PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
MTV is reimagining its 1999-2002 series Undressed, exploring the complicated dynamics of young adult relationships. “Undressed was ahead of its time and we’re looking forward to developing the series for a whole new generation,” said Pamela Post, head of scripted programming for MTV Studios, MTV, VH1 and Logo. “Much has changed in the dating/relationship world since the series first premiered and we’re excited to showcase how both have evolved.” The original’s creator, Roland Jaffe, will exec produce the new version, currently in development.
Lifetime greenlit two original movies. Pride and Prejudice: Atlanta, from Big Dreams Entertainment and Swirl Films, stars Reginald VelJohnston as the pastor of a Southern Baptist church and Jackee Harry as his wife, author of a self-help book on finding the perfect husband, with five single daughters. Very Valentine, to be produced in Bulgaria by Judith Verno and Sony Pictures Television, follows a woman (Kelen Coleman) and her grandmother (Jacqueline Bisset) trying to save their family’s shoe company.
TBS ordered a pilot for an unscripted comedy project, Unqualified (wt), starring Shaquille O’Neal and Ken Jeong. The order follows the duo’s showdown-gone-viral on rap battle series Drop the Mic. “These guys made magic on Drop The Mic together. Their chemistry is undeniable,” said Michael Bloom, SVP of unscripted and specials for TBS and TNT. “And no doubt that magic will extend to the unwitting people who expect anything to get done when they show up.”
Freddie Highmore (The Good Doctor) sold drama Love, Dad to ABC, via his overall deal with Sony Pictures Television. The project, written by Dave Collard, centers on blue collar siblings in Buffalo New York.
Red Arrow Studios International inked a deal with Universal Television for a U.S. version of procedural crime drama Einstein, to be developed for NBC and produced by Universal TV, in association with Carol Mendelsohn Productions and Intrigue Entertainment. Matthew Reisz (Charmed) is onboard as writer and an executive producer on the series, alongside Carol Mendelsohn (CSI) and Julie Weitz, via Carol Mendelsohn Productions, alongside Red Arrow Studio’s Jan David Frouman and Red Arrow Studio International’s Henrik Pabst and Shirley Bowers. The series, originally commissioned by Germany’s SAT.1, has sold to over 100 territories.
Fox is developing a drama based on an undercover operative at the DEA who was an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, reports Deadline. Project comes from eOne and Imagine Television.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
I’m Sorry is back for season two on truTV Wednesday, January 9 at 10p. Joining the cast in guest-starring roles are Adam Scott (Big Little Lies), Lennon Parham (Playing House), June Diane Raphael (Grace and Frankie), Scott Aukerman (Comedy Bang! Bang!), Rob Huebel (Transparent), Anne Ramsay (Mad About You), Kurt Braunohler (Bob’s Burgers), Rose Mclver (iZombie), Brian Stepanek (Green Book) and Rich Eisen (The Rich Eisen Show).
The premiere for the fifth and final season of FXX’s You’re the Worst has been set for Wednesday, January 9 at 10p.
Discovery’s The Last Alaskans returns Sunday, November 25 at 10p, following modern-day pioneers living in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
New Facebook Watch series Pick, Flip & Drive debuts Monday, November 12 at 8p. Viewers watch as junkyard vehicles are transformed; after the reveal, cars will be available for purchase on Facebook Marketplace.
Five-part docu-series History of Food premieres on CuriosityStream Thursday, November 15, offering a deep dive into the science, history and cultural impact of food. The addition to the streaming and on-demand platform solidifies its mission to expand on genres, as it provides an array of nonfiction fare.
COMING UP
Starting Sunday, November 25, ION Television will “Bring the Holidays Home” with the U.S. television premiere of the first of six new holiday movies, Christmas Cupid’s Arrow at 9p.
Beginning on Black Friday, audiences can “Ride Through The Holidays” with INSP, with westerns, movies, and Christmas episodes of Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Daniel Boone, The Big Valley, and more. Plus, the network debuts original movie Christmas on the Coast on Sunday, November 25 at 8p, and a holiday special episode of INSP original series The Cowboy Way airs Friday, December 23 at 8p.
CNBC’s Fast Money Halftime Report celebrates Veterans Day with a special live program from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County, NJ on Friday, November 9 at 12p. Over one hundred members of the armed forces will attend the taping.
Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ “Nine Night Thanksgiving” programming event, running from Saturday, November 17 through Sunday, November 25, kicks off with Hallmark Channel original Christmas at Graceland at 8p and HM&M’s Return to Christmas Creek at 9p on the 17th.
Leading into the new season, National Geographic is producing a special live presentation of its late-night talk show, StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson: Live From the Beacon Theatre, airing November 14. The show will focus on the search for life on alien water worlds.
DIGITAL
Gen Zers in the U.S. spend nearly three hours a day on their smartphones, according to Kantar’s “Centennials at 21” report, 45 minutes more than people age 21 and over. Snapchat was the most popular app, accounting for an average 28.9 minutes of usage, followed by internet browsing (25.8 minutes) and games (14.4 minutes).
Immersion Neuroscience, a technology that measuring unconscious emotional responses to advertising, TV, and film content, struck a television production relationship with Dorsey Pictures to take pre-tested series concepts to networks with audience impact already analyzed. “Network executives often lament the guesswork involved in series orders," says Dorsey Pictures founding partner Chris Dorsey. “We looked at several measurement approaches and technologies and Immersion was the clear choice given their advanced algorithms and track record of success in both the advertising and film industries. We think it will offer network buyers an insurance policy of sorts when choosing which projects to green light.”
DPAA, the organization for everything digital out-of-home, announced that UK-based voodooh has joined the association. voodooh is an independent DOOH company for media owners and brands.
Acorn TV landed exclusive U.S. streaming rights to season five of British drama Line of Duty, created by Jed Mercurio, the brains behind BBC One ratings-smasher The Bodyguard. Previous seasons of Duty premiered on Hulu.
Content studio Gunpowder & Sky has launched its sci-fi channel Dust on Twitch, Sinclair streaming service STIRR and NBC’s WatchBack, with debuts on Vizio arriving November 16 and Samsung Plus in early December.
Alexa’s talking turkey. The annual Butterball Turkey Talk-Line now uses Alexa (“Alexa, ask Butterball”) to offer turkey tips, and videos from Butterball are available on Amazon Echo Show and Amazon's Fire TV. The Talk-Line has offered holiday help to 50 million people since 1981, back when people used not-so-smart telephones.
Social movie ticketing platform Atom Tickets is teaming with Disney Movie Rewards to allow Atom customers to link their Disney Movie Rewards membership to their Atom Rewards account, and earn points for Disney ticket purchases. Disney Movie Rewards is the first studio reward program to join Atom’s list of loyalty programs, which includes exhibitors such as AMC Stubs and Regal Crown Club.
AMC Networks streaming services Sundance Now and Shudder have acquired seasons two and three of A Discovery of Witches, recently commissioned by UK’s Sky One. The first season is set to premiere on both the services in U.S. and Canada on January 17, 2019.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Information from a privacy breach that hackers claim affected 120 million Facebook accounts was obtained through malicious browser extensions installed off of Facebook, said Guy Rosen, VP, product management, adding, “We have contacted browser makers to ensure that known malicious extensions are no longer available to download in their stores.” Cybersecurity firm Digital Shadows estmates the number of affected Facebookers is far less than 120 million, closer to 81,000.
Barcroft Media has partnered with Snap to bring eight of its digital series to Snapchat. Ridiculous Rides, Snapped in the Wild, Beast Buddies, Born Different and Shake My Beauty are available to Snapchatters globally on the Discover page; previously released episodes are available using Snapchat’s Search feature. Barcroft series Dog Dynasty, Hooked on the Look and Outrageous Homes will premiere in the coming weeks.
Instagram is mulling offering School Stories that only a specific school’s students can see or contribute to, reports TechCrunch. Content would be manually reviewed to keep the environment safe. No comment, said Instagram.
MEASUREMENT & DATA
Snap is partnering with Comscore for measurement of each publisher’s total audience on Snapchat Discover, “an important step in our continued progress toward establishing valuable measurement practices,” said Nick Bell, Snap’s VP content. Data will be available to advertisers and publishers via Comscore’s Media Matric Multi-Platform.
Viewers age 55-64 gave the greatest attention to TV programs and commercials, according to TVision’s “eyes on screen” measurement in 3Q18. Viewers under age 18 scored the lowest. 35-44-year-olds were the second lowest, followed by viewers A18-24. Women score higher in both program attention and commercial attention than men.
For the latest insights on measurement practices and advances – and hands-on help deciphering it all - register for tomorrow’s interactive training event, the Cynopsis Measurement & Data Boot Camp.
ADVERTISING
A hiring freeze in in effect at least through the first quarter at global ad network WPP, reports Bloomberg. The ad company, which estimated a net sales decline of between 0.5% and 1% for 2018, had been considering adding about 2000 new employees.
Ford F-Series and History are collaborating on a six-hour prime time programming event the weekend of November 10, “Truck Weekend in America,” with Ford as exclusive sponsor. “Truck Weekend in America breaks with the traditional media mold with a programming event built on stories that are steeped in history, with an eye to the future,” said Paul Buccieri, president, A+E Networks Group.
While only 23% of advertising and agency execs said it was somewhat or extremely unethical to use people’s identity, behavior or emotional data to target them subconsciously, 57% of consumers objected to the practice, according to surveys done on behalf of Research Intelligencer. Asked if they felt the ad industry has an ethical responsibility for the impact of data usage on society, 79% of execs said yes.
MASS Exchange, a programmatic management platform and marketplace for TV, is partnering with AMC Networks, 4C Insights and VideoAmp to deliver a programmatic solution for linear TV advertising. MX provides AMC Networks a curated catalog of their entire inventory, updated alongside traffic and booked deals. By coupling avails with rule-driven, dynamic pricing, MX enables AMC Networks to offer specific spot-level inventory, accessible via the buyer’s planning tools or directly through MX’s buyer interface.
CASTING
Epix announced production has commenced on its original modern noir drama series Our Lady, LTD, with cast additions Damon Herriman (100 Bloody Acres), Chris Conrad (Patriot), Terry O’Quinn (Patriot, Castle Rock) and Hana Mae Lee (Pitch Perfect)….Anika Noni Rose (Power) landed the lead in TNT pilot Beast Mode, as a boxing trainer.
GOING GLOBAL
UK’s Icon Films announced the commission by Love Nature UK, a joint venture between Blue Ant Media and Smithsonian Networks, for docu-series Malawi Wildlife Vet. The series will air on Love Nature 4K’s linear and streaming video platforms internationally and via Smithsonian Channel in the U.S.
The Royal Television has shortlisted the nominations for its 2018 Craft & Design Awards, with The Windsors Royal Wedding Special, The End of the F***ing World and A Very English Scandal leading the pack with four nods each. Awards will be presented on November 26 at the London Hilton.
The first international agreement for Armoza Formats’ new singing entertainment format Singerella has been signed with the UK’s Bandicoot TV, which has acquired the local rights to the show.
