Tuesday November 21, 2023

IN THE NEWS

X CEO Linda Yaccarino responded yesterday to the suspension of advertising by businesses concerned about antisemitism on the platform. “What we’re doing at X matters and has everyone’s attention. I believe deeply in our vision, our team, and our community,” she posted. “I’m also deeply committed to the truth and there is no other team on earth working as hard as the teams at X. When you’re this consequential, there will be detractors and fabricated distractions, but we’re unwavering in our mission.” Comcast, Apple, Disney and Apple are among the companies that hit pause on advertising after X Corp. owner Elon Musk endorsed an antisemitic post and Media Matters issued a report claiming multiple ads on X appeared next to pro-Nazi content.

The White House has launched accounts on Meta’s X alternative, Threads, for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. While the White House has condemned Elon Musk’s endorsement of the antisemitic post, the launch on Threads had been in the works before the incident, and is aimed at reaching more voters, not rejecting X.

CBS’ “Blue Bloods” will end with season 14. The upcoming season’s first ten episodes will air midseason, starting February 16, while the final eight will run in fall 2024. The procedural, starring Tom Selleck, was the most watched primetime program on Fridays last season, and won its time slot every season since it debuted. “’Blue Bloods’ will forever be a beloved part of CBS’s legacy. It ruled Friday nights with unprecedented dominance since its premiere and established itself as a pillar of our winning lineup with an exceptionally devoted fan base,” said Amy Reisenbach, President, CBS Entertainment and David Stapf, President, CBS Studios, in a joint statement.

Three presidential debates have been scheduled for next fall. The first is to take place September 16 at Texas State University, followed by Virginia State University on October 1 and the University of Utah on October 9.

Despite the widespread adoption of AI tools such as ChatGPT, 61% of Americans fear AI will increase the quality and quantity of disinformation, according to research from Propeller Insights on behalf of The School of Thought International. Other takeaways include:
· 51% of Americans are concerned that AI, with the combination of social media, has the potential to “go rogue” and generate disinformation against humanity’s interests.
· 53% of Americans believe that the information landscape has been contaminated in 2023 by AI-generated disinformation and misinformation.
· 56% predict it will be even more contaminated in 2024.

The survey shows a strong majority support the development of media literacy and critical thinking skills, with 67% urging governments and institutions to invest in initiatives that address these problems. However, 49.8% of respondents also believe in debunked conspiracy theories, such as that the 2020 U.S. federal election was stolen due to widespread fraud.

ABC and Dick Clark Productions have extended their agreement for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” for five years, keeping the New Year’s Eve celebration on the network through January 1, 2029. The 2023 show drew 17.9 million total viewers and hit a 5.34 A18-49 rating in the midnight quarter-hour. ABC has been home to the annual event since 1974.

IT’S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

Today is the final day to submit a nomination for Cynopsis Standouts! Do you have a peer, colleague or boss who contributes to the success of your company and its culture? Enter them into the running! Winners will be announced on November 30.

NOMINATE A STANDOUT

Onyx Collective’s “UnPrisoned” has been renewed for a second season on Hulu. The dramedy stars and is executive produced by Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo.

“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” is set to begin production. The Masterpiece PBS and BBC adaptation of the final novel in the Wolf Hall trilogy will feature the returns of Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, Jonathan Pryce, Kate Phillips and Lilit Lesser. Playground (“All Creatures Great and Small”) and Company Pictures (“Van Der Valk”) are producing.

CreativeChaos (“This Changes Everything”) has acquired the rights to Klementyna Suchanow’s nonfiction Polish bestseller This Is War: Women, Fundamentalists and the New Middle Ages (To Jest Wojna: Kobiety, Fundamentaliści i Nowe Średniowiecze). CreativeChaos’ Co-Founders Tom Donahue and Ilan Arboleda will adapt a four-part docuseries based on Suchanow’s book, following Suchanow’s transformation from author to activist in a sham trial for actions against Poland’s ultra-conservative government.

OUTtv has ordered dating competition series “Looking for a Third,” hosted and executive produced by reality TV star Tiffany Pollard. “Partnering with OUTtv is always such a joy because it’s my honor to get to tell incredible queer stories. I know this show is going to be silly, romantic, and filled with so much love.”

The ATCP (Association of True Crime Producers) in the UK and Ireland, launched four months ago to establish best practice guidelines for the TV crime genre, has welcomed new members Back2Back Productions, Content Kings, Flicker Productions, North One, and Zig Zag Productions. They join Avalon, FirstLook TV, ITN Productions, Monster Films, Peninsula Television, Phoenix Television, Rare TV, Revelation Films, Title Role, and Woodcut Media in the nonprofit.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

NBC’s midseason gets rolling with new Jon Cryer comedy “Extended Family” and a holiday episode of “Night Court” after an NFL game on Saturday, December 23. The series premiere of “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League” airs Monday, January 1 at 8p, while the third and final season of “La Brea” launches Tuesday, January 9 at 9p. The net’s three Dick Wolf “Chicago” series return Wednesday, January 17, while the “Law & Order” trio returns the following night. “Deal or No Deal Island” launches Monday, February 26 at 9:30p, and “The Voice” is back for another run on Monday, February 26 at 8p.

“The World According to Football,” a docuseries narrated and executive produced by Trevor Noah, kicks off Friday, December 1 on Showtime. The five-parter focuses on how soccer teams and fans in different countries face global issues through the sport.

“King Charles,” a talk show featuring Gayle King (“CBS Mornings”) and Charles Barkley (“Inside the NBA”), premieres Wednesday, November 29 at 10p on CNN. Due to the Republican primary debate on December 6, the second week’s episode will air at 9p.

HGTV’s “Married to Real Estate” is back Thursday, December 28 at 9p. Last season’s run attracted over 15.6 million viewers.

COMING UP

Shudder’s holiday lineup includes “It’s a Wonderful Knife” (ha!), following a woman whose wish that she was never born lands her in a nightmare parallel universe. The film starts streaming Friday, December 1.

The HBO Original documentary “Great Photo, Lovely Life: Facing a Family’s Secrets” debuts Tuesday, December 5 at 10p. The film follows photojournalist Amanda Mustard as she returns home to Pennsylvania to investigate the multiple sexual abuse crimes committed by her grandfather.

The “Soul Train Awards” 2023 premieres Sunday, November 26 at 8p on BET, BET HER, VH1, Logo and MTV2 with performances by ‘Legend’ Award honoree T-Pain, ‘Spirit of Soul’ honoree Janelle Monáe, BJ The Chicago Kid, Coco Jones, Danté Bowe, Jermaine Dupri, Keke Palmer, Maeta, Muni Long, SWV, and BET Amplified artists Honey Bxbe and October London.

FOX News Channel will present a debate between Florida Governor and GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (R) and California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on Thursday, November 30 at 9p in Alpharetta, GA. “DeSantis vs. Newsom: The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate” will air during a two-hour edition of “Hannity.”

TECH

Omnichannel supply-side platform OpenX Technologies announced the launch of TV+, an ongoing initiative to combine the most powerful aspects of linear and programmatic buying models. In the first phase of TV+, OpenX is eliminating all resellers from its CTV inventory pool, ensuring that buyers have more working media and reduced invalid traffic. This move also ensures that publishers get their fair cut of transactions. “CTV is a powerful channel for marketers to reach and engage with their audiences,” said Adam Roodman, SVP of Product Strategy and Management at Yahoo. ”As this happens, solutions that prioritize control and transparency will enable buyers to lean into their KPIs in biddable CTV environments, helping them further realize the full promise of programmatic CTV.”

A study focused on social media behavior from Mindshare and Snapchat found that six distinct platform “need states” govern users’ behaviors: Exploring (22%); Learning (16%): Progression – desire to build your future (15%); Joy (19%); Hanging Out/Time Waste (15%); and Connection (13%). “A few simple but powerful needs underpin all social behavior,” said Glen Parker, Head of Data Strategy and Insights, Mindshare Worldwide. “This knowledge is the key to unlocking the true power of social media.”

Eighty-three percent of media experts think it’s important for their company to have an attention strategy, according to IAS study, “The Attention Payoff,” and 79% report substantial improvement in revenue opportunity since implementing an attention strategy. Seventy-eight percent of attention measurement users are prepared to evolve to optimization in the next 12 months. Other findings include:
· 40% of media experts agree that an attention standard endorsed by a major trade group is necessary.
· Social media is the top target for attention measurement, named by 61% of respondents.
· Ad buyers favor nominal scales for attention (56%), while publishers favor numerical scales (67%).

Publishers around the world will lose $54 billion in ad revenue due to ad blocking in 2024, representing roughly 8 percent of total global ad spend, calculates the 2023 “eyeo Ad-Filtering Report.” But the losses would be worse if ad-filtering tools that give users the ability to only see nonintrusive ads did not exist. The number of users opted into Acceptable Ads has increased by 42%between 1Q22 and 2Q23, crossing the 300M mark. “This report shows that users are annoyed with clutter and intrusive online ads and are reclaiming control of their online experience,” said Jan Wittek, CRO at eyeo. “The growth of Acceptable Ads users is a testament to the fact that users are open to nonintrusive ads, thereby supporting publishers and creators for their efforts. It’s a mistake to assume that they do not respect the value exchange with publishers – if their legitimate need for a better experience is considered.”

STREAMING

Max has an early Black Friday deal for new and returning subscribers: a price cut from $9.99 to $2.99 for its ad-supported tier for the first six months. The deal runs through November 27.

Hemisphere Media Group has launched its Spanish-language FAST channels Wapa+, Todocine and Todo Drama on ViX.

A new FAST channel, PBS Food, is available on Freevee, Plex and Roku. Among the titles are “Mind of a Chef,” “The French Chef with Julia Child,” and “Eating In With Lidia.”

Generation Iron, the media company focused on health, fitness, bodybuilding and strength sports, has acquired the worldwide theatrical and streaming rights for the new documentary “Taming The Beast – The Emptiness Within.” The film tells the life story of strongman Eddie Hall.

SPORTS ROUNDUP

The Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Network struck a partnership with Greenfly, the platform for short-from content capture, organization, and distribution, to power the flow of digital media assets for Big Ten student-athletes. The multi-year partnership will allow the conference to provide student-athletes across 14 member institutions sophisticated access to tailored content they can leverage to build their brands.

On Thanksgiving weekend, FloSports will air NCAA Women’s Basketball programs featuring LSU, UConn, Iowa, UCLA, and others during the Gulf Coast Showcase and the Cayman Islands Classic. FloSports through its FloHoops basketball vertical will livestream every game and provide around-the-clock special coverage.

GOING GLOBAL

Documentary “44 Hours” will become available as a TVOD title on Amazon’s Prime Video. The 1×60 version has been acquired by NRK in Norway for its linear channels (NRK1, 2 & 3) and VOD platform, while in New Zealand, the feature version has been licensed to DocEdge Virtual Cinema, the year-round viewing platform that supports the influential Doc Edge Festival.

Synacor expanded its relationship with a Filipino content provider ABS-CBN Australia, which is now using Synacor’s Cloud ID to authenticate cross-platform delivery of ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel via Starhub in Singapore, to give verified TFC subscribers access to TV Everywhere viewing. Synacor’s expanded agreement builds on ABS-CBN and its affiliates’ existing use of Cloud ID to authenticate TFC in the US and elsewhere in the APAC region.

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Food Network’s “Chopped: Julia Child’s Kitchen” scored a .51 P25-54 and .64 W25-54 Live+3 rating in its Tuesday debut, with gains of +55% and +52%, respectively, vs. prior six-week benchmarks. “Beat Bobby Flay: Holiday Throwdown” delivered .62 P25-54 and .74 W25-54 ratings, up 35% and 30%, respectively, with both series helping to drive the network’s highest Tuesday prime rating year-to-date for both demos.

Top 10 TV Most Social Shows for the week of November 13
Program, Platform, Total Actions, Total Content, Actions per Content, Fans & Followers
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC), 4.9m, 164, 29,909, 33.4m
Entertainment Tonight (CBSMV/Syndicated), 4.3m, 779, 5,506, 12.3m
Saturday Night Live (NBC), 2.7m, 74, 36,683, 16.2m
Today Show (NBC), 1.9m, 475, 4,047, 15.3m
Dancing with the Stars (ABC), 1.6m, 133, 12,346, 9.2m
The Daily Show (Comedy Central), 1.3m, 89, 14,498, 29.0m
America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC), 1.2m, 64, 18,319, 19.8m
Good Morning America (ABC), 1.0m, 723, 1,449, 15.7m
The Kelly Clarkson Show (NBCU/Syndicated), 676k, 49, 13,789, 2.6m
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS), 566k, 126, 4,496, 5.2
Source: Comscore Powered by Shareablee

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Scott Landsman has joined Seven Bucks Productions as Head of Television, and Melissa Fried has been named VP of Film Development & Production. Landsman was previously SVP of Comedy Development for Sony Pictures Television, and Fried had been an Agent at Verve.

Bristol animation studio A Productions has hired Katie Barba to help grow its slate of kids and family entertainment. Barba joins A Productions from Disney, where she worked for the past five years in production and development.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
What song does the Peanuts gang sing on the way to turkey dinner on “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (1973)? Over the River and Through the Wood. Kudos to: Lou Vazquez-OMD/NY; Mark Prince-dentsu/NYC; Emma Nelson-Warner Bros. Discovery/NYC; Dan Quiterio-Paramount/NYC; Dan Whitford-WTTW/Chicago; Maggie Takei-Moore Media/Paducah, KY; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Tom Boyd-WGN/Chicago; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Who hosted Mindy for Thanksgiving on season one of “The Mindy Project” (2012-17)? (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