At an eye-popping upfront event at NYC’s Pier 36 (Police chase! Soldiers! Zombies!), AMC announced a development slate bursting with scripted drama projects, its first-ever scripted comedy, talent deals with the likes of Chris Carter (The X Files), Amy Lippman (Masters of Sex), Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (This is the End) and John Leguizamo (Ice Age), as well as several new unscripted series.

Some highlights:
A pilot for We Hate Paul Revere got the green light, the net announced, about brothers struggling for recognition in Colonial Boston. "We’ll explore the characters that history forgot," said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s EVP of original programming, production and digital content. "For more than 200 years, Paul Revere has had a pretty good ride. It’s about time someone took him down a peg!" Shooting takes place in Q3 2014 for consideration for 2015.

Comic Book Men, now in season three, got a renewal; the unscripted series is averaging one million viewers (live + same day) and more than 720,000 A18-49 at midnight on Sunday nights. AMC is expanding its relationship with Kevin Smith to include the development of late night project Hollywood Babble-On, as well as a docu-series featuring super-collector and "Comic Book Men" regular, Robert Bruce.

In development (working titles) are series including Chris Carter conspiracy thriller Area 51; darkly comic Police State; political drama Kingmakers; Bombingham, about buried demons from the Civil Rights era; sci-fi series The Sparrow; family drama Jerry’s World; Paradise Lost, about a group of friends who withdraw from society; Untitled John Leguizamo Project; comedy No Money Down, about a man working in a car dealership; contract killer comedy Random Acts, and recovery (or not) comedy, Sober Buddies.

The net also announced three books optioned for scripted development and three new unscripted shows in development, including Untitled Billy Corrigan Wrestling Project, with the Smashing Pumpkins singer taking over creative direction of a wrestling company.

"2013 was by all meaningful measures the most successful year in AMC’s history and we are building on this momentum in every imaginable way. AMC is introducing more hours of original programming and the most robust, diverse development slate in our network’s history," said Charlie Collier, AMC president. "It is a personal point of pride for all of us to be working with a roster of such creative, talented and successful professionals, many of whom are entrusting us with personal passion projects."

Advertisers, the press and CMT execs gathered at the Times Center yesterday to hear about CMT‘s new programming, which features a healthy slate of documentaries, series, and music, music, music. Owned by Viacom (in fact, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman was in the audience), CMT is enjoying four consecutive quarters of year over year ratings increases, with 22 percent total day growth and 31 percent growth in prime. CMT capped off the good news with a live performance from Lady Antebellum, who sang their hit "Need You Now" and a moving medley of "Golden" and Fleetwood Mac’s "Landslide."

Jayson Dinsmore, EVP, programming and development, announced the creation of a News & Docs division, "with a slate of bold and compelling stories that reflect big personalities and monumental events that helped define America, our music and our spirit," from "some of the most respected and visionary filmmakers working today." Upcoming docs include Promiseland from Ridley Scott; They Called Us Outlaws from Eric Geadelmann and Mark Johnson; Freedom, from director Morgan Spurlock, and Urban Legend: When a Nation Went Country, from John Dorsey and Andrew Stephan (Pony Excess). Also premiering: Johnny Cash – American Rebel.

This summer, premieres Broken Skull Ranch with tough guy Steve Austin and My Dysfunctional Family round out a schedule that includes the return of the net’s biggest hit ever, Party Down South, and Dog and Beth: On the Hunt. Also returning: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team for season nine; season two of My Big Redneck Family, and season three of Swamp Pawn.

The net’s music series, Crossroads, pairs Katy Perry and Kacey Musgraves for its 50^th episode, to air Friday, June 13 at 10p on VH1, MTV, MTV Hits and Palladia; the singers will tour together later this summer. "This is without a doubt one of the best pairings in the 50 episode history of the Crossroads franchise," says John Hamlin, SVP music events and talent, CMT. "Both Katy and Kacey are killing it right now in their respective formats."

"We’ve had a tremendous year of growth at CMT," said Dinsmore. "We produced the biggest show in the channel’s history, established a beachhead on the highly competitive Thursday night and have more returning series than at any point ever before."

An elegant lunch at NYC’s Gramercy Park Hotel was the setting for Crown Media’s upfront presentation on Thursday, where EVP of ad sales and digital media Ed Georger said he anticipates a 20 percent increase in advertiser commitments at the upfront, explaining, "Advertisers are putting a higher value on original content and a higher value on original family programming." And the network is truly walking the talk: CEO Bill Abbott remarked that unlike other sister channels, there’s no duplicated programming between Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel.
Hallmark Channel unveiled a slate of 15 original movie premieres that includes the seventh chapter in its highest-rated franchise, Good Witch’s Wonder, starring Catherine Bell and Chris Potter, and the return of the net’s holiday movie line-up, "Countdown to Christmas," which will include over 1200 hours of family-friendly holiday-themed programming. Among the yuletide offerings: Debbie Macomber’s Mr. Miracle, another partnership with the bestselling author. "We are committed to providing new, original stories that the whole family can watch and enjoy together," said Michelle Vicary, EVP, programming for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel, adding that "is what separates our network as the leader in quality family entertainment." Another big name joining the Crown Media family is Martha Williamson, former writer and executive producer of the hit Touched By An Angel. Williamson is the writer and executive producer of the new series Signed, Sealed, Delivered, premiering April 20th.

The net will also celebrate love and romance with 24-hour programming in "Countdown to Valentine’s," from January 31-February 14, and is bringing back Kitten Bowl, a Super Bowl counter-programming event that reached 6.1 million viewers P2+ unduplicated viewers during its four airings in February. Encouraged by the success of the Kitten Bowl, Hallmark will debut the Kitten Paw-Star Game in summer 2015 as part of its "Pet Project initiative devoted to celebrating pets raising awareness of the plight of shelter animals."

Biggest news of all: Hallmark Movie Channel is getting a new name, a new tagline and a new logo  along with an increased emphasis on mystery dramas. Beginning in Q4, the net will rebrand as Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, with a "Mystery Wheel" launching in 2015 featuring three movie franchises that follow the same primary characters over the course of several months. First up: Garage Sale Mystery, starring Lori Loughlin (When Calls the Heart), continues the plot of a 2013 Hallmark Channel movie of that name, in early 2015. "Great mysteries have always been a strong part of Hallmark Movie Channel’s brand," said Vicary. "The nature of the franchise compels viewers to come back for more suspenseful action from their favorite characters each." It’s not all about suspense, though. Following record-breaking ratings during Q4 2013, HMC is bringing back "The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas," featuring two original movie premieres, The Christmas Secret and The Christmas Shepherd, starting Monday, November 3, and 24/7 holiday themed programming.

Discovery Communications had a packed schedule for its Upfront presentation at NYC’s Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall on Thursday. There was starpower aplenty, with everyone from OWN’s Oprah Winfrey to Ron Howard, announcing digital studio New Form, to TLC’s Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson cheering from the sidelines ("Let’s get this party started!")

"I am excited about Discovery’s Upfront programming slate with even bigger live events, including our follow up to Skywire Live," said Eileen O’Neill, Group President, Discovery, Science and Velocity networks. "The past year has been filled with history making live events, landmark original programming, scripted programs, compelling characters and amazing storytelling. Our next year will be epic."

Family-centered shows in the lineup include specials A Duggar Leaves Home and Kate Plus 8 Special (wt), as well as series (to name just a few) The Leah Remini Project (wt; the show proves "that real life is a lot funnier than fiction," said Remini onstage), real estate-set Listed Sisters (wt), reunion show Long-Lost Family and off-the-grid docu-series Risking It All. Added to the net’s wedding-themed programming are Curvy Girls Bridal and Heidi to the Rescue, while relationship series Psychic Matchmaker and The One That Got Away make their debuts.

Science Channel‘s Upfront programming slate builds on the network’s most-watched year in primetime and total day in 2013, its most-watched primetime quarter in 1Q14, and its most-watched primetime month in March 2014. "Science has never been a bigger part of the social consciousness," said Eileen O’Neill. New shows at the net include the its second scripted film, Spies of Los Alamos; Craig Ferguson series I F-cking Love Science (yup, O’Neill said it onstage!); Alien Universe with Brian Cox and My Life As a Satellite, first-person under-celebrated stories about NASA and the science of the universe.

But Winfrey said it is Belief, a television event exploring humankind’s search to connect with something greater than ourselves, "that made me want to put my name on a network." The seven-part series premieres in 2015.

OWN ordered 20 eps of Single Moms Club (wt), from Tyler Perry, set to premiere in fall 2014, and added 20 new eps of hit series The Haves and the Have Nots (its March 11 show drew 3.6 million viewers), for a total of 56 through 2015. The cast, along with Perry, joined Winfrey onstage.

Building on a record-breaking 2013 (72 million viewers per month), HGTV and DIY Network will premiere 31 new series, bring back over 54 shows and debut 24 specials in 2014. As part of its eight-city 2014 Upfront tour, Scripps Networks Interactive will hold its fourth presentation in LA at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills today. Upcoming presentations include Chicago (4/9), New York (4/22), Atlanta (4/28) and Minneapolis (5/1). Stars attending today’s presentation include DIY Network’s William Shatner and HGTV’s Property Brothers.

"Buyers will find that HGTV and DIY Network continue to offer a spectrum of programs in the ‘home’ category that makes us the best at attracting the coveted upscale viewer that advertisers want," Kathleen Finch, president, HGTV and DIY Network, tells Cynopsis. "This year we’re adding even more series that feature stars such as William Shatner, Jennie Garth and Daryl Hall, along with our current popular stars including Property Brothers; Rehab Addict Nicole Curtis; the Love It or List It duo Hilary Farr and David Visentin; as well as Rev Run and Vanilla Ice."

Ahead at HGTV: Eight new series, including The Jennie Garth Project. Premiering in June, the show follows single mom Garth (Beverly Hills, 90210) as she renovates a dated Hollywood Hills, CA. Flipping the Block features four couples competing to win big money at auction in the ultimate home-flipping competition, and Flip It Forward stars real estate entrepreneurs and brothers David and Jason Benham as they help families find a fixer-upper and transform it into a dream home. Fixer Upper has a husband and wife home-remodeling team balancing business with parenting, and My Big Family Renovation follows Austin, Texas-based author and popular mommy blogger Jen Hatmaker move and remodel.

At DIY, the brand is expanding its "celebrity home rehab" group with The Shatner Project, a series that follows the home renovation of William Shatner (Star Trek), and Daryl’s Restoration Over-Hall, premiering in May, starring singer/songwriter Daryl Hall (Hall & Oates).

DIY will also debut Sledgehammer, starring popular licensed contractor Jason Cameron; First Time Flippers, featuring overzealous property; Family Under Construction: Hawaii, following a family of five’s home renovation in Hawaii, and Disaster Decks, with designer/carpenter Paul LaFrance.
The networks’ popular home giveaway franchise will continue with HGTV’s Dream Home in Lake Tahoe; HGTV’s Smart Home in Nashville; and a new HGTV Urban Oasis. On DIY Network’s Blog Cabin, viewers will have the chance to help design the 2014 vacation home, a 1920s lakeside getaway.

It was a festive evening at the E! Upfront press party at the Dream Hotel penthouse in New York city. As guests nibbled on veggie tacos and drank Veuve Cliquot, E! Entertainment president Suzanne Kolb presented the new slate. The show she was most excited About? "The Royals," she told Cynopsis. "It’s scripted, which really expands our universe." Here are other highlights.
E!‘s pop culture-packed upfront slate included a Kardashian spin-off, the net’s first original series and more Rich Kids (and adults). The net boasted over 790 original programming hours in 2015, an increase of 14 percent versus 2014, and a record-breaking digital property, Eonline. "Across every platform, E! is more topical, trendsetting and up-to-the-minute than any other destination," said Suzanne Kolb, president, E! Entertainment. "With our slate of beloved franchises, the arrival of our first scripted series and a strong development slate, we’re excited about the year ahead."
Among the highlights…

New reality series Escape Club sets twentysomethings in an exotic resort, while Botched depicts attempts to right plastic surgery gone horribly wrong. The net’s first original scripted series, The Royals, arrives in early 2015.

A raft of new specials includes Ryan Seacrest: Biggest Moments on the Radio (wt), premiering Wednesday, April 23 at 8p. Three half-hour Worst Thing I Ever specials, launching Wednesday, April 2 at 8p, count down disastrous celebrity decisions and 90-minute docu-event Men of the Strip follows the making of an all-male revue.

Among returning series, the latest Kardashian franchise entry is Kourtney & Khloe Take the Hamptons, with the sisters opening a pop-up store on the South Fork, launching this fall. Mother ship Keeping Up With the Kardashians premieres Sunday, June 8 while #RichKids of Beverly Hills gets a sophomore run in August 2014, as well as a spin-off in development, set in the Big Apple.
Thirteen other projects are also in development, including mini-series Gucci, based on an upcoming book by Patricia Gucci; DVF, a docu-series about fashion icon Diane Von Furstenberg; Lance Bass Wedding, a special chronicling the former boy-bander’s nups and reality show Pretty Young Things, following the drama of models in Manhattan.

"E!’s audience of trendsetters and super consumers are highly social and influential about their purchasing decisions with their friends, followers and family," said Laura Molen, EVP, lifestyle advertising sales group, NBCUniversal. "We’re excited about enhancing our comprehensive 360 advertising initiatives by E!’s exciting new programming schedule and the opportunity for advertisers to have our audience work hard for their brands."

GSN had plenty to announce at Tuesday’s upfront, held on a chilly but bright day on the 35th floor of NYC’s Sony Center. First up was GSN president and CEO David Goldhill, who touted the net as "a terrific value to affiliates, with a passionate and engaged audience." 2013 was GSN’s most-watched ever, reported Goldhill, and in February hit new rating records (up 22 percent year-over-year among P25-54 and 26 percent in W25-54 in total day).

Among the new shows on tap at GSN is Idiot Test, based on the poplar app game, with teams answering rapid-fire questions. Host Ben Gleib put The Chase team, host Brooke Burns and the show’s trivia expert, Mark "The Beast" Labbett, in the hot seat to solve a mind-twister. ("Duh," said Labett, and pointed to the answer.) Also quizzed: Rebecca Romijn, host of greenlit body painting series Skin Wars, and Mind of a Man‘s DeRay Davis. The Chase was renewed, along with The American Bible Challenge, which will get a two-hour season premiere.

Dating show It Takes a Church ("the anti-Bachelor," said EVP of development Amy Introcaso-Davis) will debut on June 5 at 9p, with church members playing matchmaker to congregants looking for love.

Introcaso-Davis announced a pilot order for App Wars, offering hopeful app creators a chance at stardom, and Say What? (wt), based on the childhood game of telephone.

In development: The Line, a traveling game show that has contestants waiting to answer questions in "The Tent," and culminates in a live season finale; diet competition Heavy Betters (wt), trivia contest The Tunnel and dating game Star-Crossed Lovers.

IFC‘s 2015 slate includes docu-parody American Documentary (wt), and scripted comedy American Storage (wt). The net is collaborating with CollegeHumor on satire Comedy Music Awards, and has in development Westside, a comedy exec produced by Joel McHale (Community) and The Bank, about a dysfunctional family running a sperm bank.

New series include hidden-camera show Crowd Control, You Can’t Lick Your Elbow ("Brain Games for the body"), Cabin Fever (a building show, like "Lincoln logs on steroids"), cooking/travel series Meat Heads, turn-back-time docu-series The Primitives and survival format Remote Survival.
Events and specials include multi-part American Genius, showing the underside of the rivalries between some of America’s most brilliant minds, and special The Great American Sleep Project, offering secrets to getting a good night’s rest. (John Hoffman, founder and CEO of The Public Good Projects, partnering on the show, offered Cynopsis a tip: "Keep the screen in another room." Turns out the blue light tricks your brain into thinking it’s daytime.) Four-hour mini-series Killing Jesus is expected to premiere globally in 171 countries in 2015, Driving America explores the nation’s love affair with cars and miniseries Eat: The Story of Food delves into cuisine through the ages, part of a multiplatform initiative. Mini-series The ’90s: The Last Great Decade? recalls "The decade that set the stage for the world we live in today."

The net also showed the love for returning series Brain Games, None of the Above, Alaska State Troopers, Building Wild, Drugs Inc., The Legend of Mick Dodge, Life Below Zero, Life Below Zero: The Thaw, Ultimate Survival Alaska and Wicked Tuna.

At Nat Geo WILD, EVP and General Manager Geoffrey Daniels attributed the net’s success to "always putting animals first." In addition to returning series The Incredible Dr. Pol ("old school cool") and Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet (premiering April 12, but already renewed), Daniels announced new programming including Dr. K: Exotic Pet Vet (wt) and Pond Stars, about backyard pond builders. Also on tap: another Big Cat Week, and "Dogs Rule," a weekend dedicated to canines, starting with a global three-part special: Is Your Dog a Genius?

Screenvision, the national cinema advertiser, is preparing for its second Upfront, kicking off Wednesday in NY with a screening of Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier at the Ziegfeld Theater. The company’s strategy – to align with the TV buying process and land on advertisers’ menus as they plan their campaigns – is backed by a study of 3000+ moviegoers conducted by Screenvision in partnership with Lieberman Responds. The findings revealed that when brands added cinema to their TV campaign, ad impact increased by 49 percent in top-of-mind unaided brand awareness and 43 percent in brand recommendation.

"We’re offering new flexible pricing models and demo guarantees," CRO Jim Tricarico tells Cynopis. "We lowered our pricing to be more competitive with network and cable primetime. We also provide third party verification through Nielsen, seasonal pricing, and show-parted our advertising; the spot closest to the first trailer is premium time, and then it continues to prime, fringe and local."

Q1 is off to a strong start, with 50 new advertisers. Interestingly, "Broadcast and cable TV including FX and MTV are our single biggest category of advertiser," says CEO Travis Reid. "And Netflix is a new advertiser. We’re also working with Twitter to provide social extensions with our partners, so it lives past the theater." Screenvision’s upfronts continue on April 3 with events in Chicago, LA and Detroit.

Travel Channel is taking viewers away, with ten new series, one new special and a a series in development that span the globe. "We believe in travel’s inherent ability to connect us with different places and cultures," said net president Shannon O’Neill. "Our mission is to provide our viewers with transformative programming that provides a gateway and personal portal to experience that world."

And they’re prepared to do that with a raft of shows, including two BBQ competitions – American Grilled has pit masters battling it out, while its neighbor against neighbor in Underground BBQ Challenge; Big Crazy Family Adventure (wt), about an adventurer who brings his family along for the ride; Big Time RV (wt), a docuseries set in a Florida dealership; Booze Traveler (wt), focused on a cocktail connoisseur traveling the world "one drink at a time"; adventure docuseries Expedition Unknown; Hotel Amazon (wt), featuring two pals who leave New York to open a resort in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon; hidden-camera show Resort Rescue; Tours by Unger (wt), featuring little-known fascinating destinations, and World Access an "immersive exploration of fascinating sites and hidden locations."

A special, One Day on Earth (wt) shows sights and sounds from all over the world, from cities to jungles, all on the same day. And 1 Way Ticket, in development, surprises couples with a free ticket to an exotic location – but they have to follow clues to find their way home.

Coffee, breakfast pizza and the sound of Pharrell Williams’ "Happy" got the crowd warmed up for The Weather Company‘s "AllFront" (content and native ads on all screens) presentation at NYC’s Times Center on Tuesday. Chris Raleigh, SVP, cable and cross-platform ad sales said that since the net’s "It’s Amazing Out There" relaunch in November, "Total day is up 30 percent and primetime originals are up 64 percent year over year." Not to be outdone, SVP of digital ad sales Jeremy Steinberg noted that video streams across Weather’s mobile platforms are up 322 percent and mobile has achieved 130 million app downloads.

Sam Champion was jazzed about his new morning show, AMHQ, debuting Monday, March 17 at 7a. It’s designed to "get the family up and running and give them what they need, and that starts with the weather," said the anchor and managing editor.

Also on the horizon at TWC: David Clark, president of the net announced four new series, Tornado Alley (Monday, April 28 at 9p), Catching Hell (Sunday, June 1 at 9p), Now What? (Q3) and Wicked Weather (Q4). Editor-on-chief and VP of content Neil Katz described new upcoming "Video Minutes," including journey-to-the-future show Warp, health-focused Human Nature, bizarre animal stories Crazimals and inspiring Melt. Also on deck: Will to Live, a cross-platform, co-produced series with two out of five hours coming from TWC’s digital video team.

Cynopsis Ad Sales: Mike Farina | VP, Sales | 203-218-6480
Classifieds Sales: Trish Pihonak | Director of Operations | 203-899-8459