Thursday November 16, 2023

Today’s Finale
PBS: Little Bird at 9p WE tv: Keke Wyatt’s World at 9p

IN THE NEWS

US lawmakers want to know if the cancellation of popular Apple TV+ show, “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” was due to concerns over Stewart’s plans to cover topics related to China and AI. “While companies have the right to determine what content is appropriate for their streaming service, the coercive tactics of a foreign power should not be directly or indirectly influencing these determinations,” the leaders of the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Competition with the Chinese Communist Party said in a letter to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook. “To reassure the creative community in light of these reports, we also respectfully request that Apple publicly commit that content that could be perceived as critical of the CCP or the PRC is welcome on Apple TV+ and other Apple services,” continues the letter, signed by the panel’s Republican chairperson, Representative Michael Gallagher, and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi.

CNBC announced the launch of “Cities of Success,” a cross-platform franchise that uncovers how cities have rebuilt themselves as centers for technology giants, maverick founders and lifestyle brands. “Cities of Success” will feature a different city each quarter, based on metrics such as population rate change, GDP growth between 2010 and 2021, local home price growth since 2022, income growth and unemployment rates. The franchise will include a one-hour primetime special, live segments across CNBC’s Business Day programming, digital features and events. First up is Nashville, TN, in a special airing Wednesday, December 6 at 10p.

“SEAL Team” will end with its upcoming season seven on Paramount+. The military drama premiered on CBS before moving to the streamer in 2022. “For six seasons I have been fortunate and blessed to be a part of an outstanding cast and crew,” said series star and executive producer David Boreanaz. “Every day spent was a note of thanks to our men and women in the military and Special OPS. I thank our fans, and I’m proud we were able to make this show to shine light in the darkness toward so many suffering today. I look forward to season seven and the opportunity to end this series with love and gratitude.”

Kevin Hart will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, presented during a celebration at D.C.’s Kennedy Center Concert Hall on March 24 that will be broadcast at a later date. “For over three decades, Kevin Hart has been a source of laughter across America and throughout the world with his iconic characters, inimitable physical comedy, and relatable narratives,” said Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter. “An accomplished writer, producer, actor, and comedian, he has made lasting contributions to the comedic landscape and represents our celebration of American humor at the Kennedy Center.”

Univision anchor Leon Krauze has left the network. The sudden exit of the prominent journalist comes the week after Univision aired an interview with former President Donald Trump that drew scrutiny, and canceled ads the Biden administration had purchased to run during the interview. “TelevisaUnivision expresses our heartfelt gratitude for the outstanding contributions, expertise, and insightful analyses delivered by Leon Krauze throughout his tenure with our news division,” said Univision. “We sincerely appreciate his dedicated efforts in empowering and informing Hispanic communities at both the national and local levels for over a decade. We extend our best wishes to Leon in all his future professional endeavors.” As for those endeavors, Krauze posted he would “soon” share information about his “professional future.”

“We will make the best seventh season we can possibly make,” wrote “Young Sheldon” star Iain Armitage on Instagram, after news broke that season seven of the CBS comedy will be its last. “Behind the scenes there will be lots of laughter and lots of tears because I love all of these people so much.” The show returns for its final season on Thursday, February 15, and ends its run on May 16.

Peter Cullen, the voice of “The Transformers” character Optimus Prime, will be the Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the 2nd Annual Children’s & Family Emmy® Awards. The award will be presented during the celebration on Sunday, December 17.

Benjamin Hall, the FOX News correspondent who was catastrophically wounded in March of 2022 covering the war in Ukraine, was presented with the Kenneth Y. Tomlinson Award for Courageous Journalism at the 30th annual TFAS journalism awards dinner on November 14. “I stand here not because I was injured, or because of my experiences, because I stand here just to tell you all that journalism is essential,” said Hall. “Supporting journalism is essential. It is the only way to encourage people to change the world.”

Step into the ring: The deadline for Cynopsis Standouts Q3 nominations have been extended! This is your chance to shine a spotlight on the rising stars of the media industry – the ones making a difference in the workplace. Sound like someone you know?

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Claire’s is teaming up with Sony Pictures Television – Kids to create a new series for young people for the global marketplace. Through its CMedia production studio, the collaboration will expand on Claire’s global platform of more than 2,750 stores, more than 18 million loyalty members as well as an eCommerce platform. Claire’s and SPT – Kids will also explore opportunities for merchandise and experiences tied to the series.

SundanceTV and AMC+ have teamed with The Hollywood Reporter for new TV series “Off Script With The Hollywood Reporter.” THR’s Roundtables will be reimagined for broadcast, hosted by Yvonne Orji. “Our audiences look forward to hearing directly from the stars and creators responsible for entertainment’s most talked-about films,” said Blake Callaway, EVP of Content Strategy, AMC Networks. “A glamorous room, famous faces and a fresh new approach to this beloved format are sure to set the stage for lively conversations.”

Filming of the second season of “Suspect” is underway. New cast additions to the BritBox International and Channel 4 drama include Dominic Cooper (“Preacher”), Tamsin Greig (“Belgravia”), Vinette Robinson (“The Lazarus Project”), Eddie Marsan (“Ray Donovan”), Celine Buckens (“The Ex-Wife”), Nicholas Pinnock (“For Life”) and Gina McKee (“Bodyguard”).

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Fox game show “I Can See Your Voice” returns for season three on Wednesday, January 3 at 8p, followed by the series premiere of “We Are Family.”

Season two of “What If…?” starts streaming Friday, December 22 on Disney+. The animated series revisits and twists classic Marvel moments.

“The New Look,” following fashion designers during World War II as they launch modern fashion, debuts Wednesday, February 14 on Apple TV+. The series, filmed in Paris, is inspired by true events.

“Belgravia: The Next Chapter” debuts Sunday, January 14 at 9p on MGM+. The historical drama picks up in 1871, three decades after the events depicted in “Belgravia,” and follows the next generation of residents.

A new season of “La Casa de los Famosos” kicks off in January. The Telemundo reality show will return with more hidden cameras and microphones and new rules for celebrity houseguests.

Food Network’s “Superchef Grudge Match” returns for a sophomore season on Tuesday, December 26, hosted again by Darnell Ferguson. “The grudges are bigger and badder this season. When these chefs collide, the culinary action is intense and the trash-talk is biting,” said Betsy Ayala, Head of Content, Food, Warner Bros. Discovery. “Darnell’s energy and bold personality make him the ideal host to settle these scores.”

COMING UP

HBO doc “South to Black Power” premieres Tuesday, November 29 at 10p. The film follows New York Times columnist Charles Blow as he sets off across the country to challenge Black Americans to disrupt the status quo through reverse migration.

“Blindsided,” from CNN’s FlashDocs unit, explores the story behind the 2009 film “The Blind Side,” and recent allegations by former NFL lineman Michael Oher that he was cheated by the Tuohy family. The film, available starting today on Max, features first-person accounts from people close to Oher, including his foster brothers, former caregivers, high school classmates and teammates from Ole Miss and the NFL.

One of our favorite things returns to the small screen on Sunday, December 17 –
ABC is airing 1965 classic film “The Sound of Music” at 7p. Fast fact: The Broadway stage musical from which the movie was adapted premiered on this day, November 16, back in 1959 and ran for 1443 performances.

NBC is offering a different kind of musical celebration for the holidays. “Christmas at Graceland” will feature performers paying tribute to Elvis Presley from inside the Graceland estate, on Wednesday, November 29 at 10p. Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough (“Daisy Jones & the Six”) will make special appearances and serve as an executive producer under her Felix Culpa banner with partner Gina Gammell.

STREAMING

Ninety-two percent of employees at streaming providers at the director level and above are not fully satisfied with the third-party tools they use to measure product success, according to a report from video business intelligence and predictive analytics company NPAW. Other findings from “State of Video Product Analytics 2023” include:
50% of respondents prefer third-party product analytics tools for tracking video product performance and user behavior, while 26% leverage in-house tools or experts, and 24% use a combination of both. Only 8% of respondents are highly satisfied with the third-party product analytics tool they use to track video product performance. The dissatisfaction with third-party product analytics tools is mainly due to their inability to track end-user insights across all offered devices (48%), and a lack of video content monitoring capabilities (40%)“In today’s fiercely competitive streaming market, the success of video products largely depends on a business’s ability to make decisions rooted in fact and driven by audience interests and behavior,” said Jordi Bartomeu, NPAW’s Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Product Analytics. “To do so, they need an analytics tool that can capture all the complexities of online video and track users across the entire customer lifecycle, helping them design user journeys that deliver increased engagement and stable growth.”

Redbox has added two new FAST channels to its Free Live TV service. Mansa Mix, focused on Black culture and entertainment, and Ultimate Classic Wrestling, featuring classic wrestling matches, are now streaming through the Redbox app.

TECH

Audience Express, a Comcast Advertising company, has partnered with advertising and marketing technology company Epsilon to introduce a new capability for enhancing audience-based, convergent television buying. “Through this partnership, AudienceXpress and Epsilon are providing powerful scale and in-depth data insights to empower advertisers to deliver more accurate campaign results than ever in a fragmented, dynamic TV landscape,” said Katy Loria, CRO, AudienceXpress and FreeWheel.

GroupM has partnered with Google Chrome on a global post-cookie technology readiness program. Participating GroupM clients will get access to the learning program to assess and improve their post-third-party cookie deprecation readiness in a real-life environment, using their own products and audiences. “We strongly believe advertising can and should respect people’s privacy while continuing to deliver exceptional value for consumers and advertisers,” said Christian Juhl, GroupM’s Global CEO. “Since Google publicly declared their intention to deprecate third-party cookies, we’ve been collaborating closely with the Chrome team, our clients, and other partners to ensure our clients won’t miss a beat when the transition happens.” Chrome is scheduled to complete cookie deprecation in the second half of 2024.

AI ad targeting company Dstillery unveiled a new CTV solution that applies its ID-free® technology to reach priority audiences more effectively. Dstillery’s CTV solution acknowledges the complex relationship between a brand’s audience’s online content consumption patterns and CTV genres and network which, in combination with brand keywords, helps enable Dstillery to determine the best content to drive performance on CTV. “Dstillery’s solution is altering premium CTV targeting as we know it. Advertisers can now take powerful AI-driven audience insights and apply them to CTV without using identifiers,” said Mark Jung, VP of Product at Dstillery. “It has been designed so brands can target the most pertinent CTV bid opportunities to maximize ROI.”

CPM in 3Q23 was 33% lower than a year ago, but it started to increase as the holiday season approached in September, signaling that advertisers are slower to ramp up their holiday campaigns this year. That’s according to AdRoll’s latest State of Digital Marketing Report, which suggest marketers will likely face a more challenging holiday shopping season this year, with holiday sales growth projections ranging from 3% to 4.6%, lower than those of previous years. And while website visitor traffic has been stable, with a moderate gain of 2% in Q3 of 2023, to succeed this holiday season marketers need to take advantage of the lower CPM this year to get in front of high-intent shoppers and increase website conversions. “Despite the economic headwinds in the first half of 2023, the economy mostly stabilized in Q3, yet consumers are still hesitant to spend,” said Vibhor Kapoor, President of AdRoll. “Marketers need to leverage data to segment their target audiences strategically, take advantage of low CPMs, and personalize messaging and offers to win the battle of this challenging holiday season.”

Cint, which acquired Lucid in 2021, announced Lucid’s verified partner status with Amazon Ads. As a verified partner on the Amazon Ads Partner Network, Lucid Impact Measurement is aimed at streamlining measurement of brand advertising campaigns. For global clients of Amazon Ads, a brand lift measurement solution is available within the Amazon DSP and Twitch Ad Server, powered by Lucid Impact Measurement. A brand lift study powered by Lucid Impact Measurement uses key performance indicators including awareness, ad recall, consideration, purchase intent, and favorability. “Marketers need to have access to readily available insights that they can act on quickly,” said Laura Manning, SVP Measurement at Cint. “Our collaboration with Amazon Ads is designed to help advertisers globally get statistically significant results and greater depth of insights more often.”

Yahoo Advertising announced advancements in its publisher-direct offering, Yahoo Backstage, including the integration of premium publishers, such as DIRECTV, The E.W. Scripps Company, LG Ad Solutions, Mediavine, Realtor.com, TelevisaUnivision, and Warner Bros Discovery, among others. “We’re interested to test Yahoo Backstage to drive efficient and sustainable programmatic media,” said Kristy Conrad, Head of Programmatic at Starcom. “Premium inventory plays an extremely important role in the online experience we’re driving for our clients and customers, and Yahoo’s strong relationships with the industry’s top publishers helps us reach them effectively.”

Taking care of business: DISH Business announced the launch of EVOLVE M1, a Google Certified Android™ Set-Back-Box purpose-built for commercial deployments. Leveraging a user-centric feature set and more powerful hardware, the EVOLVE M1 seamlessly integrates with the existing suite of DISH Business entertainment solutions.

SPORTS ROUNDUP

In the first eight weeks of the 2023-24 season, NFL’s national linear TV ad impressions are up 12% year-over-year, according to iSpot.tv report, “Midseason NFL TV Ad Touchdowns & Takeaways.” Also of note:
· Travis Kelce is the most-seen spokesperson during the NFL season (with 6 brand deals appearing on air this season so far).
· The Dallas Cowboys appeared in five of the top 10 most-viewed games this season so far by TV ad impressions.
· 75% of the NFL sponsor ads to score the highest attention scores featured food and/or drinks. That group was led by King’s Hawaiian and its Manning brothers spots.
· Top brands by TV impressions are Geico, Progressive, Bud Light, Burger King and State Farm.

The NFL announced the launch of Leaders, the league’s first retail program focused on creating NFL licensing for brands, collaborators and artists from diverse backgrounds and underrepresented communities. Businesses will have an opportunity to obtain NFL licenses to manufacture and sell products with official league marks and logos, and will have access to NFL resources including product development, marketing support and retail placement. Blitz Champz, Distortedd, Hedley & Bennett, and S.T.A.B.L.E. Goods are the inaugural brands under the Leaders Program to receive an NFL license.

The National Hockey League Players’ Association, NHL, NHL Alumni Association, and Sweet, a platform for gamified digital collectible experiences, have launched NHL Breakaway, the official digital collectibles highlight community of the NHL, NHLPA and NHLAA for the NHL’s community of fans. Fans and collectors can collect, gift, trade, display and participate in set collections and challenges to earn rewards.

GOING GLOBAL

Rakuten Viki, the streaming service for Asian Content, will host the first-ever worldwide celebration of Korean dramas with International K-Drama Day. Taking place on November 29, the holiday will recognize the fandom and appeal of the genre.

French television network TF1 Group has partnered with LiveLike, provider of audience engagement technology, to enhance its singing competition show, “Star Academy,” with interactivity. Fans can now participate in features such as polls and chat sessions with contestants.

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INQUIRE NOW

Tuesday’s premiere of “NCIS: Sydney” on CBS delivered 5.48 million viewers, ranking as the most watched show on broadcast TV for the night, according to early Nielsen numbers. The spin-off was also no slouch when it came to streaming, where it was Paramount+’s top entertainment program.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Anthem Sports & Entertainment has appointed Deborah Cuffaro as SVP, Advertising Sales. Cuffaro was previously an ad sales executive at Ovation TV.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who played Sister Bertrille’s sister on “The Flying Nun” (1967-70)? Elinor Donahue. Kudos to: Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Justin Pierce-JP Consulting/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Maggie Takei-Moore Media/Paducah, KY

Today’s Trivia Question
On “Ted Lasso” (2020-23), how did the AFC Richmond team find out Rebecca had a beautiful singing voice? (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.)

Cynopsis Team