PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Investigation Discovery renewed Twisted Sisters for a second season. The true crime series, executive produced by Khloe Kardashian, has averaged over 1.3 million P2+ viewers each week through its first four episodes.
Netflix expanded its relationship with Eric Newman.The streamer inked a multi-year overall series deal with the Narcos executive producer and showrunner. This is in addition to the feature film deal Netflix made with Newman, Bryan Unkeless and their newly launched Screen Arcade back in March.
Jermaine Fowler (Superior Donuts) is heading back to CBS via pilot Quinta & Jermaine. The comedy stars and is executive produced by Fowler and Internet star Quinta Brunson (Broke). Insecure co-creator Larry Wilmore is exec producer.
HBO greenlit KTown. The dark comedy comes from Barry producer Jason Kim, Greta Lee (St. Vincent) and Annapurna TV. Written by Kim and Lee, it explores life in Koreatown and the kingpin family at the center of it. Lee is set to star.
DC Universe, Warner Bros. new streaming platform, ordered a sophomore season of Titans ahead of its Friday, October 12 debut. The live-action drama hails from Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns, Berlanti Productions, Weed Road Productions and Warner Bros. TV.
Ahead of its first season finale, AMC announced the renewal of Lodge 49. The mystical, modern-day fable begins production on a 10-episode second season in 2019 to air later that year.
Lifetime greenlit two original movies for 2019. Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter, which Gotti executive produces, narrates and co-writes, stars Chelsea Frei and Maurice Benard. Meanwhile, Kellie Martin returns for the remake of the cult classic, Death of a Cheerleader, starring Aubrey Peeples and Sarah Dugdale.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Viceland set Wednesday, November 28 at 10p as the premiere date for Kentucky Ayahuasca. The docuseries tacjles the subject of psychedelics and their healing potential.
Scrapped Paramount Network reboot, Heathers, based on the cult movie, has a new lease on life. The Viacom cable net has slated the controversial series as a week-long marathon event starting Thursday, October 25. The number of episodes was cut from 10 to 9.
Smithsonian Channel’s The Lost Tapes returns on Sunday, November 18 at 9p, with episode TET Offensive exploring a pivotal moment of the Vietnam war.
Builders battle it out to recreate the armaments that changed the course of history in Master of Arms, premiering Friday, November 2 at 10p on Discovery.
Pasiones kicks off its fall season with three Turkish productions. Entre Dos Amores bows Monday, October 8 at 7p;season three of Elif debuts Tuesday, October 23 at 9p; and Fatmagul premieres Tuesday, October 30 at 8p.
Buying It Blind, bowing Friday, November 2 at 8p on Bravo, centers on couples unable to agree on their future home, who take a radical step and relinquish control to three experts.
Cinemax set Friday, November 2 as the premiere date for the second season of Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus.
COMING UP
A+E Networks launches Twisted Faith, its first primetime programming event across its global flagship channel Crime+Investigation the week of Sunday, November 18. The seven-day block features a lineup of original content, season premieres of continuing series, and locally produced long and short form content.
Smithsonian Channel honors American veterans with Gun Trucks of Vietnam, bowing Sunday, November 11 at 9p. One-hour special explores the ingenuity of American servicemen and the ongoing legacy of one of America’s fiercest fighting units.
TeleXitos celebrates Halloween with Domingos De Terror, a month-long special programming featuring horror movies and more, beginning Sunday, October 7 at 7p (check local listings).
CASTING
Kyle Schmid (Six) landed a lead in Netflix sci-adventure series The I-Land… Matt Bomer (White Collar, American Horror Story) nabbed the final lead in Doom Patrol, the live-action drama for the DC Universe digital platform... Ray Nicholson, Will Chase and Kevin Alves nabbed series regular roles in Amazon Studios’ YA pilot Panic… Aaron Glenane (Picnic at Hanging Rock) and Fiona Vroom (The X-Files) will recur on TNT’s Snowpiercer, reports Deadline.
DIGITAL DATA
Netflix debuts Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj on Sunday, October 28, The series was given a meaty 32-episode order; Minhaj is the first Indian-American to host a weekly comedy show. The streamer has also set Medal of Honor, an original docuseries honoring eight recipients of the military’s highest award for valor, for global launch on Friday November 9.
NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Bluprint, kicks off on Friday, October 5 with a week of free access. Service offers around-the-clock access to over 3000 hours of series and classes across categories that champion creativity, like crafting, performing arts, wellness, cooking, baking, fitness and more.
Cheddar and Synacor Inc. announced that subscribers of Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV will have full access to Cheddar’s live and on demand programming at no additional charge via the Cheddar website as well as mobile and TV apps. “We are always in base bundle, so this means all subscribers of these leading platforms can access us,” said Jon Steinberg, CEO of Cheddar. “This type of access is available to all our TV distributor partners as quickly as they give us the GO to make this available to their subscribers.”
The Try Guys, the comedy team that features Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfeld and Eugene Lee Yang, have been tapped to host the 8th Annual Streamy Awards, while Eva Gutowski, Mamrie Hart, Grace Helbig, Liza Koshy, LaurDIY, Tana Mongeau and Patrick Starrr have been named as presenters. Ceremony takes place at the Beverly Hilton and airs on YouTube on Monday, October 22 at 9p.
| DoubleVerify partnered with Twitter to authenticate the quality of video ads on the platform for many of the world’s largest brands. It will provide advertisers with transparency into video fraud and viewability on Twitter, including mobile in-app, mobile web and desktop. DV measurement of display advertising will launch later this year. “We continue to invest in relationships with industry-leading third-party measurement providers like DV,” said Bruce Falck, revenue product lead at Twitter. “We believe it is a critical component in helping our advertising partners better measure the impact of their media spend, and ensure consistent quality controls across their omni-channel campaigns.” National Geographic original digital series Wild Life with Bertie Gregory is back for a second season. The sophomore run, titled Wild Life with Bertie Gregory: Resurrection Island, will also be released weekly across National Geographic’s YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat channels. Cognizant entered an agreement to acquire Softvision. When combined with Cognizant’s Digital Engineering Practice, Softvision will becine a leading provider of digital content development services. Deal is expected to close in 4Q18. |
GOING GLOBAL
Media I.M. licensed all three seasons of Sunny Bunnies to Channel 5’s preschool programming block Milkshake! Series will debut in the UK in January.
Italy’s Boing secured the rights to Season 2 of Beyblade Burst Evolution from Sunrights Inc. Animated series begins airing Tuesday, October 9.
World Media Rights announced broadcast partners for Greatest Events of World War II in HD Colour. Discovery in the UK, N-TV in Germany and Planete+ in France will air the upcoming documentary series charting crucial moments in the Second World War.
Keshet International unveiled a programming slate of 21 finished series and formats. Included are Stockholm, which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, new talent format Showdown Aviv/Eyal and Series Mania selected Autonomies.
