| Good morning and welcome to Cynopsis — the media industry’s essential morning read.
In observance of the July 4th holiday, Cynopsis will not be publishing next week. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday, July 6th. Wishing everyone a safe and happy Independence Day!
Today:
· FCC Chair Accuses ABC of “Campaign of Misinformation”
· Sky and ITV Agree to Terms for $2.1 Billion Deal
· Paramount Lands the Wizarding World |
 IN THE NEWS |
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr accused ABC of running a “campaign of misinformation” about the agency’s inquiry into daytime talk show “The View.”
· The FCC is investigating whether “The View” is subject to its “equal time” rules, which require networks featuring political candidates during election season to offer comparable airtime to their opponents.
· ABC, owned by Disney, pushed back Monday by airing on-screen spots telling viewers the FCC “wants to control who is allowed to appear on the show,” and urged viewers to file comments on the FCC’s website. As of Thursday, nearly 50,000 comments had been filed.
· Carr pushed back on ABC’s characterization, saying at the FCC’s monthly meeting on Thursday that the agency is not trying to dictate the show’s guests but is simply “enforcing the provisions” passed by Congress.
· How will the FCC evaluate the feedback? “We have our ways of combing through the comments and we evaluate the merits of what people are saying,” Carr told journalists on Thursday.
· Carr has also pushed for expedited license renewal reviews for ABC’s eight owned TV stations, which ABC has described as an effort to chill political speech.
· Takeaway: The FCC’s “equal time” rule has existed for decades, but it has rarely been applied to talk shows — which are typically exempt as news and public affairs programming — making the agency’s decision to investigate “The View” unusual and, to critics, political. The outcome could set a significant precedent for how much leverage federal regulators can exert over broadcast content and the news organizations that air it.
Comcast-owned Sky has agreed to acquire ITV’s broadcast and streaming division for $2.1 billion, reports Reuters.
· As part of the deal, ITV Studios gets Sky’s Love Productions, the studio behind “The Great British Bake Off” and “The Piano.”
· The agreement is now in lawyers’ hands for finalization.
· The Takeaway: Sky is doubling down on UK content distribution while ITV cashes out its broadcast arm — but walks away with a prized production house to fuel its studios business. |
 Paramount just landed the wizarding world. Starting July 3, all 11 films from the “Harry Potter” and “Fantastic Beasts” libraries — nearly 40 hours of content — will air exclusively across MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite and Paramount Network under a new multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. It’s the first time the franchise has called any of those networks home.
Cynopsis is evolving right alongside the media industry. In the coming weeks, we’re rolling out a reimagined newsletter — new look, new feel, new cadence — built to deliver everything you need to get ahead of the day. Got some ideas? Input is welcome: Lynn@Cynopsis.com. |
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| NEW & RETURNING SERIES |
| Season two of Peacock’s “The Paper” drops Wednesday, Sept. 9 with all episodes. The spinoff of “The Office” follows the documentary crew that once shadowed Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch.
“Breaking Bear,” an animated series following a dysfunctional bear family who resort to a life of crime to protect their forest home, kicks off Friday, July 24 on Tubi. The show was originally scheduled to debut in March.
Docuseries “Jay-Z in 8” premieres this fall on HBO. In the eight-parter, Jay-Z discusses his music, lyrics, life experiences and creative process.
RFD-TV and Ag PhD are taking their partnership to the next level. “Ag PhD Daily,” a new one-hour weekday series packed with agronomic advice for farmers and ranchers, debuts Monday, June 29 at 3 p.m. |
Today’s Premiere
Apple TV: Camp Snoopy
Disney+: The Doomies
HBO: Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness at 9 p.m.
Netflix: Agent Kim Reactivated; Notes From the Last Row; Pokemon Horizons: Rising Hope
Prime Video: Would You Rather: Decide to Survive
Sunday’s Premieres
Discovery: In the Eye of the Storm at 10 p.m.
Netflix: Love Is Blind: Argentina
Monday’s Premieres
FYI: Instant Italian at 10 p.m.
Hulu/Disney+: Adventure Time: Side Quests
Tuesday’s Premieres
BET: Ms. Pat Settles It at 9 p.m.; ComicView: Rooftop Series at 9:30 p.m.; Lot Patrol at 10 p.m.
MHz Choice: Zorro
Paramount+: Tyler Perry’s Ruthless
TLC: Jay & Pamela at 10 p.m.
Wednesday’s Premieres
Disney+: X-Men ‘97
Hallmark+: Christmas at Sea
HGTV: Renovation Resort Showdown at 9 p.m.
Hulu/Disney+: Abandoned
Netflix: Summer ’36; Worst Neighbor Ever
Prime Video: Elle
Thursday’s Premieres
Netflix: Human Vapor; Super Subbu; Survival of the Thickest
Wonder Project: Wonder Presents: The Stand-Ups
Friday’s Premieres
Apple TV: Silo
Disney: The Simpsons: “Simpsley”
Sunday’s Premiere
Netflix: Sparks of Tomorrow |
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| PRODUCTION |
| NBC has renewed its nature docuseries “The Americas” for a second season, with Tom Hanks returning as narrator. Special episodes will roll out in the leadup to the sophomore run, starting with “The Americas: A Wild 250th,” airing July 2 at 9 p.m. on NBC. “The Americas: Mother’s Day” will air in 2027. |
 During a joint presentation at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation unveiled new projects. In addition to a green light for DC’s first-ever anime series, “Joker: Laugh Riot,” are two shows in development: “Absolute Batman,” reimagining the Dark Knight as a working-class hero, and an untitled Krypto series.
The Chicago Bears are heading to Hallmark. “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story” — the third film in Hallmark Channel’s NFL-themed franchise, following the Chiefs and Bills editions — is set to shoot this summer across the Chicago area and premiere during the network’s 17th annual Countdown to Christmas.
Starz is developing “The Wolf King,” a drama series based on Lauren Palphreyman‘s bestselling romantasy trilogy. Tanya Saracho (“Vida”) returns to the network as showrunner and EP, with Palphreyman also producing. All three books are under option.
Intelligent Animation (IA), a new studio blending human artistry with traditional and AI-assisted technologies, has officially launched. The studio’s production process is designed to deliver content faster and more affordably than conventional animation while keeping artists central to the creative workflow.
· IA is co-founded by Mark Stern, former president of Syfy and Universal Cable Productions, and Lloyd Braun, former chairman of ABC Entertainment Group and WME.
· The studio is already in production on two series for aTwist, an upcoming microseries platform co-founded by Braun alongside Jana Winograde and Susan Rovner.
· The company also has a number of projects in development across various genres spanning sci-fi, horror, romance, and kids.
· “The creative process begins and ends with the human artist,” said Stern. “From the outset, our goal has been to give those artists a unique set of powerful tools that can help them unleash the full extent of their vision; to expedite the tedious, time-consuming steps of the production process while keeping them in control of their creative output.”
Disney+ ordered a pilot for “Aquamarine,” based on the 2006 film starring Emma Roberts. The comedy, from Roberts, the film’s director Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum and producer Susan Cartsonis, will be written by Sarah Watson (“The Bold Type”).
Mobile TV Group (MTVG) has unveiled its MTVG Production Platform, an end-to-end live broadcast solution spanning on-site capture, contribution, media control, and distribution. The platform is positioned to replace the multi-vendor patchwork that has long defined live sports broadcast infrastructure.
Cory Smith is joining NewsNation as a Washington correspondent. Most recently, Smith served as the co-host of DC News Now’s “Sunrise on The Hill.” |
| RETAIL MEDIA |
| Havas Media Network has embedded Skai’s AI-driven omnichannel commerce platform into its Converged.AI system, forming what the partners are billing as the first fully connected retail media workflow in the industry. By unifying audience intelligence, planning, activation, optimization, and measurement under one roof, the integration cuts out manual bottlenecks that hamper retail media execution. |
| TECH |
| TechEdge, the software division of Fifty5Blue (formerly Kantar Media) has launched Ted, an AI assistant built to help media professionals cut through fragmented data and get to audience insights faster. Users can query Ted by text or voice and receive answers across multiple formats and languages. The tool is accessible via the TechEdge platform. |
| SPORTS REPORT |
| As FIFA World Cup matches smash viewership records, Fox Sports and Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) struck a new multi-year media rights agreement that makes Fox Sports the U.S. English-language home of the Concacaf Gold Cup and Concacaf Nations League through 2029. The expanded deal includes rights to the next two editions of the Concacaf Gold Cup, as well as the 2026–27 and 2028–29 cycles of the Concacaf Nations League, including the Concacaf Nations League for the first time.
The NHL renewed its partnership with Presidio, building on three years of collaboration to modernize the technology behind League operations. Presidio continues to help enhance the League’s technological infrastructure. |
| COMING UP |
| “Wardriver,” following a hacker lured into a cyberheist that turns deadly, makes its streaming debut Wednesday, July 8 on Paramount+. The film was released in theaters on March 14.
BET’s 4th Annual Black + Iconic Soirée premieres on Paramount+ Monday, June 29. Filmed at MGM National Harbor in Maryland and hosted by Laverne Cox, the special honors Black LGBTQ+ trailblazers across entertainment, advocacy, business, and media. |
| RATINGS |
| Sunday’s World Cup match between Cabo Verde and Uruguay on FS1 drew 6.18 million viewers, the most-watched telecast in all of television for the day and the most-watched soccer telecast ever in FS1 history.
The Season 3 premiere “House of the Dragon” drew 21.5 million global viewers in its first three days across HBO and HBO Max. That’s an 8% dip from the Season 2 opener. Warner Bros. Discovery noted that weekly viewership for Season 2 tripled leading into the Sunday’s debut, and Season 1 episodes are averaging 92.2 million viewers.
Cable continued its winning streak in April, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge, posting a 0.2 share point gain to hit 21.6% of TV — its strongest six-month performance. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, simulcast April 6 across TBS, TNT and TruTV, topped all cable viewing for the month. Cable news led all genres at 29% of cable viewership, with sports accounting for 9%. |
 |
Top 10 Basic Cable Primetime Averages for the Week of June 15
AA (000)
P2+ Total Viewers
FOX Sports 1 2,876;
FOX News 2,273
MSNOW 1,068
ESPN 999
HGTV 688
CNN 642
TBS 542
USA 499
Hallmark Channel 492
History 488
P25-54
FOX Sports 1 1,402
ESPN 296
FOX News 202
TBS 169
USA 149
Comedy Central 120
FX 120
Food Network 115
TLC 111
HGTV 103
Top 10 Broadcast Network Primetime Averages for the Week of June 15
AA (000)
P2+ Total Viewers
FOX 4,615
Telemundo 3,693
NBC 2,243
ABC 2,165
CBS 2,120
Univision 771
MeTV 597
ION 556
CW 437
Grit 326
P25-54
FOX 2,056
Telemundo 1,647
NBC 418
ABC 327
CBS 262
Univision 227
CW 105
ION 95
UniMas 62
Bounce TV 54
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel
Netflix’s “The Boroughs” jumped to the top of Nielsen’s streaming chart for the week of May 25, posting a 45% viewership gain over its debut week. The show, set in a retirement home, continued to draw its largest audience from the 50+ demographic — with 50-64 year-olds making up 31% of viewers — though its younger viewership also ticked up, with adults 18-34 growing from 11% to 15%.
Top 10 Streaming Programs for the Week of May 25
Minutes (Millions)
“The Boroughs (Netflix), 1,738
“Bluey” (Disney+), 923
“Grey’s Anatomy” (Hulu/Netflix), 855
“Spider-Noir” (Prime Video), 851
“The Big Bang Theory” (HBO Max), 835
“Dutton Ranch” (Paramount+), 782
“The Four Seasons” (Ntflix), 759
“The Boys” (Prime Video”), 735
“Euphoria” (HBO Max), 730
“SpongeBob SquarePants” (Paramount+), 715
Source: Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings |
| EXECUTIVE MOVES |
Netflix is consolidating its comedy operation, moving adult animation back under Tracey Pakosta, vice president of Comedy Original Series.
· The realignment mirrors the structure in place when Pakosta joined the streamer in 2020 as head of comedy, when adult animation fell within her purview.
· Billy Wee, Director of Adult Animation, and two department managers including Lauren Castro, will now report to her.
· The new structure reflects the fluid movement of comedy talent across live-action, animated series and standup — all areas Pakosta now oversees — keeping creators under a single executive.
NBC News Chief Digital Officer Chris Berend is leaving the company after seven years to pursue other interests. Technology Executive Vice President Kyri Sarantakos will take his place starting July 3. |
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Today’s Trivia Question
Which sitcom was the first to have two former “Saturday Night Live” stars as castmates? (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
What was Hulu’s first original scripted series? Answer: “Battleground” (2012).
Congrats to: Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; Fr. Mark Wajda/Clermont, FL; Justin Pierce-JP Consulting Group/LA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA |
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