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Welcome back from the weekend to the media’s first morning read! Here’s what you need to know today:
- Another Director Turns Down HBO’s “Harry Potter” Project
- Stuart Will Fail To Save The Universe For Another Season
- Even More NBA Games Are Coming To Television
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In The News
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Daniel Rigby and Bel Powley as Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia in HBO’s upcoming “Harry Potter” TV series.
No amount of magic can convince these directors to disregard the sociopolitical convictions of J.K. Rowling, the prolific fantasy writer behind “Harry Potter.”
- Ally Pankiw, a writer and director well known for her work on Netflix’s “Black Mirror” series, turned down an opportunity to direct HBO’s upcoming “Harry Potter” TV series. The reason, as Pankiw stated in the comments section of her Instagram post depicting her text exchange with her agent, is that “it simply is this easy to say ‘no’ to transphobia.”
- Kate Herron, who directed episodes of “Doctor Who” and “Loki,” wrote in the comments section of Pankiw’s post that she also passed on leading HBO’s new TV series twice, for similar reasons.
- For context: In recent years, Rowling has made anti-trans statements online, publicly opposed trans-inclusive legislation in the UK, questioned the gender of Olympic boxer Imane Khelif and established a legal fund for cis women who file lawsuits related to sharing spaces with trans women.
- Rowling’s actions have led to criticism from members of the “Harry Potter” fandom, as well as actors from both the previous film franchise and the new TV adaptation. Most recently, Bel Powley (“The Morning Show”) expressed strong disagreement with J.K. Rowling’s “view on gender.” Powley, however, still accepted a job as Aunt Petunia in the new series.
- The Takeaway: Backlash against Rowling has dominated headlines, but hasn’t yet led to any financial consequences for her or Warner Bros. – as an example, see the controversy over the recent “Hogwarts Legacy” video game, which still sold well despite a public boycott. How the TV series will fare remains to be seen, but in the meantime, it doesn’t seem like the conflict is going away anytime soon.
Cable TV is tuned into the consolidation station. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved the pending $34 billion merger between Charter and Cox.
- Before granting its approval, the CPUC made the duo agree to certain conditions. These concessions include conducting community outreach and inclusion initiatives in underserved communities, and creating affordable broadband packages for lower-income residents in California.
- The merger, which the Federal Communications Commission approved earlier this year, is expected to close at the end of the month. The deal will create the nation’s largest internet and video service provider in terms of subscriber numbers.
- The broadband companies will also combine their cable and linear TV footprints in hopes of positioning themselves to compete with the rest of the media and TV universe, which continues to consolidate.
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New & Returning Series
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For sneak peeks, check out Cynopsis Trailer Park.
TODAY’S PREMIERES
FX: “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Season 18 at 9 p.m.
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Production
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Kevin Sussman, John Ross Bowie, Brian Posehn in “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe”
HBO announced that “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” the multiverse-hopping spinoff from “The Big Bang Theory” franchise, will return to HBO Max for a second season. The first season, which stars Kevin Sussman as Stuart, was the streaming service’s second-biggest comedy launch ever.
Shantay, you stay. “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars” and both versions of the “Untucked” companion show will return for another season on MTV and Paramount+, respectively. The OG competition is officially in its 19th season, while “All-Stars” is in its 12th.
No no, Power Rangers! Disney+ will not be moving forward with plans to produce a new live-action “Power Rangers” series. “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” showrunners Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz were attached to develop the series for Disney+ and 20th Television as recently as March, but Deadline’s sources indicate that the project is now dead due to budget concerns.
Greta Lee’s series adaptation of Cathy Park Hong’s memoir, “Minor Feelings,” is no longer happening either, the “Late Fame” actor admitted on the Talk Easy podcast with Sam Fragoso earlier this week. The show was announced back in 2021 when A24 acquired the project.
Netflix continues its focus on YA series. The streamer just greenlit “Sid & Zoey” from co-showrunners Jon Kasdan (“Willow”) and John Shiban (“Ozark”), about two teens who get caught up in a supernatural mystery plaguing their Mississippi town. Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Bad Robot will also executive produce the series.
But wait, there’s more! Netflix also picked up “Sunshine Girls,” another YA series by YouTube production company Brat TV. The series features Alma Marian, Isabella Fowler (both of whom have performed in “Dhar Mann” videos) and Erin Rose Park, and will premiere this December.
Executive producer Will Graham and actor Riley Keough, both Emmy-nominated for “Daisy Jones & The Six,” are teaming up again for another series that’s been picked up by HBO. Called “Advantage Player,” the show is inspired by the life of professional gambler Gina Fiore.
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Tech News You Can Use
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Data intelligence platform Nano Interactive launched a new product to help media planners with CTV fragmentation. Called Nano Screen Graph, the product cross-matches and merges data across publishers, such as content IDs, show titles and episode numbers, so users can analyze CTV content more effectively and build custom segments for their target audiences.
Here’s a warning to make sure your data is backed up in more than one place. A PBS station in St. Louis recently filed a lawsuit to regain 50 terabytes worth of data, representing 70 years’ worth of the station’s archival materials. Nine PBS alleges that its cloud storage vendor, Open Source Storage, went “defunct” and cut off access without warning, and that the physical location of that data, Iron Mountain Data Centers in Denver, has not been cooperative thus far.
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Sport Report
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Between them, ABC and NBC are adding 11 more NBA games to their schedules this upcoming season. The addition represents 33 more hours of broadcast airtime going to the sport – which, as The Hollywood Reporter points out, likely means fewer scripted shows on television as a result.
Fox One, Fox’s direct-to-consumer streaming service, will livestream a pair of IROC By Chevrolet exhibition events on Aug. 22 as part of the historic Freedom 250 race weekend in Washington, D.C. The races, produced by Fox Sports, will bring together prolific NASCAR and IndyCar racers, including Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte, who will pilot historic IROC Pontiac Firebirds.
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Ratings
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Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman in “Lioness”
Paramount’s internal data suggests that the Aug. 2 season premiere of “Lioness” reached 7.1 million viewers in its first seven days of streaming on Paramount+. Early data from Nielsen also suggests it was the most-watched streaming original series in the US that week.
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Executive Moves
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Sports and entertainment agency Elevate announced its appointment of Mike Kitts to president of global sales and solutions.
Sebastian Gibbs will return to Netflix as director of original series. Gibbs previously held the same position at Netflix for two and a half years before moving on to a role at Amazon MGM Studios in 2022.
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Netflix’s “GLOW” (2017-2019) is inspired by the original “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling” promotion, which first began airing on syndicated TV in 1986. For how many seasons did the original series run?
(Email answers to trivia@Cynopsis.com and include your name, company and city. Answers limited to four per time zone.)
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Yesterday’s Trivia Answer
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Which of Jim Henson’s Muppet characters was the first to appear regularly on network television, primarily on “The Jimmy Dean Show” (1963-1975)? Rowlf the Dog.
Congrats to: Kathryn Tesoriero-WPP Media/NY; Paul Gluck-Temple University Television/Philadelphia, PA; Marge Pistulka-Fusion Media Solutions/Coral Springs, FL; Beth Tallent-Tallent PR/Nashville, TN; Justin Pierce-JP Consulting Group/LA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA
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