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Happy Friday! Here’s the news you need to know for today:
- Netflix Wishes It Were Growing Faster
- Trump Is Giving CNN Ad Revenue, But Not Press Access
- Reacher Spinoff “Neagley” Gets Stellar Ratings And A Second Season
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| In The News |
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Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos acknowledged the platform isn’t growing quickly enough.
- “Overall, we’re not growing as fast as I want us to,” Sarandos said during Bloomberg’s Screentime event on Wednesday. He added that the company is pushing to hasten the platform’s growth, but that Netflix viewership ticked up just 2% over the first half of 2026.
- Sarandos also said it remains to be seen how much of a threat the mega-merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery – which is now allowed to proceed, per a US district judge – will pose. But he cited Netflix’s initial winning bid for WBD as evidence that the company is on the right track for faster growth.
- Netflix expects that widening its slate of live programming and sports events, including tentpole NFL games, will drive higher viewership and engagement numbers, from which it could expect subscriber and ad revenue growth.
Meanwhile, in Paramount news:
- On Wednesday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Paramount Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim both appeared on separate panels at TheGrill, an annual business conference hosted by TheWrap. According to Bonta, the recent antitrust lawsuit was settled because Paramount decided to begin acting in good faith during negotiations. Delrahim, however, argued it was because the 12 states that brought the lawsuit didn’t make a good enough case.
- Meanwhile, CNN CEO Mark Thompson is in early talks to keep his job once Paramount takes over. The Wall Street Journal’s sources indicate that he is seeking editorial autonomy for the network, something that the recent settlement deal also outlines.
The UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee released a report advising the BBC to stop outbidding for foreign content acquisitions against other commercial British broadcasters like ITV, Sky and Channel 4, on the grounds that it constitutes a waste of license fees.
- The BBC is partially funded by a television license fee from civilians and business organizations, who must pay for access to live television across any device regardless of whether they watch BBC content. However, the fee is difficult to enforce, as evidenced by recent declines in license rates.
- Less than 5% of the BBC’s content budget goes to foreign acquisition spending, BBC Director-General Matt Brittin told the committee during a hearing in July. However, the BBC has been desperately trying to cut costs this year, already laying off thousands of workers and cancelling several shows and networks.
Money where your mouth is? Despite being ordered to restore press access by a federal judge last week, the White House still appears to be restricting journalists from certain press pool activities – while also spending millions of dollars on political ads across those same networks.
- CNN was once again removed from its TV pool coverage assignment on Thursday, this time for a trip President Trump took to Texas and Oklahoma. No other networks replaced him. This marks the second time this week that the network was denied access to Air Force One to cover presidential travel, the last being on Saturday when Trump flew to Tennessee.
- At the same time, AdImpact data shared with The Washington Post suggests that almost 50 pro-Trump ads have aired on MS Now and CNN combined, even though Trump attempted to ban both networks from the White House. The ads have also appeared on CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC, Fox News and Newsmax, and have cost the Trump administration at least $2.87 million so far.
- According to Status, “pissed” MS Now staffers were told about the ad sales on Tuesday. Executives argued that the ads did not violate the standards set by parent company Versant, which explicitly accept “divergent points of view” related to politics.
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| Partner content |
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| New & Returning Series |
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For sneak peeks, check out Cynopsis Trailer Park.
Apple TV dropped the trailer for its upcoming culinary docuseries “Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook,” premiering Nov. 6.
Hearst Media Production Group is renewing “The Visioneers with Zay Harding” for two additional seasons. Season 3 premieres on CBS Oct. 3.
Paramount+ released the trailer for “Dexter: Resurrection” Season 2, which premieres Oct. 30.
Comedy Central announced an Oct. 14 premiere date for Season 4 of Mike Judge’s “Beavis and Butt-Head.”
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| Partner content |
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Attendance is free, but space is limited.
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| Today’s Premieres |
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ABC: “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” Season 7 at 8 p.m.
AMC+: “Kill Jackie”
Apple TV: “The Sisters Grimm” Season 2
Crunchyroll: “The Apothecary Diaries” Season 3; “Tougen Anki” Season 2
Discovery: “Gold Rush” Season 17 at 8 p.m.
HBO Max: “The Torrent”
History: “The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd” Season 4; “Mysteries From Above” Season 5 at 10 p.m.
Hulu: “Adventure Time: Side Quests” Season 2
Lifetime Movie Network: “For Better or Worse” at 8 p.m.
Nat Geo: “Africa Earth’s Wild Home” at 8 p.m.
Netflix: “#Love”
OWN: “Ready to Love” Season 12 at 8 p.m.
PBS: “39th Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards” at 9 p.m.
Prime Video: “I Would Rather Die”
Roku: “Gamechangers: Mother/Athlete”
Starz: “Tip Toe”
Tubi: “Bite Size Terror”
We TV: “Love After Lockup: Relationship Rehab”
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| Partner content |
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| Saturday’s Premieres |
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Adult Swim: “Get Jiro” at 12 a.m.
CBS: “The Visioneers with Zay Harding” Season 3
Crunchyroll: “A Tale of the Secret Saint”; “Black Clover” Season 5; “#I’m Looking For a Zombie”; “Magical Explorer;” “Magic Repo Man: Dumped by My Party, I’ll Cash In With a Cute Support Fairy to Become the Strongest!”; “Romelia War Chronicle”; “Vertex Force”
Hallmark: “A Knight to Remember” at 8 p.m.
Lifetime: “A Doctor to Die For: The Sarah Harris Story” at 8 p.m.
Netflix: “Ramna 1/2″
Oxygen: “ Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler” Season 3 at 9 p.m.
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| Sunday’s Premieres |
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A&E: “Late Night Law” Season 2;
CBS: “Marshals” Season 2 at 8:30 p.m.; “Tracker” Season 4 at 9:30 p.m.
Crunchyroll: “Aoashi” Season 2; “Blue Box” Season 2; “Even Though I’m a Super Timid Noble Girl, I Accepted the Bet From My Cunning Fiancé”; “From Far Away”; “Hotel Inhumans”; “Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship!”; “Uncle’s Obsession With Cute Things”
Lifetime: “Where No One Can Find Her” at 8 p.m.
TLC: “90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way” Season 8 at 8 p.m.; “Sister Wives” Season 21 at 10 p.m.
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| Production |
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Roku ordered “Battle of the Streaming Stars,” a spin on the ‘70s TV competition show “Battle of the Network Stars.” The new series will be hosted by Terry Crews (“America’s Got Talent,” “Everybody Hates Chris”) and will feature actors, comedians and creators completing physical challenges. It premieres Oct. 23.
More microdramas, anyone? Jamie Gordon, producer and co-founder of Fugitive Films, and Maggie Malina, former chief of scripted programming at MTV, announced the launch of Rommi, a vertical content production company specializing in romance-focused microdramas.
Prime Video announced a third season of the Mexican YA series “No One Will Miss Us” (Nadie Nos Va a Extrañar).
A few days after renewing “Reacher” for a sixth season, Prime Video has ordered a second season for spinoff “Neagley,” starring Maria Stern in the titular role.
Cottonwood Media, a kids- and family-focused content studio, is once again becoming an independent production company. Co-Founder David Michel bought back the company’s stake from Federation Studios, Cottonwood Media’s parent company since 2015. Going forward, the studio plans to add YA programming to its content slate.
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| Tech News You Can Use |
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Hallmark Media is tapping video ad measurement company iSpot for outcomes-based measurement of its streaming content. Hallmark will look for business outcomes such as site visits, movie sales and in-store purchases.
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| Sports Report |
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The Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) and the National Collegiate Hockey Conference announced a deal that makes CSMG the exclusive commercialization partner for the NCHC’s media rights across platforms. The CSMG will also advise the NCHC on media and revenue strategy.
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| Coming Up |
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BET announced that Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actor, comedian and host Anthony Anderson will host this year’s Soul Train Awards airing Nov. 27.
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| Distribution |
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Back to regularly scheduled programming. Warner Bros. Discovery inked a deal with ITV, giving the UK broadcaster access to programming for TLC and Quest series including “Mock the Week,” “Dr. Pimple Popper” and “The Bad Skin Clinic.”
Radial Entertainment is rolling out a free ad-supported TV (FAST) channel, “Paranormal Chronicles,” with mystery, true-crime and paranormal programming during the Halloween viewing window. The channel is available across Dish TV, Google TV Freeplay, LG Channels, Plex and The Roku Channel, among others.
LG Channels is joining forces with Lionsgate to launch dedicated FAST channels for “The Hunger Games,” “Saw” and “John Wick” film series.
The final season of Amelia Dimoldenberg’s interview series “Chicken Shop Date” will air on Netflix at the same time as YouTube and social media when it premieres on Oct. 2 (today).
Disney+ is launching a joint subscription bundle with Indonesian streaming service Vidio as part of the global streamer’s efforts to expand its international reach.
Verizon Fios customers will not be able to watch Starz programming for the time being, as renewal agreement negotiations between the telecom provider and television network have stalled.
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| Ratings |
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Fox News Channel ended the week of Sept. 21 with nearly 2 million weekday primetime viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research Big Data + Panel ratings data.
“Dancing with the Stars” surpassed 7 million viewers on last week’s Yacht Rock Night, according to Nielsen’s Live + Same Day Preliminary Panel-Only Ratings. In other metrics, last week marked the show’s Best non-finale Episode in Six Years, according to ABC.
Prime Video’s “Neagley” tops the Nielsen Top 10 chart for streaming originals the week of Sept. 14, exceeding 1.7 billion viewing minutes. Prime Video also secured the third-place spot with “Reacher,” which was second to Netflix’s “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.”
Top 10 Broadcast Networks for the Week of Sept. 21
P2+ AA (000)
NBC 6,106
ABC 4,328
CBS 2,895
FOX 1,922
Univision 928
Telemundo 882
Me TV 626
CW 465
Ion 456
Grit 306
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, Live + Same Day
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| Executive Moves |
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Mario Giampaolo announced that he will join Mattel Studios as global head of content distribution.
NBCUniversal has hired Jamia Bigalow, formerly of Amazon Fire TV, as executive vice president of partner marketing. NBCU alum Lindsay Vogelman has also been promoted to senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development.
Minno, a streaming platform with kids and family programming, appointed Craig Hunter as chief content officer. Hunter hails from YouTube and Sony Pictures Television.
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| Friday Fun Fact |
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Only about 1 in every 3,000 calico cats are male.
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Which character from ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” (2011-2018) was inspired by Beast from “Beauty and the Beast,” the crocodile from “Peter Pan,” the fairy godmother from “Cinderella” and Carl Fredericksen from Pixar’s “Up,” in addition to the more traditional children’s tale that named him?
Email answers to Trivia@Cynopsis.com and include your name, company and city/state (don’t forget!). Only the first four correct responses from each time zone will be included.
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YESTERDAY’S TRIVIA ANSWER
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Two cast members of Netflix’s “The Diplomat” are no stranger to White House sets, given that they both rose to prominence playing staffers in “The West Wing.” Name both of them. Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford.
Congrats to: Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NYC; Greg Moloznik-Focus Media 121/Lakewood Ranch, FL; Dan Quitério/Brooklyn, NY; Andi Leston-Outdoor Sportsman Group/Waukesha, WI; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Lauren Watt-Alliance Entertainment/Citrus Heights, CA; Susan Nessanbaum- Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA
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