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Happy Monday, readers! Here are the top stories from media’s first morning read:
- Fox Closes Its Acquisition of Roku
- A “Stranger Things” Prequel Is in the Works at Netflix
- Why Isn’t Instagram on TV Popping Off Yet?
Plus: ABC announces its midseason premiere lineup, which won’t include the new “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff. And in larger Disney-owned television news, employees at the Mouse House are starting to feel the pressure from an impending restructuring.
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| In The News |
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Surprise! While we were all distracted with the midterm results last week, it looks like Fox Corp. completed its $22 billion acquisition of Roku on Friday.
- The timing might be unexpected, but the result is not. Last Monday, CEO Lachlan Murdoch told investors during an earnings call that he expected the deal to close “as soon as possible.” Semafor also reported that the Department of Justice was about to clear the deal under a consent decree.
- Fox declined to comment to Cynopsis, but according to a statement the department released on Friday, the Antitrust Division concluded that Fox “would suffer monetary and reputational harm if it attempted to use the Roku platform to harm Fox’s content rivals.” The division also said consumers could easily switch to other connected TV platforms if they were dissatisfied with the product.
- As part of the deal, Roku founder and former CEO Anthony Wood will join Fox’s board of directors and serve as co-chair of Fox Digital Platforms, under which Roku will be housed alongside Tubi, Fox One (Fox’s direct-to-consumer streaming service) and Red Seat Ventures (a creator-led podcast and digital media network).
- Fox now owns both of the top two most popular free streaming services in the US: The Roku Channel and Tubi. It also has access to all of Roku’s ad tech capabilities and first-party data, allowing the company to massively scale up its connected TV advertising business.
Anyway, you know what acquisition deals mean: executive shakeups. Roku Media President Charlie Collier and Senior Vice President and General Counsel Chris Handman will not be joining Fox. Also on the outs: Tubi CEO Anjali Sud, who is taking a new role outside the company, and Robyn Peterson, who served as executive vice president of Fox-owned ad tech platform AdRise. Anthony Wood will be succeeded as Roku CEO by Mustafa Ozgen, who will also lead AdRise.
Disney’s impending TV reorganization is starting to become real. In addition to another possible round of layoffs in January, Disney Entertainment Television is expected to undergo a massive restructuring under Chairman Debra OConnell, who took on the new role in March.
- Deadline’s sources speculate that 20th Television will be further integrated into Disney and that Hulu and Disney+ may also face more consolidation.
- Meanwhile, Business Insider’s sources suggest that Disney employees are, not surprisingly, struggling with morale and asking questions about the upcoming changes in town hall meetings.
Cable juggernaut Charter Communications is also planning a massive restructuring in an effort to save $2 billion over the next 18 months. The company reported $14.9 billion in revenue last quarter as a result of its merger with Spectrum, and a $2.4 billion loss stemming from a $6.3 billion franchise impairment charge.
British TV producer Jack Bayles has been asked to step back from his current role as head of comedy at Various Artists Unlimited for reasons associated with the allegations against Russell Brand, who was convicted of rape and sexual assault last week. Various Artists is best known for producing “I May Destroy You,” Michaela Coel’s hit series about a writer who struggles with the aftermath of her own sexual assault.
Lionsgate posted earnings for its second fiscal quarter on Thursday. Although the studio still suffered a slight net loss of $15.5 million, it exceeded analyst expectations by growing its overall revenue 41% year over year to $666.8 million. Lionsgate also announced that its massive film and TV IP library generated $1.04 billion over the last 12 months.
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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.
Prime Video debuted a trailer for “Melania, the Series,” a two-part continuation of the controversial documentary film directed by Brett Ratner earlier this year. The series premieres Nov. 20.
Kaitlin Olson in “High Potential”
ABC released its slate of 2027 midseason premieres:
- “Will Trent” Season 5, “High Potential” Season 3 and new series “Surviving a Scandal” will debut Jan. 5.
- Season 9 of “The Rookie” and its new spinoff, “The Rookie North,” will premiere Jan. 6.
- “Celebrity Jeopardy!” Season 5 will debut Jan. 29.
- “American Idol” Season 25 will premiere Feb. 8.
- “The Bachelor” Season 30 and “What Would You Do?” Season 18 will debut March 21.
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| Today’s Premieres |
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Acorn TV: “The Madame Blanc Mysteries” Season 5
Netflix: “Doozie’s Doghouse”
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| Production |
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ABC’s still-untitled “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff won’t get a midseason premiere after all. Instead, it is being pushed back to the 2027-28 season. The production cited issues with its California tax credit application and will film in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which also happens to be slightly closer to West Texas, where the show takes place.
Netflix greenlit a “Stranger Things” prequel set in the 1950s. “Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure” is co-created by the Duffer Brothers and showrunner Kate Trefry, who wrote the stage play “Stranger Things: The First Shadow.” The series will take place in Marion, Nevada, and is set to premiere in 2028.
Linnea Berthelsen, Sadie Sink, Millie Bobby Brown in Netflix’s “Stranger Things”
The title of “Nobody Wants This” is getting less accurate every year. Netflix just renewed the show for a fourth season, two weeks after Season 3 delivered the largest opening week for a returning comedy series this year.
Apple TV renewed “Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars” for a third season. The Gordon Ramsay-produced docuseries follows host Jesse Burgess (“Topjaw”) around the world and into the kitchens of chefs vying for a spot in the Michelin Guide.
“Tenko,” the scripted BBC series about a group of UK, Australian and Dutch women held in a World War II Japanese internment camp, is getting a reboot from Two Brothers Pictures (“Fleabag”). The original show ran from 1981 to 1984, with a special in 1985.
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| Tech News You Can Use |
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Instagram’s new push into long-form content hasn’t quite convinced creators to get on board yet, according to Digiday. Though the platform offers great discoverability and a newly revamped TV app, it doesn’t yet have a clear monetization or ad revenue structure, making it harder for creators to justify investing time, effort and money in original content there. Experts instead cited YouTube’s monetization model as a better option, which might be why YouTube has become the leader among user-generated content hubs competing with traditional TV.
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| Coming Up |
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TelevisaUnivision has officially sold out its Latin Grammy Awards inventory, with less than a week to go before the 27th annual broadcast airs on Univision on Nov. 12. Joining the event are 20 new advertisers, including Rémy Martin, Gilead Sciences, Valentine Beauty and Ross.
“SpongeBob SquarePants” will premiere its Christmas special, “Merry Christmas, Mr. Plankton,” on Nov. 27 on Nickelodeon. The special will also be available to stream on Paramount+.
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| Ratings |
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JioHotstar’s “Bigg Boss,” India’s version of “Big Brother,” achieved 1 billion hours of watch time in under 60 days, the fastest in the series’ 20-year history. It also ranked among the streaming service’s top five titles in the UK and Canada.
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| Executive Moves |
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Disney has hired Emily Feingold as its new executive vice president of communications, replacing David Jefferson after he accepted a voluntary early retirement offer. Feingold previously worked at Netflix, investment firm Andell Inc., Ralph Lauren and the Clinton White House.
Media mogul Tyler Perry has a new role on the transition team for Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, despite facing two sexual assault and harassment lawsuits filed last year in Los Angeles. In her announcement, Bottoms called Perry “a huge philanthropic part of our Georgia community.”
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| In Memoriam |
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Comcast founding partner Julian Brodsky died at 93. He spent much of his career as Comcast’s chief financial officer before retiring in 2011.
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Before getting into politics, Texas Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson wrote music scores for the English-language dub of what massively popular ‘90s anime series?
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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On “Parenthood” (2010-15), what future multi-hyphenate showrunner played Marleise, an aggrieved neighbor of The Luncheonette? Pamela Adlon
Congrats to: Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA
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