Good morning and welcome to Cynopsis — the media industry’s essential morning read. Today:
· Netflix Still Has Acquisition Dreams
· “Kiki’s Delivery Service” Is Getting A Live-Action Adaptation
· Expect To See Even More CTV Ad Spending Soon |
 IN THE NEWS |
 Third time’s a charm? Fox apparently had competition in the race to buy Roku. Sources tell Semafor that Netflix was also planning to make a bid, but eventually withdrew its interest. After the fight with Paramount Skydance over Warner Bros. Discovery, that makes two recent losses for Netflix’s M&A efforts.
· However, Netflix has also expressed interest (albeit informally) in buying Lionsgate Studios, which would give the streamer access to a huge library of film and TV licenses, including “Mad Men,” “South Park” and “The Rookie.”
· Netflix’s party line is that the company prefers to build, not buy – but we’ll see. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos told investors during an earnings call in April that, “we really built our M&A muscle” while chasing the Warner Bros. acquisition. We guess that counts.
Forget it, Jake, it’s… anywhere but Chinatown, actually. The recent LA mayoral race inspired a lot of handwringing about why Hollywood productions are leaving California. But the real solution might be more complex than political talking points can account for.
· As Variety reports, strict bureaucratic regulations have created issues for LA-based shows like the “Baywatch” reboot, which ran into major issues while filming.
· High costs are also a factor. Many US states offer better tax and labor credits, while some foreign countries will even spend government money to subsidize film and TV productions.
Trouble in Paramount. The impending merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery might have received the DOJ’s seal of approval on Friday, but the process wasn’t without its political hiccups.
· Per The Wall Street Journal, career staffers at the DOJ had not yet made a final recommendation and were, in fact, leaning towards challenging the bid before senior leadership closed the investigation.
· Some staffers also objected to the public statement of support that the department published on Friday, arguing that it would cause difficulties for state AGs who wish to challenge the merger in court.
· On the other side of the deal, Paramount refused to air an ad for the Freedom of the Press Foundation that would have criticized the merger, Wired recently learned. The 30-second spot was intended to run during the livestream of UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday night. |
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| NEW & RETURNING SERIES |
 “Pompeii: Out of Time,” a three-part docudrama series starring Tom Hiddleston and produced by Kevin R. Wright (“Loki”), will premiere on National Geographic on July 22 and on Disney+ and Hulu on July 23.
Season 4 of “Star Trek: Strange New World” boldly goes to Paramount+ on July 23. A new trailer for the prequel series indicates that Captain Kirk and Spock’s budding friendship will serve as a prominent plot point.
Prime Video docuseries “The Chosen in the Wild with Bear Grylls,” will arrive on the platform August 26. True to its title, the series will bring together TV presenter Bear Grylls with the cast of the historical drama “The Chosen,” which is about the life of Jesus Christ.
“Heartstopper” may have started as a TV series, but it’s getting a feature film-length conclusion. The movie drops on Netflix July 17.
“Undercover Lover,” a Dutch reality dating show, is coming to Prime Video this summer. The series, produced by SimpelZodiak, will be hosted by content creators Robbert Rodenburg and Kelly Mexy.
Oxygen’s “The Real Murders of Atlanta” returns for Season 4 on Saturday, July 11. |
Today’s Premiere
A&E: Swamp Patrol at 10 p.m.
Bravo: 5th Annual Las Culturistas Culture Awards at 9 p.m.
BET: OG Stories at 11 p.m.
Disney+: The Simpsons: Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition
History Channel: Alone at 9 p.m.
Hulu: The Season
Freeform: Million Dollar Nannies at 10 p.m.
PBS: The Kimberley: Australia’s Wild West at 10 p.m. |
| PRODUCTION |
| BBC studios announced that a live-action “Kiki’s Delivery Service” series is in the works. Like Studio Ghibli’s beloved 1989 animated film, the series will be based on the books by Eiko Kadono.
Hulu greenlit a third season for “Rivals,” the British period comedy-drama starring Alex Hassell and David Tennant. Season 2 began airing its first six episodes in May this year and will return in November for six more.
Prime Video has already given Michael Hirst’s new viking drama “Bloodaxe” a Season 2 order, even though the first season won’t premiere until early 2027. The new season will begin filming in Ireland within a few weeks.
“The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy,” a travel series hosted and executive produced by the titular Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”), will return to Apple TV for a fourth season.
The newly rebranded Disney Kids & Family (neé Disney Branded Television) is producing a new animated series for Disney+. The show, titled “Journey,” will follow a magical girl of the same name who must travel to forbidden lands to save her city.
British stop-motion animated characters “The Wombles” are getting revived after a consolidation of the brand’s IP rights. New global representative The Blair Partnership plans to kick off the new international franchise with a revamped TV series and a YouTube channel.
Food and lifestyle production company Intuitive Content’s “Life of Fire” is renewed for a third season. Season 3 is slated for production over the summer and will premiere on the Outdoor Channel in 2027.
Comedy competition series “Funny AF With Kevin Hart” has been renewed for a second season on Netflix. |
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| TECH NEWS YOU CAN USE |
| Do TV commercials actually work? Hyundai is the pilot advertiser testing a new integration between supply-side ad platform OpenX and AI-powered media platform Chalice AI. In a nutshell, the collaboration is meant to help brands target the right viewers with data not readily available in typical digital ad buys. This move reflects a growing trend of applying more data to video ad buys as marketers face rising pressure to prove the performance of their media investments.
Omnichannel ad platform Mediaocean released its H2 2026 market report today. While the bulk of the report deals with how marketers are thinking about their AI implementation across various advertising channels, it also reveals that 89% of marketers plan to maintain or increase their investment in CTV. |
| COMING UP |
| Fox News Media is planning a huge, multiplatform slate of live coverage beginning on June 24 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. The programming will appear on Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox Nation, Fox Weather and numerous other TV, audio and digital channels under the Fox umbrella.
Some might think it’s too soon to start talking about Christmas, but not Disney. The company announced a new full-length animated special called “Mickey’s Home Alone” that will debut during the 2026 holiday season on Disney Jr. and Disney+. |
| SPORTS REPORT |
| After five years off the air, The World Series of Poker is coming back to ESPN in 2026. This time it will be produced by Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. |
| DISTRIBUTION |
| Infamous YouTube channel “5-Minute Crafts” now has its own dedicated FAST channel on Prime Video. It’s the first FAST channel to be produced by TheSoul Group, a Cyprus-based creator business that manages the “5-Minute Crafts” brand.
VSiN, a broadcast network dedicated to sports betting, also launched its own 24/7 FAST channel in the form of Best Bets TV. The channel is exclusively available on the OrkaTV app. |
| EXECUTIVE MOVES |
| The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the addition of two new board members: documentary filmmaker Laurens Grant and Fox Sports SVP Jacob Ullman. In addition, Chief of Staff Lara Gates was promoted to chief operating officer.
CBS News has hired Josh Boswell (The Daily Mail) and Cho Park (ABC News). Both will work on the program’s investigative reporting team under editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
CNN brings on financial content creator Kyla Scanlon, who claims to have coined the term “vibecession,” as an analyst and contributor.
Matt McLaughlin has been promoted to SVP of ad sales at Fox. |
| IN MEMORIAM |
| William Smithers, who starred opposite Larry Hagman on the CBS soap opera “Dallas,” has died at the age of 98. |
Today’s Trivia Question
Who was the youngest member of the “Golden Girls” cast when the beloved sitcom first premiered in 1985, and how old was she? (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
Lance Loud was the first openly gay person to star in an American reality television show after coming out during the 1973 PBS documentary series “An American Family.” He was also the frontman for Mumps, a punk rock band that regularly played at Max’s Kansas City and CBGB.
Congrats to: Greg West-WATC TV/Atlanta; Fr. Mark Wajda/Clermont, FL; Ed Casey-LR Studio/Summit, NJ; Robert Miner-Miner & Co. Studio/NYC; Justin Pierce-JP Consulting Group/LA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Amy Kessler-St. Alban’s Church/Albany, CA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA |
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