PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
HBO is in as co-producer of the BBC series His Dark Materials, in partnership with BBC, Bad Wolf, in which HBO owns a small stake, and New Line Cinema to co-produce the adaptation of the Philip Pullman novels. HBO also acquired the worldwide rights to the series outside of the UK.
Writer/producer Tracey Scott Wilson, a staple on FX’s The Americans for five seasons, signed an overall production deal with FX Productions, the studio behind the series, to develop original content for FX Networks and other outlets.
Sisters Leah and Bea Koch, co-owners of The Ripped Bodice Bookstore, inked an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television to develop projects based on their relationships with romance novel authors and readers.
The BBC struck a deal with Facebook to produce news show Cut Through The Noise for the social media platform’s Watch service. Show is the first from a non-US news publisher; it will tackle a different issue each week, presented from BBC News’ DC bureau the field.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
IFC acquired three seasons of British comedy Toast of London and will begin airing the series, from Objective Fiction and all3media international, in 2019. Created by Arthur Mathews and Matt Berry, the comedy stars Berry as an eccentric, middle-aged actor with a sketchy past who spends more time dealing with his problems off stage than performing on it. Guest stars include Jon Hamm, Morgana Robinson, Vic Reeves and Josh Homme.
Travel Channel will premiere live series Haunted Live this Friday, September 14 at 10. Hosted by the paranormal experts the Tennessee Wraith Chasers, each week, the paranormal team will visit a new haunted location to be revealed during the first act of the show, removing any suspicion of footage being tampered with.
EstrellaTV will premiere the new season of Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento on September 17 at 8p.
Starting September 17, HITN will air season 2 of the series Centro Medico. The network will lead up to the premiere with 32 hours of the first season.
E!'s season 8 of Total Divas drops Wednesday, September 19 at 9p, and the net dropped a teaser including the women’s historic participation in WrestleMania 34.
CentroAmericaTV will premiere its new original production Inmigrantes: El Camino Hacia un Sueno (Immigrants: The Road Towards a Dream), on Saturday, September 15 at 8p. Series focuses on the arduous journey many Central Americans take to reach the “land of freedom’ in the US, and exposes the harsh reality they face once they arrive.
Long Island Medium will return to TLC on Monday, October 8 at 8p with a new season featuring celebrity readings for Anne Burrell, Annie Potts, Debbie Gibson and more.
Amazon Prime Video released key art and series trailer for original contemporary anthology series The Romanoffs, premiering Friday, October 12. It’s the first weekly anthology series for the service and will feature eight separate stories about people who believe themselves to be descendants of the Russian royal family.
Lace up your boots, Australia’s Irwin family is headed back to Animal Planet. Crikey! It’s the Irwins - featuring mom Terri, and grown children Bindi and Robert - star in a new series that continues the legacy of the late Steve Irwin. Series features the Irwins working together to care for more than 1,200 animals at Australia Zoo, overseeing the largest wildlife hospital in the world, and traveling on global conservation expeditions.
COMING UP
Kevin Hart will share co-hosting duties on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, September 19. Appearance will mark Hart’s eighth appearance on The Tonight Show, which introduced a series of co-hosts beginning with Cardi B on April 9.
ABC announced the celeb cast for the new season of Dancing With the Stars, which premieres Monday, September 24 at 8p. Among those hitting the floor are Joe “Grocery Store Joe” Amabile from Bachelor In Paradise, Alexis Ren, Harry Potter alum Evanna Lynch, Fuller House‘s Juan Pablo Di Pace and John Schneider, former Dukes of Hazzard star.
A&E will premiere original doc special No Greater Law on Monday, September 24 at 10p. Presented by A&E IndieFilms and produced by Pulse Films, the film explores the struggles between an Idaho-based faith healing community and a Sheriff investigating the deaths of children from the community.
HBO acquired Queen of the World, a new hourlong Queen Elizabeth II doc commissioned by the UK’s ITV, and premiere it Monday, October 1 at 8p.
Lifetime will debut during its Real Love programming block on Tuesday, October 2 at 10:30p the one-hour special 13 Sons & Pregnant, which counts down the arrival of the 14th child, gender unknown, for Michigan couple Kateri and Jay Schwand.
On October 5 at 9p, PBS Great Performances in coordination with the Recording Academy will present Grammy Salute To Music Legends 2018, a tribute recognizing the Recording Academy’s 2018 Special Merit Awards recipients. This year’s honorees include Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, John Williams, Louis Jordan, The Meters, Queen and Tina Turner.
National Geographic Documentary Films will distribute Bloomberg Philanthropies’ second film, Paris to Pittsburgh, and will premierie the doc on Nat Geo on Wednesday, December 12 at 9p. Paris to Pittsburgh brings to life the impassioned efforts of individuals who are battling the most severe threats of climate change in their own backyards and captures what's at stake for communities around the country.
Starz acquired the documentary White Boy, based on the story of 17-year-old Richard Wershe Jr., who allegedly ran a vicious, sophisticated underground cocaine operation throughout inner-city Detroit. Directed by Shawn Rech, the doc will premiere in spring 2019.
KIDS NEWS
Sony Pictures Animation and Nelvana picked up season 2 of animated series Hotel Transylvania, which airs on Disney Channel in the US, Teletoon Canada and their global territories.
Nickelodeon will stage its 15thWorldwide Day of Play on Saturday, September 29. Event will include both live activations - more than 4,000 of them in conjunction with partners including Afterschool Alliance, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Girl Scouts of the USA, National Fitness Foundation and The Aspen Institute’s Project Play - and on-air interstitials featuring cast members from the series I Am Frankie.
UK preschool digital hub Hopster is now available on Comcast’s Xfinity 1, marking the first time the online subscription video on demand service is available from a pay TV provider in the US.
Brain Power Studio appointed British producer Eugenio Perez as the UK co-production partner for its latest project Beatrix and Peter, based on the early life of the beloved British children’s author and her relationship with her pet rabbit, Peter. Perez will act as exec producer alongside Brain Power’s Beth Stevenson on the new live-action family series.
Singapore-based Bomanbridge Media licensed Oddbods with key children’s broadcasters in Asia, including EBS South Korea, Yoyo Taiwan, PCCW Hong Kong, Mediacorp Singapore, RCTI Indonesia, Kids 1 South Korea, and Canal+ Myanmar.
DIGITAL DATA
Some interesting stats from a new Nielsen’s Social Content Ratings report: For one, Instagram accounts for only 8 percent of social media posts about fall television shows, but the social platform has 70 percent of the engagement. For another, although text posts remain the most common media type created by owned accounts - they account for 35 percent of the total - texts captured only 8 percent of owned engagements. Video, photos and static account for 56 percent of owned content. The stats are of increasing importance to networks and content owners as they look to engage fans, and the differences between the preferred words and images on a given platform also came to light in the report. On Facebook and Twitter, video posts are more than 10 percent and 20 percent more engaging than still images, respectively. But that trend is the opposite on the Gram, where still images beat out video by more than 30 percent in terms of engagements.
Apple yesterday unwrapped a trio of new phones at its Cupertino, Calif., HQ: The next-generation iPhone Xs, which will replace the X, a less expensive iPhone Xr, which effectively replaces last year’s iPhone 8 and a mega Xs Max. The $999 Xs, which bears a strong resemblance to its predecessor, features a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED screen with a resolution of 2436 by 1125 pixels. It will be available in three colors - silver, gold, and space gray - and have storage options including 64 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB. The more colorful Xr will be available in white, black, blue, coral, yellow and red, and come with up to 256GB of, storage with pricing starting at $749. The Xs Max, carrying a price tag of $1,099, boasts the biggest display on an iPhone at 6.5 inches, and has extended battery life. The Xs and Xs Max are available for preorder Friday, September 14 and in stores September 21. The Xr is available for preorder October 19 and in store October 26.
Tim Armstrong officially will step down as Oath’s CEO in October, and will exit from parent Verizon at the end of the year, the company announced. K. Guru Gowrappan, who’s served as Oath’s president/COO since April, will take over as CEO. Armstrong joined AOL in 2009 and was named Oath’s CEO in 2017.
Shudder struck a deal for UK drama series Stan Lee's Lucky Man, fronted by James Nesbitt. The first three seasons will be available on the AMC Networks-owned platform.
Cinedigm launched of a pair of digital-first channels - factual-based Docurama and fandom-focused CONtv - on live streaming service Sling TV. The launch is a continuation of the agreement between Cinedigm and Sling TV, which began with the launch of Dove Channel in June. New channels are available to Sling TV subscribers as individual add-on for $5 a month.
PODCAST POSTS
Political-anchored podcast America 2.0 launches this week. The scripted podcast stars Patrick Adams (Suits) as an idealistic first-term congressman. Also starring are Kate Walsh (13 Reasons Why), Shanola Hampton (Shameless) and Laurence Fishburne.
Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations has a new podcast featuring an interview with Ralph Lauren, who recently celebrated his 50th anniversary collection at New York Fashion Week. Part one dropped yesterday (September 12); part two will be available Monday, September 17.
CASTING
Chloe Sevigny and AnnaSophia Robb are set to co-star opposite Patricia Arquette and Joey King in the first season of Hulu anthology series The Act... Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why) is returning to Netflix as the topliner in upcoming comic comic series Cursed… Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry To Bother You, Atlanta) is joining Adam Sandler in crime dramedy Uncut Gems, for which Netflix has acquied all international rights.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The European Parliament members voted to approve the reforms in the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, which seek fair compensation for copyrighted material but face opposition over their potential to curb a free and open Internet.
Pay TV giant Sky and British broadcaster Channel 4 struck a content swap deal that includes Tin Star, fronted by Tim Roth, Paul Abbott police drama No Offence, and live coverage of the F1 British Grand Prix. Under the deal, Channel 4 will air season 1 of Tin Star and get live coverage of the racing event, to which Sky holds rights. Sky will gain access to a host of titles including No Offence.
