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| Thursday, Auguest 1, 2019 | |
| Good morning, this is your first early-morning briefing. Tonight’s Premieres: Bravo: Million Dollar Listing New York at 9p Food Network: BBQ Brawl: Flay V. Symon at 9p HGTV: Flip or Flop at 9p, Going for Sold at 11p ID: Fear Thy Neighbor at 10p SundanceTV: No One Saw a Thing at 11p Tonight’s Finales: CW: Jane the Virgin at 8p Discovery: Shark After Dark at 11p Freeform: Sirens at 8p IN THE NEWS ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC have teamed for a lawsuit against free streaming app Locast, provider of local TV signals, reports the Wall Street Journal. Despite its non-profit status, the nets say Locast’s “founding, funding and operations reveal its decidedly commercial purposes.” Locast contends it operates within copyright laws which allow “boosters” of local broadcast signals. The Hulu Scripted Originals content team is joining forces with Walt Disney Television to integrate development of original scripted drama and comedy programming for the streaming service with Disney’s TV resources. Craig Erwich, SVP of Scripted Originals for Hulu, will report to Dana Walden, Chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment. Erwich will continue to lead scripted originals planning, development and commissioning for Hulu’s original comedies and dramas. Hulu’s unscripted original programming, original film development and licensed live and on-demand content acquisition teams will remain in their current structure, reporting to Hulu CEO Randy Freer. Content strategy and marketing will continue to be led by Hulu’s business and marketing teams. Disney assumed full operational control of Hulu in May. TV viewership is at a two-year high, according to quarterly research from Comcast Spotlight. That’s a reversal of the decline Comcast Spotlight has seen since it began tracking the data in 2017. In 1Q19, people spent an average of six hours and 25 minutes watching TV each day, up 21 minutes from the year-ago quarter. Cable network viewing increased 7% and made up two-thirds of total viewing, while VOD viewing increased by 36% year on year and doubled across total Comcast households since 2016; over three-fourths (79%) of households watched VOD in Q1 2019. More than half of all viewing (68%) occurred outside of television’s traditional primetime. That said, of the 191.8 channels the average TV household had to choose from in 2018, only 12.7 were watched, according to Researcher Intelligencer analysis of Nielsen’s Total Audience Report. Ten years earlier, the average household tuned in to 17.3 of 129.3 channels available. Nielsen reported a 71% rise in net income for 2Q19 to $123 million, up from $72 million last year. Audience measurement revenue rose 3.5% thanks to adoption of Nielsen’s Total Audience Measurement System. As for the company’s strategic review, which could mean a sale of all or parts of the company, “We will discuss the outcome and go-forward plan at the conclusion of the process,” said Nielsen CEO David Kenny. “We remain focused on executing on our growth strategies and positioning the company to maximize value for all of our shareholders.” Bustle Digital Group is postponing the reboot of Gawker. “For now, we are focusing company resources and efforts on our most recent acquisitions, Mic, The Outline, Nylon and Inverse,” said the company. The Gawker staff was laid off. Bustle Digital bought the news and gossip site’s domain last summer for $1.35 million after parent Gawker Media went bankrupt. Is AMC’s The Walking Dead just beginning its journey? During the company’s 2Q19 analyst call, AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan said the zombie franchise is “in the early stages of life.” But the company’s thinking goes beyond linear. “As we continue to remain focused on creating sought-after premium content – which propels our entire enterprise – we believe direct-to-consumer, along with owning more of our intellectual property and expanding our studio, represent significant growth areas for us,” said Sapan in an earnings release. Sapan also said AMC Networks’ cumulative streaming subscriber total will hit between 3.5-4 million by 2022. Woody Allen had a major setback in his $68 million lawsuit over Amazon backing out of his production deal. A federal judge dismissed four of Allen’s causes of action, curtailing his claims. Amazon had terminated its contract with Allen after accusations resurfaced that he had molested his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, in 1992. Allen has called the accusations baseless. The stars of Netflix’s On My Block scored big pay raises for season three of the comedy. Sierra Capri, Jason Genao, Brett Gray and Diego Tinoco, plus a fifth star, Jessica Marie Garcia negotiated as a group, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Their $20,000-per-episode fee jump to $81,250. Production begins this month. |
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| PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT Showtime gave a straight-to-series order to Rust, starring Jeff Daniels (The Looming Tower), who will executive produce and reteam with writer Dan Futterman (Capote). Family drama, co-produced with Platform One Media, will explore the tattered American dream through the eyes of a compromised chief of police in a Rust Belt town. PBS member station VPM has commissioned Legacy List with Matt Paxton, to be produced by MYE in a public-private venture. The show will be produced in partnership with Shipyard Entertainment and distributed by American Public Television to over 80% of the US market via more than 270 public-television stations. MYE is set to shop the format internationally with Kew Media Distribution. Based on an original format concept by MYE called Hidden Assets, Legacy List with Matt Paxton turns on the premise that the most important museum in the world may be in your parents’ basement. Host Paxton (Hoarders) will be joined by a team of expert collectors. First Responders Live has been picked up by Fox for an additional six episodes. Series is produced by 44 Blue Productions and Wolf Entertainment. Legendary Television Studios announced an exclusive first look deal with SpectreVision. Partners Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah, Josh C. Waller and Lisa Whalen (Daniel Isn’t Real) will develop scripted series content with a focus on distinctive genre concepts. NEW & RETURNING SERIES History three-part miniseries The Food That Built America tells stories of food industry innovation and rivalries starting Sunday, August 11 at 9p. HarmonQuest is back for season three on VRV on Sunday, August 18. New episodes of the part animation, part live-action comedy will air Sundays for a total of ten episodes. COMING UP Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls’ Luke) will be back as host of UPtv’s Thanksgiving week “GilMORE the Merrier” binge-a-thon, running Sunday, November 24 at 9p-Sunday, December 1 at 7p. Last year, the stunt drove UPtv’s strongest week of 2018 in all key demos. Cinelatino will air the U.S. premiere of Mexican box office hit Como Cortar a Tu Patan on Sunday, August 4 at 9p. Noticias Telemundo is broadcastin Puerto Rico, ¿y ahora qué? (Puerto Rico – What’s Next?), a special about the recent crisis in Puerto Rico and the island’s future, tomorrow, August 2 at 9p on Telemundo. TECH TALK Spotify added 8 million subscribers in 2Q19, below a projected 8.5 million, but boasted of 232 million monthly active users, up from 217 million in the first quarter. Average revenue per user was down 1%, thanks in part to a biannual campaign offering customers the service for $1. Data commercialization platform and marketplace Narrative struck a strategic relationship with Inscape, provider of smart TV viewing data, to integrate Inscape's ACR-generated, glass level insights from more than 11 million smart TVs into Narrative's raw data marketplace. “For the data economy to have less friction, marketers and publishers need to operationalize their data strategies as efficiently as possible, without giving up strategic control,” said Founder and CEO of Narrative Nick Jordan. “By integrating Inscape's Smart TV data, we are rounding out our full spectrum data marketplace and giving marketers access to more precise data sets.” The IAB Tech Lab introduced two new technical specifications aimed at increasing trust of the supply chain, on the supply-side of real-time bidding and programmatic buying. Sellers.json enables buyers to verify the entities who are either direct sellers of, or intermediaries in the selected digital advertising opportunity for purchase; and OpenRTB SupplyChain object allows buyers to see all parties who are selling or reselling a given bid request. STREAMING CBS All Access has its own lane when it comes to programming, said EVP Julie McNamara at NATPE’s Streaming Plus Conference. “If we did shows just like what you could find on CBS, people would say, ‘Why am I spending six bucks a month to get this premium service?'” she said. “So, we felt like there need to be shows that for whatever set of reasons are premium.” As for CBS’s potential re-merge with Viacom, McNamara said, “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but ... if it gives us more to pull from in terms of content creation, great.” Also at the NATPE event was Netflix VP of Acquisitions Amy Reinhard, who noted that while the streaming landscape will be “very competitive” with new entries from Disney, WarnerMedia, Apple and NBCUniversal, international is still a major growth area. That’s particularly true in emerging areas like Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where Netflix can score hits with acquired titles in “countries that have distinct tastes but may not the be the first ones we go after with an originals opportunity.” Celebrate the Top Women in Media– leaders in entertainment, tech and sports who are pushing the industry forward. Each honoree will have her moment in the spotlight at this special gala event September 9th in NYC. Reserve your table before August 9th. Platinum Sponsor: Turnkey Search. ADVERTISING AMC Networks completed upfront sales with double-digit CPM gains at AMC, announced the company during its earnings report. During 2Q19, revenue for its national networks slipped 3.6%, but international and other rose 22.4%, helped by the acquisition of RJE. Tegna is taking national sales in-house. “This is a strategic change in how we go to market, and is aimed at taking advantage of our scale to deepen our relationships with national clients by embracing automation, and focusing our talented marketing executives on solutions that drive client results,” said the station group in a statement. The move means Tegna is parting ways with CoxReps, except for the Tribune stations it is buying in connection with Nextstar’s merger with Tribune. KIDS NEWS Online gaming platform Star Stable Entertainment signed another music act, all-female Swedish rock band Browsing Collection, to its Star Stable Music label. The band will become the voice of the Star Stable in-game band Miscreants, with first single “Lion's Tale” launching this week on Apple Music and Spotify. “Star Stable is excited to bring the in-game band the Miscreants to life and introduce original music to our players around the world,” said Taina Malen, chief business development officer at Star Stable Entertainment AB. “The evolution of our music label helps Star Stable become the leading platform for creative girls who love adventure, games and music.” Kids VOD network Kabillion is expanding its portfolio to include anime series Future Card Buddyfight Ace, and animated series Kiwi & Strit. GOING GLOBAL ITV Studios has acquired Armoza Formats, one of Israel’s leading TV developers and distributors. The deal will see Armoza Formats become part of the Global Creative Network, headed up by Mike Beale, for ITV Studios. Creative platform VidMob announced the global expansion of the company and its technology solution, the Agile Creative Studio, with the opening of two new offices: Dublin, Ireland and São Paulo, Brazil. The former will serve as VidMob’s new EMEA headquarters, supporting campaigns for various Fortune 500 companies and direct to consumer brands. The São Paulo office will manage work and relationships with brands and agencies across Latin America. Red Arrow Studios International’s new drama Bad Mothers is heading to Channel 5’s VOD streaming service My5 in the UK. Series will launch on September 2. Comedy Central UK greenlit a new nonscripted entertainment series, Gods of The Game. Series will be hosted by British Olympian Sir Bradley Wiggins, and feature British sports stars. |
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| RATINGS The July 29 finale of Telemundo’s La Reina del Sur was the #1 show in prime time across broadcast and cable, regardless of language, among A18-49 (1.14 million) and A18-34 (463,000), according to Nielsen. In its second season, the revival reached 12.5 million total viewers. Hallmark Channel ’s annual Christmas in July programming event elevated the network to become the highest-rated on cable in both Total Day and Prime Time (excluding news) throughout the second two weeks of July. In addition, the event resulted in Hallmark Channel ranking as the #2-rated in Primetime for the month. “Christmas Keepsake” ran from July 12-28 and reached 23 million unduplicated viewers. Night one of round two of the Democratic candidate debates on CNN and CNN en Espanol on Tuesday drew 8.7 million viewers, down 43% from the Democrat crowd’s first debate on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo. Live + Same Day Viewers AA (millions): Tuesday July 30 time period averages Source: Nielsen Live+SD NBC: 6.51 million America’s Got Talent 7.87, Bring the Funny 3.77 ABC: 5.68 million The Bachelorette 7.44, Holey Moley 2.69 FOX: 1.25 million Spin the Wheel 1.42, First Responders Live 1.08 CBS: 2.41 million Love Island 2.00, NCIS 2.53, Blood & Treasure 2.69 TELEMUNDO: 1.17 million Un Poquito Tuyo 0.58 , Betty en NY 1.43, Preso No. 1 1.33 CW: 0.58 million Pandora 0.56, The 100 0.60 Tuesday A18-49 Ratings ABC 1.6/8, NBC 1.1/5, TELE 0.4/2, CBS 0.3/2, FOX 0.3/2, CW 0.2/1 EXECUTIVE MOVES Warner Horizon Scripted Television promoted Leigh London Redman to the newly created position of Executive Vice President, Scripted Programming. Additionally, Kevin E. Fortson (production) and Matt Matzkin (business affairs) have been promoted to newly created EVP posts in Production and Business Affairs for both Warner Horizon Scripted Television as well as Warner Horizon Unscripted Television. Lauren Crane has been named Senior Vice President of Multi-Platform Sales, CBS Television Stations. Crane was most recently SVP of Sales, North America, for Mirriad. Programmatic platform Kubient appointed Peter Bordes as CEO and Chris Andrews as Chief Digital Officer. Bordes founded and was CEO of OneQube, and Andrews was most recently CTO of Ogilvy Health. This Day in History 1981 – MTV premiered. Answer to our last trivia question What’s the first series on Starz to reach six seasons? Hollywood One on One (1995-2003). Kudos to Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA. (Power will be the first scripted series to make it to season six.) Today's Trivia Question Which actor had roles on sitcom Cheers, sci-fi series M.A.N.T.I.S. and political drama The West Wing? (Email trivia@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: A limit of four correct answers from each time zone will be selected.). |
Cynopsis Team
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| THURSDAY AUGUST 1 ABC: Holey Moley, Family Food Fight, Reef Break CBS: Love Island, Big Brother, Elementary CW: iZombie [f], The Outpost FOX: MasterChef, Spin the Wheel NBC: NFL Football PBS: This Old House Hour, Grantchester on Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow Telemundo: Un Poquito Tuyo, Betty en NY, Preso No. 1 Univision: La Reina Soy Yo, La Rosa de Guadelupe, Sin Miedo a La Verdad |
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