Good morning and welcome to Cynopsis — the media industry’s essential morning read. Today:
· The Knicks Celebrate a Record Comeback
· Emmy Voting is Officially Underway
· “Doctor Who?” More like “Doctor When’s This Show Coming Back?” |
 IN THE NEWS |
 He shoots, he scores! The New York Knicks pulled off a record comeback in Game 4 of the NBA Playoffs, defeating the San Antonio Spurs by turning a 29-point deficit into a narrow victory within the final seconds of Wednesday’s game. The score is now 3–1 with a series lead for the Knicks as the competing teams gear up for Game 5 in the Spurs’ home state of Texas on June 13. Saturday’s game will air on ABC and be available to stream through distributors with access to ABC, including DirecTV, Sling, Fubo and Hulu + Live TV. The NBA expects the fifth game to attract between 20 million and 25 million viewers in the US alone.
Shop till you drop. NBCUniversal is launching a new shoppable video series with Bravo personalities Cynthia Bailey, Ariana Biermann, Lindsay Hubbard, Michelle Saniei and Nia Sanchez. “Shop What Happens” is inspired by the format of Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,” and will feature real commentary and conversations between Bravo personalities as they explore trendy items available for purchase at Target, the series sponsor. While QR codes will appear on-screen to encourage immediate purchases, the show’s format more closely resembles the QVC channel’s style during the heyday of TV home shopping, where real human dialogue spurs short-term sales.
Politics on-demand, anyone? The 2026 election cycle is expected to reach a record $11.6 billion in ad spending, surpassing the $11.2 billion in spending during the 2024 presidential election season, according to ad intelligence company AdImpact. Broadcast remains the dominant channel for political ad dollars, capturing 48% of spend this year – but streaming TV, at a 23% share, is the fastest-growing channel for political spend. Meanwhile, other digital mediums are also attracting more political advertisers. AdImpact projects that digital ad spend across Meta, Google, X and Snap will hit $1.6 billion this year, a 9% increase from its original projection. Looks like it might take a few more election cycles to close the ad spend gap between linear and streaming. |
 Good news and bad news for Emmy voters – there are fewer submissions to sift through this year. Only 555 programs made it onto this year’s nominating ballot compared to 600 last year, a decline of 7.5%.
· Most of that decline comes from a lack of submissions for prerecorded variety specials (think stand-up specials and concerts like “Wicked: One Wonderful Night”), although there were also dips in the number of dramas, reality shows and live variety specials compared to last year.
· This also marks the first year since the Television Academy merged its Outstanding Scripted Variety series and Outstanding Talk Series categories, meaning that late-night talk shows like “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will have to duke it out with variety shows like “Saturday Night Live.” |
| A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM BUCKEYE BROADBAND |
| NEW & RETURNING SERIES |
| “Real Time with Bill Maher” continues on Friday on HBO and HBO Max. This week, the comedic political talk show will feature a one-on-one interview with “New Yorker” contributor and author David Sedaris.
We hope Larry David enjoyed the Knicks’ victory in Game 4, because his life’s about to get messy again. The limited series “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America” will premiere June 26 on HBO and HBO Max.
“Fightland,” a new series from Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s production studio, G-Unit Film & Television, premieres July 31 on Starz. The family crime drama, a story of vengeance and victory from the perspective of a heavyweight champion boxer, is part of the production company’s efforts to create more premium original content for underrepresented audiences.
“Lioness” returns to Paramount+ with Season 3 debuting on August 2. Oscar-winning actresses Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman co-star in the espionage thriller.
Netflix released the full trailer for “Little House on the Prairie,” based on the beloved book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The first season will be available to stream on July 9. |
Today’s Premieres
Starz: Power Book III: Raising Kanan; The Listeners at 9 p.m.
Netflix: The Polygamist
HBO Max: Proud
Disney+/Hulu: Celebrity Wheel of Fortune
Saturday’s Premieres
Adult Swim: My Adventures with Superman at 12 a.m.
MS NOW: Connect with Jacob Soboroff at 10 a.m.
National Geographic: Liverpool Narcos at 9 p.m.
Sunday’s Premieres
PBS: Grantchester at 8 p.m.; Patience at 9 p.m.
Paramount+: The Ultimate Fighter |
| PRODUCTION |
| National Geographic greenlit “Tucci In Great Britain,” a five-part culinary docuseries featuring actor Stanley Tucci. The new series follows the success of “Tucci in Italy” and will spotlight popular dishes and beloved flavors across the region. The series, produced by SALT Productions and OBB, will also be available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
Andrew Phung and Scott Townsend, co-creators of the Canadian comedy “Run the Burbs,” signed a deal with Blink49 Studios to produce original scripted and unscripted TV series for a global market. Phung is well known for his role as Kimchee Han in the sitcom “Kim’s Convenience.” |
 “Doctor Who” is officially in limbo. The BBC and longtime on-again, off-again showrunner Russell T. Davies (along with his production company, Bad Wolf) announced on Wednesday that this year’s Christmas special has been canceled. According to an Instagram post from Davies, there was “no script” and “no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor.” Per Deadline’s sources, it will likely take until 2028 for the franchise to return to television.
A new book-to-series adaptation is in the works at Peacock. Andrea Mara, Megan Gallagher and Carnival Films, the team behind “All Her Fault,” will develop a new limited series based on another of Mara’s novels, “Such a Nice Girl.” |
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| TECH NEWS YOU CAN USE |
| Gray Media, the artist formerly known as Gray Television, is teaming up with demand-side platform Madhive to give local TV campaigns a boost. Madhive brings its ad planning and measurement chops to the table, as well as access to premium streaming inventory including live sports. Gray Media expects to help its local advertisers reach their intended audiences more effectively and improve ad performance – the primary objective of just about every video advertiser right now.
Roku and Omnicom Media Intelligence released a new report that spotlights the effectiveness of home screen ad placements for marketers. Although the findings are certainly self-serving – Roku and other streaming distributors see home screen ad sales as a key revenue stream – the results shine a spotlight on how these ad placements impact a brand’s campaign results. Among the findings: Established brands that combine home screen and video ad placements saw 61% higher ad recall than brands using a single ad format.
Sell-side advertising platform Magnite has launched Magnite Orchestration, an intelligence layer meant to help media buyers take advantage of the increase in AI-driven campaign workflows. The new feature connects buyer agents to Magnite’s sell-side agent to help media buyers find and secure their desired premium video inventory more quickly and effectively. “As agentic workflows become more sophisticated, we’re going to see greater focus on outcomes,” said Sean Buckley, Magnite’s president of revenue and market strategy. Ad performance is a top priority for video advertisers, Buckley added, especially the ability to reduce waste by moving budgets into content that drives better business results. |
| COMING UP |
| “Breaking the Deadlock,” a show that explores the country’s toughest issues through a series of interviews, continues July 9 on PBS. The latest episode, “How to Fix an Election,” features nine thought leaders with differing cultural and political backgrounds discussing election ethics and government integrity. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and entrepreneur Mark Cuban are among the panelists. The episode will also be available to stream on YouTube and the PBS app.
National Geographic’s annual SHARKFEST (not to be confused with Discovery Channel’s Shark Week) is coming back this summer for its 14th year. The series will kick off July 5 and also be available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu. |
| SPORTS REPORT |
| Xumo, the free ad-supported streaming platform co-owned by Comcast and Charter, announced that Xumo Play will stream two FIFA World Cup 2026 Spanish-language matches from Telemundo.
Global sports entertainment platform DAZN inked an agreement with DSPORTS, a sports network available across Latin America. The deal strengthens DAZN’s football portfolio ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026. DAZN users in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay will be able to access all 104 matches in the tournament broadcast by DSPORTS. |
| DISTRIBUTION |
| The animated sing-along series “Gracie’s Corner” is coming to Disney+ and Disney Jr. on June 15. In addition to linear and streaming rights, the title acquisition also comes with more than 120 short-form videos. Short-form vertical video is a growing priority for streaming platforms including Disney, which recently rolled out a vertical video feed called Verts. |
| RATINGS |
| A record 26.3 million people tuned into Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday, making it the most-watched Game 3 since 1998, according to ABC and ESPN. |
Today’s Trivia Question
Netflix’s “Is It Cake?” Season 2 winner Elizabeth Rowe successfully constructed her cake to look like what realistic object? (Email answers to trivia@cynopsis.com and include your name, company and city. Answers limited to four per time zone.)
Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Which five-season TV series spawned two TV movies in which the matriarch was played by a different actress each time? “Eight Is Enough” (1977-81). The role played by Betty Buckley in the series went to Mary Frann in 1987’s “Eight Is Enough: Family Reunion” and Sandy Faison in “Eight Is Enough Wedding.”
Congrats to: Greg West-WATC TV/Atlanta; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA |
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