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| Thursday November 14, 2024 |
 IN THE NEWS |
 Charter Communications has reached a deal to acquire John Malone’s Liberty Broadband in an all-stock transaction. Liberty Broadband, which has been public since September about its aspirations to merge with Charter, owns 26% of Charter shares. The news comes with the announcement that Liberty Media is spinning off most of its assets, and CEO Greg Maffei is stepping down at the end of the year. “Following today’s announcements at Liberty Media and Liberty Broadband, all the Liberty acquisitions completed during my tenure are now in structures where shareholders can have more direct ownership in their upside,” said Maffei. “While it’s never easy to leave an organization as dynamic as Liberty, I am confident that this is the right time.”
Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, has launched a new Data Hub focused on the state of SVOD programming to identify global content trends and changes. The data visualization graphically illustrates the current makeup of Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix and Paramount+ content catalogs. “Through new resources tapping our data, we’re enabling clear visibility into catalog volume and composition as well as content makeup and characteristics to help inform business decisions that drive success,” said Trent Wheeler, Head of Product Innovation at Gracenote.
In addition, Gracenote has published its 2024 State of Play report, offering insights on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix and Paramount+. Platform-specific takeaways include:
· Amazon Prime Video distributes more than 72% of the movies and 57% of the TV shows offered by the five global SVOD services.
· Apple TV+ includes three times more Animated genre and Children’s genre programming in its catalog than the other tracked providers.
· More than 78% of the content on Disney+ is exclusive to its platform and cannot be found elsewhere.
· Netflix’s catalog has the greatest percentage of global content, as 68% of its offerings were produced outside of the U.S..
· Paramount+ features the greatest percentage of Comedy genre content (22.4%) of any of the leading SVOD services.
Two out of five viewers of short-form video have purchased a product directly through the platform, according to Involved Media’s new Connected Video report. The platform that has most influenced a consumer to purchase is TikTok (84%), followed by Instagram Reels (77%), YouTube Shorts (63%) and Facebook Reels (62%). Additional findings include:
· 70% of respondents watched short-form video in the last 30 days, with YouTube Shorts (44%), Facebook Reels (41%) and TikTok (38%) leading.
· The genres most watched on short-form video include cooking and baking (43%), news and politics (39%), pop culture and entertainment (35%) and sports highlights and commentary/health and wellness (tied at 34%).
· 83% of respondents under the age of 35 regularly watch short-form video on a second screen, 43% watch long-form simultaneously and 39% work/study at the same time. |
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| WPP has acquired the minority shareholdings in T&Pm it did not already own, bringing the agency fully into the WPP network. T&Pm will continue to operate as a standalone multi-disciplinary agency, while collaborating closely with other WPP agencies. As part of the move, T&Pm is placing WPP’s AI-powered marketing operating system, WPP Open, at the core of its innovative marketing models. “This is a very exciting next phase for us. Our belief in the superior agility of integrated teams has fueled our global success,” said Johnny Hornby, founder and CEO of T&Pm. “Now, AI is transforming the speed at which we can partner with clients to create growth and WPP’s early investment in Open gives us a big advantage.” |
 James Longman has been named the chief international correspondent for ABC News. “His intrepid reporting and powerful storytelling have elevated ABC News’ global coverage since he joined seven years ago, and in this new, well-deserved role, James will continue to deliver best-in-class journalism for our audiences across all programs and platforms,” said ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic. Longman will continue to be a part of ABC News’ foreign news team.
Nexstar Media Group has appointed Bill Sammon as SVP of Washington, DC, Editorial Content for The Hill and NewsNation. Sammon is a former Fox News SVP and managing editor who retired from the network shortly after his involvement the 2020 election night call for Arizona for Joe Biden. “Bill’s impeccable credentials as a journalist are renowned, and he is the perfect leader to oversee the combined newsgathering operations of The Hill and NewsNation in Washington, DC,” said Cherie Grzech, President of News and Politics for NewsNation.
Amazon is shutting down Freevee. Content from the free AVOD service is already available on Amazon’s Prime Video. “To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding,” said an Amazon spokesperson. “There will be no change to the content available for Prime members, and a vast offering of free streaming content will still be accessible for non-Prime members, including select Originals from Amazon MGM Studios, a variety of licensed movies and series, and a broad library of FAST Channels.”
Disney has reached a tentative settlement in a class action alleging it violated the Fair Employment & Housing Act and California’s Equal Pay Act by paying female employees less than their male counterparts. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2019, was scheduled to go to trial next year. |
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| PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT |
| Ali Wong (“Beef”) will direct and produce a Hulu comedy special starring Frankie Quinones. Irwin Entertainment is producing. “Frankie, on and offstage, was always one of the funniest coming up in the Bay Area comedy scene,” said Wong. “I’m really honored to be directing and producing his first stand up special because his hour is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
Hulu’s “Reasonable Doubt,” from Onyx Collective and 20th Television, has been renewed for season three. The drama centers on Los Angeles-based high-powered criminal defense attorney as she deals with past traumas, a struggling marriage, motherhood and a murder case.
Lifetime ordered two new movies for its 2025 “Ripped from the Headlines” slate. Cineflix Productions’ “Terror Comes Knocking: The Marcela Borges Story” premieres Saturday, January 11, while Poke Prod-produced “Girl in the Garage: The Laura Cowan Story” debuts Saturday, January 18. |
| NEW & RETURNING SHOWS |
CBS has set winter premiere dates for new and returning series. Coming up:
Wednesdays, Starting January 8
“The Price Is Right at Night” (New Time Period Premiere) at 8p
“Raid the Cage” (Season Two Premiere) at 9p
Thursdays, Starting January 9
“Hollywood Squares” at 8p (Series Premiere; Moves to Wednesdays at 10p Starting January 29)
Sunday January 26
“Watson” at 10p (Series Premiere)
Fridays, Starting January 31
“NCIS: Sydney” at 8p (Second Season Premiere)
“S.W.A.T.” at 10p (New Time Period Premiere)
Sundays, Starting February 16
“The Equalizer” at 10p (New Time Period Premiere)
Wednesday, February 26
“Survivor” at 8p (Season 48 Premiere)
Wednesdays, Starting March 5
“The Amazing Race” at 9:30p (Season 37 Premiere)
Netflix hit “The Night Agent” returns for season two on Thursday, January 23. The series following a low-level FBI agent was renewed for a third season last month. |
 Acorn TV announced a new series in partnership with TED, the nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. “Acorn TV X TED: Transform Your Thinking” premieres on the platform on Monday, November 25. Each of the show’s six episodes features five TED Talks with a common theme. |
 “As1One: The Israeli-Palestinian Palestinian Pop Music Journey” premieres Tuesday, December 3 on Paramount+. The coming-of-age docuseries follows the journey of six young men who formed the first mixed Israeli-Palestinian pop group, as1one. |
Today’s Premieres
BritBox: Sherwood
Food Network: Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking at 8p
FX on Hulu: Say Nothing
Hallmark+: Holidazed
Netflix: Beyond Goodbye
Peacock: The Day of the Jackal
Prime Video: Cross |
| COMING UP |
| CBS’ “Blue Bloods” will end its 14-season run on Friday, December 13 at 10p. Two weeks before that, retrospective “Blue Bloods: Celebrating a Family Legacy” will air at 9p, with memories, behind-the-scenes moments, and archival interviews.
Disney Branded Television has two programming stunts, “Disney Channel’s Fa-la-la-lidays” and “Disney Jr’s Magical Holidays,” airing on Disney Channel and Disney Jr. from Friday, November 29, through Wednesday, January 1. Highlights of “Disney Channel’s Fa-la-la-lidays” include new animated holiday episodes of “Big City Greens” and “ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series,” among other festive fare, while Disney Jr.’s Magical Holidays” will celebrate the season with the new “Mickey and the Very Many Christmases” animated special, “Mickey and Minnie’s Christmas Carols” stop-motion shorts and other holiday-themed Disney Jr. favorites.
UP Faith & Family will hold its first virtual ChristmasFest on Monday, November 25 at 2p. Moderated by The Wild Adventure Girls, fans will be able to ask the streamer’s stars about their favorite Christmas movies and holiday traditions, and watch trailers and sneak peeks of new movies.
HBO documentary “Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” debuts Friday, November 29 at 9p. The latest installment of the “Music Box” series focuses on pivotal moments in music. |
| STREAMING |
| FilmRise has partnered with Anoki’s LiveTVx to offer its audiences an easier way of discovering programs best suited for them based on their viewing habits. FilmRise is distributing ten of its FAST channels and AVOD titles on Anoki LiveTVx, available on Google TV launching immediately in the U.S., as well as a global roll out in 2025. “Combining their programming with our advanced AI technology allows us to offer viewers a seamless discovery experience while providing advertisers with enhanced contextual targeting opportunities,” said Marc Zand, Head of Content, Anoki. |
| TECH TALK |
| UK’s The Guardian has stopped posting on X from its official accounts, citing long-standing concerns about far-right conspiracy theories and racism. “The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse,” The Guardian told its readers. The news organization has over 80 accounts on X, with 27 million followers.
TikTok users will be able to directly access photo sharing app Lemon8 with their TikTok account. ByteDance-owned Lemon8, launched in Japan in 2020, provides creative tools, collages, filters, effects, stickers, and text templates for posts. The account integration “gives our community even more access to create, edit, upload, share photo content with like-minded communities for creative expression and connection,” said TikTok in a blog post.
Cognitiv announced a strategic integration with Index Marketplaces, enabling advertisers to leverage Cognitiv’s experience applying deep learning to media buying in their DSP of choice. “Our industry has used the term ‘real-time’ to describe programmatic media buying for years, but much of the data driving the decision-making is in files and lists that are days, weeks, or even months old. Our integration with Cognitiv unlocks an advanced opportunity for media buyers to benefit from true real-time prediction and decisioning,” said Paul Zovighian, VP of Marketplaces at Index Exchange. “Not only do media buyers achieve their KPIs more effortlessly, media owners benefit from higher yields.”
StackAdapt announced a strategic collaboration with Disney Advertising that integrates access to Disney’s proprietary Audience Graph, enhancing the addressability of premium inventory with first-party data. “Our relationship with Disney allows us to offer a unique combination of premium inventory and data-driven targeting for our advertisers,” said Greg Joseph, VP of Inventory Development at StackAdapt. “With our intuitive platform and robust capabilities, StackAdapt clients are well-equipped to harness the power of CTV and other channels to build high-impact, results-driven campaigns.” |
 Viant Technology has acquired IRIS.TV, a content data platform built for CTV. “The IRIS team has built an outstanding platform that addresses a huge problem in the ecosystem around standardizing content classification in CTV,” said Tim Vanderhook, CEO of Viant Technology. “We are excited to support their mission to enhance the value of premium CTV content in the bidstream. IRIS’s position at the intersection of CTV and the ad tech ecosystem aligns seamlessly with Viant’s vision for the future.”
Fandom announced the launch of FanDNA Helix, a first-party data targeting and optimization solution. “FanDNA Helix is an innovative new data solution that leverages Fandom’s deep understanding of fan interest and behavior to more directly connect insights to activation strategies, giving advertisers the tools to optimize their strategy, messaging and targeting more precisely, reaching the right fans at the exact right time,” said Jeremy Steinberg, Chief Revenue Officer at Fandom. “It’s something that hasn’t been done before, and something only Fandom can bring to the market.” |
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| SPORTS REPORT |
| ESPN will produce one-hour original content shows for eight NCAA sports during the 2024-25 season, including women’s volleyball, women’s gymnastics, men’s ice hockey, women’s basketball, wrestling, men’s lacrosse, softball and baseball. An original content series surrounding various NCAA Championships will debut in early December.
Whoopi Goldberg and JungoTV announced the launch of All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN), a global media channel dedicated to women’s sports, on VIZIO WatchFree+ in the US. The channel kicks off with live WNBL basketball and Hockey One League women’s games. |
| GOING GLOBAL |
| UK-based Phoenix Television announced an order for season four of “Millionaire Murders” for True Crime.
OUTtv has launched on Prime Video in New Zealand as an add-on subscription. The LGBTQ+ streamer has also co-commissioned “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” with TVNZ, produced by Warner Bros International Television Production New Zealand. |
| RATINGS |
| After 35 days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms, excluding linear encores, the series premiere of “Doctor Odyssey” jumped +169% in Total Viewers (11.11 million vs. 4.13 million) and +482% among A18-49 (2.21 rating vs. 0.38 rating) over its initial Live+Same Day audience. |
| EXECUTIVE MOVES |
| Madhive has hired former Paramount exec Brendan Murnane as SVP & GM of Enterprise Strategy & Partnerships, and rehired Christiana Cacciapuoti as VP of Enterprise Strategy & Solutions.
Dstillery has appointed John Collier as Chief Financial Officer. Collier has held roles at various SaaS companies focused on adtech and publishing, including BlueKai.
Amplify Pictures has hired Luke Esselen as Scripted Series Executive. Esselen has held senior positions at Picturestart and Quibi, and previously worked at CAA as a talent agent.
Electric Entertainment has promoted Raul Pina to Director of International Distribution and Marketing. Raul will oversee all facets of distribution, sales, and marketing for Electric Entertainment’s content in LATAM, Brazil, and Portugal.
Industry veterans Marion Edwards (“Moominvalley”), Jodie Morris (“Bing”) and Chris Rose (former VP, Production & Development – Kids & Family at Paramount Global) have partnered to launch Creative Sprouts, a UK-based consultancy collective offering workshops to support kids’ content creators looking to develop IP.
StackAdapt has named Creed Pettit as Regional Vice President, West. Pettit joins from KERV Interactive. |
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This Day in History
1972 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 1000 for the first time.
Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
E! was launched under what name? Movietime. Kudos to: Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NYC; Rob Casalaina-ITN/NYC; Andrew Goldman-Phanes Funding Group/NYC; Greg West-WATC/Atlanta; Rosemary Cunningham-MeTV/Chicago; Ken DuBow-DuBow Media Distribution/LA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA; John Baghdassarian-Olympusat/LA; Kevin Moran-Blarney Productions/LA
Today’s Trivia Question
Which network was originally named Discovery Wings Channel? (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.) |
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