Today’s Premieres
ABC: Dancing With the Stars at 8p; High Potential at 10p
FX: American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez at 10p
ID: Body Cam at 9p; Exposed: Road Rage at 10p; Naked Crimes at 10:30p
MTV: Caught in the Act: Unfaithful at 9p
Netflix: Culinary Class Wars; Live From the Other Side With Tyler Henry
Paramount+: Nothin’ But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of ‘80s Hair Metal
Peacock: World’s Most Notorious Killers

Today’s Finale
Fox: Beat Shazam at 8p

IN THE NEWS

It’s back to the office for Amazon workers. “We’ve decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of COVID,” said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in a message shared with employees. “When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant.” Jassy explained that “collaborating, brainstorming and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and teams tend to be better connected to one another,” in a work environment. The order takes effect January 2.

Seventy-two percent of media company professionals believe skillsets of employees need to be significantly re-shaped, due to changes being brought about by AI and a changing media environment, according to a survey from Kantar Media, and 66% of respondents said it was important to recruit from outside the media industry to get fresh perspectives from other related industries. Further findings include:
· 70% feel the media industry has a problem with unconscious bias and should do more to recruit talent from all backgrounds.
· Media organizations are more likely to try to grow or recruit AI skills in house.
· 67% of respondents report that it is hard to compete with other organizations to recruit the best talent, with 75% saying it is hard to retain their best talent.
· 83% believe that a good grounding in how media works is essential for new recruits.

Communication skills and storytelling were seen as the most important experience for talent, followed by data analysis and interpretation and an ability to explain complex techniques in a simple way. “The media industry is changing at an accelerated pace. Whether it’s due to big data, automation, generative AI or the next big innovation – what worked yesterday won’t necessarily work tomorrow,” said Patrick Béhar, Global CEO, Kantar Media. “Now, more than ever, hiring and retaining talent that can adapt to and drive change, challenge the status quo, and bring fresh perspectives on the future of media and measurement, will dictate who wins and who is left behind.”

In July, national linear TV ad spend increased +10% YoY, halting consecutive declines that began in February 2022, according to new data from Guideline. Additional findings include:
· Sports primarily drove national linear TV revenue growth, highlighted by the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
· Sports revenue doubled in July ‘24 vs. July ’23, with Olympic programming generating 92% of the Sports incremental dollars.
· All Product Category Groups significantly increased their Sports ad investment. Technology led the way, with Sports dollars tripling compared to last July.
· News sector rose +8.2% YoY, recovering from three consecutive years of declines, while Entertainment dropped by double digits in July for two years in a row.

Netflix has ordered a fifth season of “Emily in Paris.” Season four of the Darren Star comedy/drama drew 19.9 million views in the first four days of its August 12 release.

INSIGHT

IPG Mediabrands’ MAGNA revised its 2024 US ad growth estimate upwards, to 11.4% (8.9% excluding cyclical events such as the Olympics and elections). Key findings in the report found:
· Non-cyclical advertising revenues grew by approx. +11% in the first and second quarter of 2024, in line with MAGNA’s expectations,
· A stronger macro-economic outlook, the momentum of digital media and streaming TV, and the impact of cyclical events, lead MAGNA to raise its second-half ad spend forecast.
· Full-Year non-cyclical ad spend will grow by +8.9% (previously: +8.2%), one of the best performances in twenty years.
· Adding an expected $10 billion in incremental ad revenues due to cyclical events (presidential cycle and summer Olympics) total media owners ad revenues will increase by +11.4% to reach $377 billion this year (MAGNA’s previous forecast: +10.7% in June 2024).
· Digital Pure Players (search, retail, social, and short-form video) capture most of the market growth, with non-cyclical advertising sales to grow by +13.6% to $264 billion (a 72% market share).
· The ad revenues of Traditional Media Owners (cross-platform long-form video, audio, publishing, and out-of-home) will grow by +5.1% to $111 billion as the influx of cyclical dollars in TV will more than offset a -1.5% decline in non-cyclical ad sales.
· Ad-funded streaming TV is the fastest growing ad channel this year, with ad spend growing by nearly +20% so far, stabilizing cross-platform TV/video ad revenues.

Cynopsis asked Vincent Létang, EVP Global Market Intelligence and author of the report, for his thoughts.

This is MAGNA’s fifth revision upward since its initial projection of 7.3% in June 2023. What forces in the media have caused the increasing optimistic outlook?
“More than a year ago, we were expecting 2024 ad sales, including cyclical, to grow by +7.3%. Since then, due to better-than-expected economic environment and stronger-than-expected ad spend so far this year, which is based on the ad revenues reported by media companies in financial reports, we now expect +11.4% growth.

“In spring 2023 the macro-economic outlook for 2024 was still pretty dire. Inflation was still high and digital media was struggling with the transition to native vertical video formats that were not yet fully monetized. As the economic outlook gradually improved, ad spend accelerated and we gradually adjusted our growth forecast.”

What do you think is prompting brands to increase their investment? Which sectors are seeing the biggest upswing?
“We are seeing strong spending from sectors including:
· Automotive with competition for leadership in EVs, despite car sales slowing down this year
· CPG companies are reallocating their marketing budgets toward retail media opportunities and Olympic sponsorships, and the sector is relaxing as the high inflation episode is ending
· Technology companies see improvement in revenues and profitability this year and are increasingly comfortable promoting their AI brands, e.g., Gemini, Copilot etc,

“Another driver for brands is the coming of age of ad-funded streaming. With Amazon introducing advertising on Prime Video earlier this year, the scale and targeting opportunities for premium streaming has never been better. Some brands are re-allocating TV budgets towards streaming; however, many are in fact increasing their premium video budgets in both linear and streaming. This allows them to benefit from offerings that now combine scale, addressability, and safety. Ad-funded streaming will be one of the fastest-growing ad formats this year, at +19%.”

How can media companies compete for dollars?
“Media companies can focus on content, e.g., streaming platforms investing massively in sports now, or in ad innovation (data-driven ad product, interactive ads with QR codes etc.) or both, of course. Another big strategic component that companies can leverage is partnerships with retailers to capitalize on retail media opportunities. Media companies, particularly digital players, can also stay ahead of the curve and compete for ad dollars by integrating AI into their campaign creation process. AI integration (e.g., Gemini for Google, Llama for Meta) is helping new and existing advertisers more easily create, streamline, and optimize their advertising campaigns, which is also leading to higher conversion rates. While the platforms like Google and Meta, which capture the lion’s share of advertising dollars for many reasons including the amount of first party data they have, are also seeing higher ad prices.”

True crime, meet DNA. AMC Networks’ Acorn TV, AMC Studios and Cream Productions announced the greenlight of Acorn TV’s first unscripted original show, “Relative Secrets,” hosted by Jane Seymour (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”). The investigative series will delve into participants’ family histories to discover the dark truths buried in their bloodlines.

Call for Submissions: Cynopsis is producing our annual Holiday Programming Guide, which comes out on November 1 and will be sent to all Cynopsis subscribers. If your network has holiday programming airing from November 2 through January 1, please send your listing to [email protected] and [email protected] no later October 21 with the subject line: Holiday Guide. To be included, programs must be listed by date, title of program, and start times, in the following format: “Thursday, November 19: Network Name: My One Christmas Wish at 9a, Paper Angels at 11a, 12 Days of Giving at 1p”. Holiday-related programs only! A confirmation email will be sent following each submission (if you don’t receive a confirmation email, please resubmit).

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

FX’s “American Horror Stories” will premiere as a Huluween event on Tuesday, October 15 on Hulu and via Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers, featuring five new scary tales available at premiere.

Six-episode holiday series “Mistletoe Murders” premieres Thursday, October 31 on Hallmark+. Sarah Drew (“Grey’s Anatomy”) stars as a Christmas store owner who investigates local murders on the side.

Season two of “Castlevania: Nocturne” is set to debut in January 2025 on Netflix. The animated series is based on the Konami video game series.

Former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will host Fox Nation’s “Truths with Vivek Ramaswamy” starting Sunday, September 22. The show will also air in a condensed version the same night on Fox News at 10p.

Season 13 of AXS TV’s “Rock Legends” kicks off Monday, September 30 at 8p, following outlaw country artists.

“Desafío X 2 México” and “Supervivencia al desnudo: Latinoamérica” premiere Thursday, September 19 at 10 p and 11p, respectively, on Discovery en Espanol.

CBS’ returning Saturday morning lineup for the fall season of CBS Wknd will include season two of “Lucky Dog Reunions,” the best of 10 seasons of “The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation,” “Mission Unstoppable” and “Hope in the Wild.” New episodes premiere Saturday, October 5 at 9a.

STREAMING

While live TV (cable, vMVPD or antenna) is still a default destination for 38% of viewers, major SVODs combined now surpass live TV as the “first place to turn to watch,” according to Hub Entertainment Research’s “Decoding the Default” report. Netflix is the top SVOD default – 26% of respondents say that Netflix is the first place they turn to when they want to watch something, on par with the 26% of viewers who say traditional cable (excluding vMVPD and antenna) is their default source. As the chart below notes, different kinds of content anchor viewers to SVODs, live TV and FAST services.

“The first stop people turn to watch will always be the one that has the highest loyalty, and favorite shows can deepen those loyalties across streamers,” said Jason Platt Zolov, Senior Consultant for Hub.

Spectrum announced a Customer Commitment that provides performance and service benchmarks to Spectrum customers and a new and simplified pricing strategy that enables customers to choose bundles with price guarantees. Spectrum Internet and Spectrum Internet Ultra customers will also have their speeds automatically increased for free. “By focusing on reliability, transparency and outstanding service, we want to exceed expectations, build lasting loyalty and address our customers’ needs with renewed energy and focus on keeping them seamlessly connected,” said Cliff Hagan, EVP, Customer Operations for Charter Communications, which operates the Spectrum brand. “We’ve already made the investment in our people, tools and systems that will allow us to execute on these commitments and fully stand behind the great value, products and services we provide to our customers.”

TECH

Viant Technology has launched ViantAI, an advanced AI-powered platform that handles every stage of programmatic advertising, from building campaign plans to optimizing execution. “ViantAI is a breakthrough for our industry,” said Tim Vanderhook, CEO of Viant Technology. “It acts like a digital advertising expert, taking over the difficult, data-intensive work so advertisers can focus on high-level decision-making and creativity.”

Labels on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads content that has been edited or manipulated using generative AI will be less prominent starting next week. Meta announced in a blog post that its “AI Info” tag will appear within a menu in the top-right corner of images and videos edited with AI, instead of directly beneath the user’s name. Images generated entirely by AI will continue be marked with an “AI Info” label directly on the post. The change is being implemented to “better reflect the extent of AI used” across images and videos on the platforms,” said Meta.

Meta, Snapchat and TikTok are partnering for a program called Thrive, designed to flag and securely share information about harmful content. “Like many other types of potentially problematic content, suicide and self-harm content is not limited to any one platform,” reads a Meta blog post. “That’s why we’ve worked with the Mental Health Coalition to establish Thrive, the first signal-sharing program to share signals about violating suicide and self-harm content.” Participating tech companies will be able to share signals about violating suicide or self-harm content so that other companies can investigate and take action if the same or similar content is being shared on their platforms.

Media solutions company Active Media Services is repositioning its businesses and rebranding to AMS. “Over the last year, our leadership team has been hard at work across our organization to ensure we were meeting the demands of the evolving media marketplace and the consumer,” said Bill Georges, CEO. “Our promise is to be a partner in growth. To us, this means that we offer sustainable, growth-oriented solutions to our people, clients and partners both today and in the future.”

COMING UP

Great American Family’s Great American Christmas stunt kicks off with “Christmas in Scotland” on Saturday, October 19 at 8p. “As a brand, Great American differentiates its Christmas offering by remembering the nostalgia of the Christmas classics and why we love them,” said Bill Abbott, President & CEO, Great American Media. “

Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Hispanic has launched Hispano Soy, a television event celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with original programming and commemorative promotional spots. Hispano Soy is being featured across Discovery en Español, Discovery Familia, and Hogar de HGTV.

MeTV Toons is marking the Halloween season with a month of themed programming featuring animated favorites from “Scooby-Doo!” to the” Frankenstones” to “Casper.” Movies and cartoon episodes air every Sunday this October.

“Orgullo Latino,” featuring Latino talent, athletes, and artists, will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month on Canela Media with original series, news, music, children’s programming, and sports.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Lightbox made some execs happy: Vanessa Tovell, previously Chief Operating Officer, has been promoted to Managing Director; Suzanne Lavery is now Creative Director; Ben Samuel has been upped to Creative Director; Polly Allen is promoted to Head of Production, UK. Gabby Peeters is elevated to VP and Head of Development, UK; with Alexis Gomez-Garcia adding Head of Development, US to her VP title.

Creative executives Lucy Markovich and Peter Divers have launched a creative hub, Elysium Studios, which is centered around innovation and technology to deliver transmedia content. CEO Markovich and Chief Content Officer and Head of VFX Divers will be joined by Dr. Jordan Beth Vincent as Chief Operating Officer and Hugh Frames as Chief Financial Officer.

Claudia Hoeffner has joined Sponsor United as SVP of Marketing. Hoeffner joins SponsorUnited from Nexthink.

Today’s Trivia Question
Which series followed adventurers whose hot air balloon landed amid prehistoric creatures in the Amazon rainforest? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four answers per time zone.)