nashville during the 52nd CMA Fest later this week.
CNBC’s “Curry Inc. The Business of Stephen Curry” premieres today at 9p. The doc focuses on how the NBA superstar is preparing for life after basketball.
Netflix romcom “The Wrong Paris,” starring Miranda Cosgrove and Pierson Fode, is slated to premiere Friday, September 12.
Lifetime has acquired the new indie film “His, Hers & Ours,” executive produced by Taye Diggs, from The Ninth House. The movie is part of the network’s continued partnership with Terry McMillan under the Terry McMillan Presents banner.
Hen Mazzi’s digital weekly series “And They’re Jewish” takes audiences to the homes of Debra Messing, Mayim Bialik, Eyal Booker, Emmanuelle Chriqui and more as they share stories about their personal lives and careers. Mazzig explains why YouTube is the ideal platform for his project, in Cynsiders. |
| TECH |
| WPP Media has launched a data solution it calls a “large marketing model.” Open Intelligence is trained to understand and predict audience behavior and marketing performance based on patterns derived from real-time data about how people engage with content, brands, platforms, and products. The goal: solve for the increasing limitations of ID-only targeting with a multimodal, privacy-by-default approach that uses real-world commercial, geographic, cultural, and behavioral signals, as well as identity data, to find and engage high-intent audiences.
AI-native platform Classify, designed to addresses the needs of the adtech industry amidst regulatory shifts and a demand for privacy-centric solutions, launched this week. Classify offers two key “data wrapped as a service” products powered by its AI-native technology, including ContentGraph™, a proprietary AI-native content classification and curation engine. “The intersection of regulatory upheaval, technological readiness, and advertiser desperation has created a rare window of opportunity. It is our mission to ensure the world’s content is searchable, organized, and monetizable while respecting privacy,” said founder Brendan Norman. “Our AI-powered ContentGraph™ delivers precision without compromising on privacy.” |
| THINK FAST |
| AccuWeather NOW is now available on VIZIO WatchFree+. Content includes forecasts, weather videos and more. |
| SPORTS REPORT |
| FuboTV and DAZN have struck a multi-year partnership in which both services will distribute their owned-and-operated linear channels on each other’s US platforms. Fubo is now home to DAZN’s boxing and MMA events through the launch of a new linear channel, DAZN1, and DAZN is launching FAST channel Fubo Sports.
Forty percent of viewers under age 35 use sports-specific D2C streaming apps, according to Parks Associates report, Streaming Sports: The Fan Experience, which tracks the rise of sports streaming services. Additional findings include:
• 70% of sports viewers aged 18–24 watch live games weekly, versus 87% among 55+.
• Younger fans are far more likely to engage with interactive features like live stats, polls, and sports betting.
• Highlight packages and shorter-form content are essential to attracting Gen Z and Millennial sports fans.
• NFL is the top sport viewed in season, followed by college football and MLB. |
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 The CW is expanding its live sports programming with the viral hit Savannah Bananas. The exhibition baseball team will make their broadcast debut Sunday, July 27 at 3p. “Banana Ball on the CW is a no-brainer,” said Jesse Cole, founder and CEO of the Savannah Bananas. “After seeing their recent commitment to sports, we knew this could be a great partnership. With the speed and entertainment of Banana Ball, we look forward to creating new fans together in the years to come.”
Allen Media Group’s free-streaming service HBCU GO has been named by the Las Vegas Raiders and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority as the official broadcast and streaming partner for the inaugural Las Vegas HBCU Classic on October 25, to be held at Allegiant Stadium. The kickoff between Grambling State University and Jackson State University is set for 6p.
Salesforce and LIV Golf announced a strategic partnership that brings Agentforce, Salesforce’s digital labor platform, to the golf league. This collaboration is aimed at helping LIV Golf scale its global business infrastructure and operations with intelligent, autonomous AI agents to amplify fan engagement, player experience, and broadcast innovation.
Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Cisco are teaming to use Cisco’s technology solutions to help to create a connected, next-generation experience for fans at MSE’s new arena in downtown DC. The multi-year collaboration will span the entire Monumental enterprise, including the NBA’s Washington Wizards, NHL’s Washington Capitals, WNBA’s Washington Mystics, Capital One Arena, and Monumental Sports Network.
Beverly Cole has joined the Board of Directors of All Sports Network. Cole is a former Federal FDIC and SBA regulator, public board member, and liquidator. |
| DISTRIBUTION |
| Dynamic Television has renewed Danish crime series “The Sommerdahl Murders” for a seventh season. The series has been picked up by TV4 in Sweden, TV2 in Norway, MTV3 in Finland and NPO in the Netherlands, among others.
BossaNova Media has made some killer sales to broadcasters across Europe. Titles include “Killer Clown: Murder on the Doorstep”; “Cold Case Killers”; “The Killer Clown”; and “The Cannibal Next Door,” among others. |
| RATINGS |
| 1.06 million viewers tuned in to FOX to watch the NTT Indycar Series on Sunday, up 75% versus the same race last year, and the most-watched NTT Indycar Series race from Detroit since 2021.
Viewership for “Saturday Night Baseball” on Fox drew 2.2 million viewers, up 16% over last year’s average 1.9 million viewers for regular season telecasts.
Over on The CW, 988,000 total viewers tuned in to the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday, for the most-watched Xfinity Series race from Nashville since 2021. The audience was up +29% compared to last year’s 14th race.
HGTV’s “Rock the Block” attracted 7.5 million total viewers across linear and streaming since it premiered on April 14. The seven-episode run averaged a .66 Live+3 rating among Adults 25-54 and a .84 live plus three-day rating among Women 25-54, respective triple-digit increases of 167 percent and 172 percent over the prior six weeks.
MyOutdoorTV reports it has surpassed 360,000 paid subscribers, up 20% from the beginning of the year.
Basic Cable Top 10 for the week of May 26
P2+AA (000)
Prime Time
TNT 2999
ESPN 2355
Fox News 2289
HGTV 723
MSNBC 718
TruTV 509
TBS 489
INSP 476
USA 345
History 466
Total Day
Fox News 1479
ESPN 659
TNT 640
MSNBC 504
HGTV 352
CNN 308
Hallmark Channel 270
USA 257
Hallmark Mystery 256
TBS 253
Source: Nielsen |
| EXECUTIVE MOVES |
| Nicole Clemens has joined Amazon as VP and Head of International Originals at Prime Video and MGM Studios. Clemes was formerly President Paramount Television Studios/Paramount + Original Scripted Series, Sr. Consultant.
NBCUniversal has promoted Amy Geary to Executive Vice President, Platform Distribution & Partnerships, and Pat Hicks to SVP, Platform Distribution & Partnerships. |
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This Day in History
1784 – Madame Elizabeth Thible becomes the first female balloonist.
Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Before he was Det. Steve McGarrett, Jack Lord starred in which contemporary western with Warren Oates and Bruce Dern as rodeo cowboys who encounter a considerable amount of villainy and violence while pursuing bronco-busting’s biggest prize, the “Golden Buckle”? “Stoney Burke” (1962-63). Kudos to: Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Paul Gluck-TUTV/Philadelphia; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA; Joel Dearing-Virtual News Center/Indianapolis
Today’s Trivia Question
In which animated series did Tiffany Haddish play a head cheerleader? (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.) |
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DIGITAL MEDIA BUYER >>
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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 >>
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ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE DIRECT RESPONSE >>
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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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