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| Friday, September 11, 2026 |
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Happy Friday! On today’s news docket:
- “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Avoids More FCC Scrutiny
- Streaming TV Sells More Ads Than Ever
- The “American Horror Story” Witches Are Back
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In The News
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On Thursday night, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” chose to post an interview with Texas State Senate candidate James Talarico (D) on YouTube rather than air it on television.
- Kimmel explained to his audience on Wednesday that the move was in response to recent pressure from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has criticized Kimmel’s jokes about the Trump administration and is now requiring ABC to file its broadcast license renewals early. (The FCC insists this early license renewal is unrelated to ABC’s programming.)
- In January, the FCC also began requiring entertainment talk shows to offer equal airtime to candidates running for the same office. Under these rules, “Kimmel Live” would also have to interview Talarico’s opponent, Ken Paxton (R).
- This marks the second time that a talk show avoided airing an interview with Talarico. “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” also moved its segment to YouTube in February.
- The Takeaway: Putting aside concerns about the allegedly political nature of the FCC’s actions, YouTube is becoming an avenue through which traditional media outlets can circumvent certain broadcast regulations – provided that the content doesn’t go against the platform’s restrictions, of course.
All stream ahead. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) raised its US ad spend forecast for the year to 12.3%, an increase from the 9.5% growth projection it released in January.
- Streaming TV is one of the fastest-growing advertising channels at 15.6% year-over-year growth, second only to social media (16.5% YoY projected growth), according to the September forecast.
- It’s not the first time the trade organization predicted social media would overtake streaming TV growth. While the IAB made similar projections in 2024 due to social media’s more detailed campaign reporting, the trend this year is largely due to brands’ increased focus on influencer marketing.
- The IAB’s expectations for CTV advertising growth rose 1.8% from September to January due to a stronger-than-expected first half of the year, which included the Winter Olympics and FIFA World Cup. Moving forward, advertisers’ increased focus on contextual advertising and demo-based targeting – in addition to sports, of course – makes for promising growth potential in the near future.
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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.
Key art for “American Horror Story: 13”
FX dropped a new trailer for “American Horror Story: 13.” The new season, which premieres Sept. 24, is a huge crossover event for the anthology series, with several fan-favorite characters returning. Plus, fans finally got a look at new cast member John Waters, who was first announced in February.
“The Drew Barrymore Show,” the syndicated daytime talk show distributed by CBS Media Ventures, returns for its seventh season on Sept. 14. The first week of episodes will feature weeklong coverage of the Daisy Chain Festival, founded by Olivia Rodrigo in late August.
The History Channel premieres its newest Canadian original series, “Mountain Men: Wild North,” on Oct. 8. The show is a spinoff of the channel’s long-running “Mountain Men” franchise.
National Geographic announced the release date for “Africa Earth’s Wild Home,” the inaugural season of an ambitious new multiyear documentary series. The first of seven episodes premieres Oct. 2.
Acorn TV series “Signora Volpe” returns with three new 90-minute episodes on Oct. 5. The show is written and created by Rachel Cuperman and Sally Griffiths (“Midsomer Murders”) and stars Emilia Fox (“Silent Witness”) and Giovanni Cirfiera (“Ford v Ferrari”).
The TLC dating show “90 Day: Hunt for Love” is back for a second season, featuring singles from the “90 Day Fiancé” franchise. Season 2 premieres Oct. 5.
“Avatar: Seven Havens,” the third TV series in Nickelodeon’s animated “Avatar” franchise following “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “The Legend of Korra,” premieres on Paramount+ Oct. 9. The series will air three episodes at a time through Oct. 30.
Kristen Bell in Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This”
Netflix rom-com “Nobody Wants This” returns for a third season on Oct. 22, with new roles for Sarah Silverman, Andrew Rannells and series creator Erin Foster.
Peacock released a first look at “The Good Daughter,” an original thriller series starring Meghann Fahy and Rose Byrne premiering Nov. 12.
TODAY’S PREMIERES
ABC: “9/11 Tribute in Light: Live From Lower Manhattan” at 8 p.m.
CBS: “9/11: We Remember” at 8 p.m.; “Daughters of 9/11” at 9 p.m.
History Channel: “102 Minutes Inside the Towers” at 8 p.m.
Netflix: “Physical 100: Italy”; “Stolen Heartbeats”
Prime Video: “El Juicio”
SATURDAY’S PREMIERES
CNN: “Have I Got News For You” Season 4 at 9 p.m.
Lifetime: “Angel in the Rubble: The Genelle Guzman Story” at 8 p.m.
OWN: “Love & Marriage: Huntsville” Season 12 at 8 p.m.
SUNDAY’S PREMIERES
Adult Swim: “The Terrors of Jordan Mendoza” at midnight
CBS: “60 Minutes” Season 59 at 7:30 p.m.; “Best of VMAs: Iconic Vanguard Performances” at 9:30 p.m.
Food Network: “Halloween Wars” Season 16 at 9 p.m.
Fox: “The Floor” Season 6 at 8 p.m.
Lifetime: “Family Through Fire” at 8 p.m.
TNT: “High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam” at 9 p.m.
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| Partner content |
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Forward 2026: A Forum for the Future of TV Advertising—Oct. 29, NYC
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Attendance is free, but space is limited.
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Production
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The BBC dropped “Drag Race UK” and its spinoff series in the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” franchise, citing recent budget cuts at the network. Future episodes will instead be broadcast on Wow Presents Plus, the subscription streaming service owned by production company World of Wonder.
Starz is dropping “P-Valley” after the third season. The network halted filming for Season 3 of the Lionsgate TV series during the Hollywood strikes in 2023 before resuming filming in May 2024. The final season of “P-Valley” will premiere Dec. 4.
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Tech News You Can Use
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Amazon Web Services, Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary, announced new capabilities across its AWS Elemental suite of products for live video streaming and monetization. AWS Elemental MediaTailor now has Yield Optimization, which will automatically backfill unsold ad inventory, and Low-Latency Ad Insertion, which allows for better personalized ad insertion on low-latency streams. Additionally, AWS Elemental MediaPackage Dynamic Multiview allows streamers to deliver up to 10 feeds in a single personalized multi-camera channel.
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Coming Up
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The Country Music Association (CMA) announced its nominations for the 60th Annual CMA Awards, which will be telecast live on CBS Nov. 18. Rising star Ella Langley led the pack with none nominations, followed by country legend Miranda Lambert with seven.
Before that, though, Snoop Dogg will host the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Sept. 27.
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Ratings
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Nielsen released its third annual breakdown of which Emmy-nominated series were watched the most over the last year. If the Television Academy selected its winners based on ratings, some series would definitely be running away with the top prize.
- In drama, “The Pitt” on HBO Max achieved 398.6 million total viewing hours, putting it far ahead of the competition; HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” which ranked No. 2, only got half as many viewing hours at 131.5 million.
- Meanwhile, ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” was the most-watched of the Outstanding Comedy Series nominees with 181.4 million viewing hours. Behind it was Apple TV’s “Shrinking” with 99.8 million.
- “Survivor” on CBS was the most popular reality competition series nominated with 336.7 million total viewing hours. Trailing was “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC, which only got 218.3 million.
- The Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series secured the most viewing hours of all – Netflix’s “The Beast in Me” dominated with 1,231 million viewing hours, with Peacock’s “All Her Fault” in second place at 734.1 million.
- Finally, in the Outstanding Movie category, “Heads of State” on Prime Video achieved 51 million total viewing hours, ahead of Netflix’s “Remarkably Bright Creatures” at 37 million.
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Executive Moves
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BET promoted Aisha Summers-Burke to EVP and head of BET Studios and BET Creative Programming as part of the network’s efforts to centralize development. Summers-Burke now oversees both the network’s studio and TV programming.
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In Memoriam
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Barry Melrose, former NHL pro and ESPN analyst, died Wednesday at 70, his wife confirmed to ESPN.
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Friday Fun Fact
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September is associated with Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, volcanoes and metalworking. It was originally the seventh month in the Roman calendar before January and February were added, so some theorize that the Vulcan connection made more sense in the middle of summer!
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In “Family Guy,” the school that Meg and Chris Griffin go to used to be called James Woods Regional High, but was changed in 2019. Who was the school renamed after?
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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Gillian Anderson famously lied about her age to get her role on the “X-Files” (1993-2002). How old was she when she auditioned? She was 24 years old.
Congrats to: Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NYC; Mark Wajda/Clermont, FL; Tom Moore-Kalt Production/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA
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