Skip a newsletter last week? “In Case You Missed It” rounds up the top stories in our daily editions, so you can be up on the latest news, Cynopsis-style, in the worlds of linear, digital, and sports television. Enjoy!
Let the debate over the kudos and the snubs begin. The Television Academy released the nominations for the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards, and fueled by Game of Thrones, HBO leads the pack with 126 total noms. ABC comes in at a distant second with 42 nods, followed by CBS and NBC with 41 each and FX with 38. Game of Thrones nabbed 24 noms, followed by FX’s American Horror Story: Freak Show (19), HBO’s Olive Kitteridge (13), HBO’s Bessie (12), and fifth place three-way tiers, Netflix’s House of Cards, AMC’s Mad Men final season and Amazon’s Transparent with 11 noms each. AMC’s Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul nabbed seven nominations, including best drama series and lead actor for Bob Odenkirk. Among other freshman series noms, Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt grabbed a nom for best comedy, and Amy Schumer is on the board for lead actress in a comedy for Inside Amy Schumer. The complete list of nominees can be found at Emmys.com.
It’s official. TLC and the Duggars are officially breaking family ties. The network has canceled reality show 19 Kids and Counting, nearly two months after news surfaced that oldest son Josh Duggar molested several children, including some of his sisters, when he was a teenager. “After thoughtful consideration, TLC and the Duggar family have decided to not move forward with 19 Kids and Counting. The show will no longer appear on the air,” according to a TLC statement, which adds, “Over these past weeks, TLC has consulted regularly with leading victims’ rights and advocacy organizations in the U.S., including RAINN and Darkness to Light, to discuss how to use this moment to address the issue and make a positive impact.” TLC is working with both organizations and the Duggars to raise awareness about the issue, and will air a one-hour documentary to air later this year.
AMC renewed Turn: Washington’s Spies for a third season of 10 episodes. The Revolutionary War period drama averaged 1.6 million viewers during its last run, not exactly Walking Dead numbers, but, “We loved what we saw creatively” in season two, said Charlie Collier, president of AMC and SundanceTV. “The show achieved something that is increasingly rare in television today – a growing audience during the season. Turn continues to attract a dedicated and distinctively upscale audience across multiple platforms.” In fact, Turn ranked as the third most affluent scripted drama among A18-49 and A25-54 on ad-supported television in the 2014-15 season, behind Mad Men and FX’s The Americans.
Netflix ended the second quarter with more than 65 million subscribers, adding 3.3 million new subs to exceed its own forecast of 2.5 million. As for Q2 revenue, Netflix hit $1.64 billion, a tick below the $1.65 billion Wall Street predicted. But the Street was happy – Netflix’s shares were up ten percent in after-hours trading. According to the service, Orange is the New Black, Marvel’s Daredevil, Sense8 and Grace and Frankie all contributed to the subscriber growth…
…Premium OTT services and SVOD platforms will more than double in revenue in just a few years, according to a new study from research firm MTM. Last year, OTT revenue grabbed $4 billion in revenue, a number expected to balloon to $8 to $12 billion by 2018. The study, commissioned by Ooyala and Vindicia, also forecasts Netflix will continue to dominate the space, but says 15 to 20 niche platforms will acquire 100,000 or more paying customers by 2018. Key areas for niche growth: sports, kids, anime, foreign shows and movies, ethnic content, and services created by a celebrity.
ESPN is going to have another hole to fill after announcing that Colin Cowherd was exiting his run with the company. Cowherd hosts ESPN Radio’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd from 10a-1p from Monday-Friday (simulcast on ESPNU) in addition to hosting Colin’s New Football Show on ESPN2. With multiple reports, broken by The Big Lead, suggesting that a move to FOX was imminent, Cowherd’s departure marks the third big name to leave the company in recent months, along with Bill Simmons and Keith Olbermann. “We’ve enjoyed a mutually beneficial run with Colin for over a decade,” said ESPN President John Skipper in a statement. “He came to national prominence on ESPN with his unique perspective on sports and society. Endings also bring new beginnings, for ESPN and Colin, and we thank him and wish him the best.”
NHRA is shifting gears, announcing an end to its run with ESPN and a new deal that will bring its races to FOX Sports. Starting in 2016, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will be carried on FOX Sports 1 with four events also airing on the FOX national broadcast network during each season of the long-term agreement. The deal sees FS1 slating coverage of Friday and Saturday qualifying and Sunday eliminations for each NHRA Mello Yello Series event, with a minimum of 16 Sunday eliminations shows to be presented in a live coverage format, and the remainder shown either in weekend afternoon or primetime time slots. Overall, FOX national networks will showcase more than 450 hours per year of NHRA programming. The 2016 season was originally set to be the final year of a five-year rights extension deal with ESPN that took effect in 2012.
“This really is a game-changer for NHRA regarding the presentation of our marquee product, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series,” said Peter Clifford, NHRA president. “FOX Sports promises to be just the right media partner we’ve been looking for to help give our professional series the stage it deserves and to provide our passionate fans the timely, quality coverage they are craving.”
