PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Freeform ordered the pilot for a reimagining of 1994-2000 family drama Party of Five, following five children as they struggle after their parents are deported to Mexico. Amy Lippman and Christopher Keyser reunite to produce with Rodrigo Garcia, Michal Zebede and Sony Pictures Television.
Disney Channel ordered father/daughter comedy series Sydney to the Max, scheduled for an early 2019 launch. Mark Reisman (Frasier) is creator, writer, EP and showrunner.
Family entertainment network BYUtv announced three original unscripted shows in production: family cooking competition Dinner Takes All, half-hour musical improv comedy show Show Offs and multi-generational family game show Battle of the Ages. All are set to air in ealy 2019. In other BYUtv news, Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson will host the season 9 premiere of Studio C, airing Monday, September 10 at 9p.
Subscription streaming service Boomerang will be home to new 2D animated series Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, currently in production. Order includes regular episodes, specials and shorts.
Skydance Media in partnership with ZAG announced that it has secured the live-action feature film and television rights to animated Miraculous - Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. Under the deal, Skydance plans to develop and produce live-action adaptations based on the property with an anticipated release in 2020.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Queer Eye alums Carson Kressley and Thom Filicia team for new Bravo series Get a Room with Carson & Thom. Home design show premieres Friday, October 19 at 9p.
Boyz II Men vocalist Nathan Morris turns from music to house flipping in DIY’s Hit Properties with Nathan Morris, launching Saturday, October 6 at 10:30p.
Season nine of CBS’s The Talk debuts Monday, September 10 at 2p. Along with celeb guests during premiere week will be viewers who won a trip to LA for “The Talk’s Table Takeover” contest.
In a special episode of Discovery’s Battle Tested airing tonight at 10p, Mike Glover and Kurt Hohan push an electric bike to the limits – like dropping it out of a plane.
Talk show Pickler & Ben is back for season two on Monday, September 17 in 175 markets, versus 30 markets in season one.
CuriosityStream three-part streaming event Age of Big Cats tracks today’s carnivores as well as looking at prehistoric predators starting Wednesday, September 19 at 8p.
New kids’ series Go Away Unicorn! debuts in Canada on Friday, September 7 at 4p on Corus Entertainment’s YTV. The show will premiere on Disney Channels worldwide, including the US, in early 2019.
Wonderama, an update of the classic kids show, kicks off season three on Saturday and Sunday, September 8 and 9 (check local listings).
Discovery’s Shifting Gears with Aaron Kaufman premieres new episodes Monday, September 24 at 9p, with the custom car builder taking on new challenges, including rally racing.
COMING UP
Viewers of tonight’s sixth annual Stand Up to Cancer event will be able to donate through their smart TVs while the program is live. One-hour fundraising event will be simulcast on over 50 broadcast and cable nets across the U.S. and Canada at 8p.
BBC America will air a 13-day marathon of Doctor Who starting Tuesday, September 25 at 6a, including every episode from the first ten seasons of the reboot. Stunt culminates with the global debut on Sunday, October 7 of new Doctor Jodie Whittaker.
Marking the passing of Burt Reynolds yesterday, Antenna TV has swapped its planned episodes of Johnny Carson, airing nightly at 11:30, to those featuring Carson’s frequent guest.
ADVERTISING AND BRANDS
Ford, which in April announced plans to transition to a crossover and SUV lineup, has ceased advertising for its Fiesta, Taurus and Fusion sedans. That is despite the fact that the Fusion will remain in production for at least two more years. Ford’s car sales sank 21% in August, while pickup and van sales rose 5.9%, and Mustang sales leapt 35%.
Borrell Associates raised its projection for U.S. ad spending in the midterm elections by $400 million to $8.9 billion, up 8% versus spending four years ago. Broadcast is expected to take in $3.5 billion. Digital will account for $1.8 billion of the spend, versus $70 million last time around.
Shareablee Inc. announced their Monetize Suite’s new Partnership Explorer, a first-of-its-kind branded content planning and ranking dashboard that provides access to search advertisers individually or by industry groupings across over 5000 global categories. “Audience attention is hard to come by as devices and platforms continue to expand, and branded video is one of the most powerful ways for advertisers to effectively intersect culture when it comes to socially engaged consumers,” said Shareablee founder and CEO Tania Yuki. “Our Partnership Explorer helps advertisers and media sales professionals transact more effectively on branded content.”
Amazon is planning to ditch the names of its ad services businesses – Amazon Media Group, Amazon Marketing Services and Amazon Ad Platform – over the next several months, in favor of one brand called Amazon Advertising. Consolidating the brands, along with simplified product names, “is another step towards our goal of providing advertising solutions that are simple and intuitive,” said Paul Kotas, SVP Amazon Advertising, in a blog post.
CASTING
Ryan Michelle Bathe (Empire) landed a lead role in Paramount Network’s upcoming First Wives Club, based on the 1996 film, reports Deadline….UK drama Queens of Mystery, set to air on Acorn TV, has cast Olivia Vinall (The Woman in White), Julie Graham (The Bletchley Circle); Sarah Woodward (The Politician’s Husband); Siobhan Redmond (Alfresco ); Andrew Leung (Doctor Who); Rebecca Grant (Doctors); Michael Elcock; and Martin Trenaman (The Inbetweeners). Filming begins September 10….Sophia Bush (Chicago PD) is onboard CBS spy thriller project Surveillance.
DIGITAL DATA
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee launched the live mobile app, This Is Not a Game: The Game, that Bee talked about during Turner’s Upfront. The offshoot of Bee’s talker is similar to HQ Trivia, but is focused on politics and has no host.
Over 25% of U.S. Facebook users claim they’ve deleted the app from their phones over the past year, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center, and 54% have changed their privacy settings. Among users age 18-49, the number of Facebook deleters rises to 44%.
The number of OTT-only U.S. homes reached a record 17% in 2Q18, reports Kagan. That’s up almost 3% year-over-year.
Smithsonian Channel launched on Sony PlayStation Vue’s Core package this week with linear, VOD and TVE viewing.
Cartoon Network has launched its first location based VR title in partnership with AiSolve. Developed by game studio PHL Collective, Food Truck Rush is an immersive multi-player, location-based VR experience based on Cartoon Network’s animated series We Bare Bears. The experience was produced by Cartoon Network Studios and spearheaded by their emerging technology group.
Twitter has had enough of far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Following the leads of Apple, YouTube, Facebook and Spotify, the service permanently suspended Jones and his Infowars, on the grounds that he has posted tweets and videos that violate its ban on abusive behavior.
SHORT FORM VIDEOS
TNT, in partnership with Refinery29, announced the digital release date of season two of female-driven series Shatterbox. The new collection debuts Saturday, September 8 across TNT’s digital ecosystem, including its TVE apps and social platforms. That night, TNT and Refinery29 will take over the rooftop at TIFF Bell Lightbox for the launch event, a screening of the films followed by a cocktail reception hosted by Sarah Aubrey, EVP of original programming for TNT, and Amy Emmerich, Chief Content Officer at Refinery29 (you’ll need an invite).
PODCAST POSTS
Turner Podcast Network is ramping up its efforts in the podcast space, with Turner’s entire portfolio available on Spotify’s podcast platform, including CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, Bleacher Report’s Simms & Lefkoe Podcast, HLN’s Unmasking a Killer, Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe Podcast, truTV’s The Official Impractical Jokers Podcast and The FilmStruck Podcast. “Turner’s focus on the podcast space is another way the company is generating strategic, 360-degree brand opportunities … while creating additional revenue options for the company,” said Tyler Moody, VP and general manager of Turner Podcast Network. “Launching on Spotify helps amplify our podcasting efforts by putting our content in front of more listeners, adding additional scale to our portfolio and creating more dynamic opportunities for advertisers in this highly engaged digital space.”
Podcast company Midroll unveiled an expanded slate at its IAB Upfront presentation in NYC. Among the announcements: Midroll expanded its partnership with OWN for the Master Class podcast, sharing stories from actors, musicians, public figures and athletes. Midroll struck a deal last year to produce OWN’s SuperSoul Conversations.
The first two episodes of season three of investigative podcast Serial debut Thursday, September 20. Subsequent installments will be available each Thursday. This time around, instead of focusing on one story, the season will follow many different cases.
GOING GLOBAL
Fox Networks Group in Turkey grabbed the scripted format license to NBC’s This Is Us from Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. Medyapim will produce.
UK digital content company Brave Bison inked a deal to provide content across genres to China’s Tencent platforms.
Pasiones is premiering the hit Colombian series La Nina (The Girl) on its Latin American feed on Sunday, September 9, 2018. Drama will air Sundays.
