Wall Street’s rally hit a wall of hot jobs and cold earnings data on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 1% for its first drop in four days, though it took an up-and-down route to get there. The bond market was more decisive in thinking the strong jobs data could push the Federal Reserve to stay firmer than expected on high interest rates, which hurt the economy and markets.
Ghosts and So Help Me Todd both reached series high viewership on Thursday, helping earn CBS the top spot among the broadcast networks during primetime. Ghosts averaged 6.82 million viewers at 8:30 p.m., according to early Nielsen data. That marks its highest fast national audience ever, and the tally is likely to increase slightly when final numbers come in later Friday. The sophomore comedy was followed by So Help Me Todd, which also posted its best fast nationals ever. The show, which was recently renewed for Season 2, brought in about 5.1 million total viewers. CBS also had a successful night with the other series in its primetime lineup, Young Sheldon and CSI: Vegas.
The out-of-home media industry doesn’t have an audience measurement standard sanctioned by the Media Rating Council but that’s about to change. MRC CEO George Ivie said Thursday that a new OOH standard is “imminent,” adding that the group expects to release a standard this quarter for the industry to consider and comment on.
Leave it to a sitcom vet like Melissa Rauch to remind the industry that everything old can be new again. After persuading Warner Bros. TV to dust off Night Court and revive it for NBC, multi-cams are suddenly hot again, with every broadcast network — and even a few streamers like Netflix (home to new hit That ’90s Show, which just got renewed) are putting studio audience comedies in development.
While the weekly TV series is sunsetting, the Saturday morning news program will continue as a digital series (including on ESPN’s YouTube channel), and with branded segments on ESPN’s flagship studio show SportsCenter seven days per week. Jeremy Schaap, the anchor of OTL since 2020, will continue to lead the segments.
The local TV news ratings race appears up for grabs in Ohio's capital.
Season 1 of the That ’70s Show spinoff premiered on Jan. 19, and immediately reached Netflix’s Top 10 English TV list in 35 countries, with more than 41 million hours viewed, according to the streamer.
Creator Taylor Sheridan needs another season to finish telling the origin story of the Dutton family he made famous in Yellowstone. And there’s always the chance Season 2 could attract the same number of people who first tuned into the premiere of 1923 in December: The prequel that stars Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren was the most watched Paramount+ premiere ever in the U.S. and drew in 7.4 million total viewers across Paramount+ and linear previews.
The first English-language television broadcast of the U.S. men's soccer team in its new media contract was seen by 416,000 viewers on TNT. Last Saturday's 0-0 exhibition draw against Colombia, which started at 7:37 p.m. EST, was seen by 540,000 in its Spanish-language broadcast on Telemundo for a combined audience of 956,000, according to Nielsen.
The past year of rising interest rates and falling stock prices has shaken Big Tech, along with the San Francisco Bay region it dominates. Now, tens of thousands of layoffs from Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and dozens of other companies have made it clear: The golden age is over. Speeches about austerity have replaced the free-flowing stock grants and free sushi lunches.
Activist investor Nelson Peltz escalated his criticism of the Walt Disney Co.’s board and advocated for the removal of director Michael B.G. Froman, blaming him for backing governance and compensation decisions that Peltz says have harmed the company.
Amazon said it earned $300 million, or 3 cents per share, in the October-December quarter. Industry analysts were expecting the Seattle-based company to earn 17 cents a share. Amazon's 4Q profits represent a significant drop from the $14.3 billion it posted during the same period in 2021, when the company had a nearly $12 billion gain from its investment in Rivian Automotive. Shares in Amazon.com Inc. fell 4% in after-hours trading.
Local TV people who have signed up for the free Marketing Monday newsletter from TVNewsCheck tend to have a very relaxing weekend. Because they know, come Monday morning, they can count on Marketing Monday newsletter to appear in their inboxes.
In what appears to be a new wave of CW layoffs, several senior scripted executives have left the broadcast network, including Gaye Hirsch, EVP, development, who is departing after more than 15 years, and fellow CW veteran and head of department, EVP, Current Programming Michael Roberts, who had been at the network (and its predecessor the WB) for 21 years, sources say.
The most streamed title across all streaming services in the first week of the year was Ginny & Georgia, according to Nielsen’s weekly streaming rankings. The teen comedy-drama series was watched for 2.5 billion minutes from Jan. 2 to Jan. 8, during which its second season on Netflix was available for four days.
Among the findings: Linear TV has the highest reach of all measured media platforms; despite cable having more networks, viewers spend almost double the time with broadcast TV; people trust local TV station news more than all other media platforms (74%), while social media is the least trusted (37%).
The $15.7 million sale follows a big runnup in BuzzFeed’s shares following the announcement it will use AI to produce content
As cord-cutting accelerates, the leader of Madison Square Garden and the Knicks has rejected suitors for his cable channels and cycled through CEOs.
Recently Google struck a deal to offer NFL Sunday Ticket starting this fall. Google reportedly spend $2 billion for NFL Sunday Ticket, and they have big plans. Now, during Google’s 4th quarter 2022 earning call, we learned some of the new features NFL Sunday Ticket will offer.
After months of building a newsroom from scratch, CBS’s WWJ Detroit flipped the switch on its first newscasts last week. Adrienne Roark, president of CBS Stations; Brian Watson, VP and GM of WWJ; and Paul Pytlowany, its news director, make the case for how its community-based approach to reporting will differentiate the station. A full transcript of the conversation is included.
After expanding his role to include Nickelodeon Studios back in March, Paramount COO Andrew Gumpert is exiting the Melrose lot, effective this week. The announcement as just made by studio boss Brian Robbins Thursday night. We hear that Gumpert’s exit was amicable, with the exec telling staffers in Robbins’ memo: “I’ve been contemplating the next chapter of my career and I’m excited to figure out what’s next. I am confident that this organization will continue to lead the industry.”
NBC says that Night Court has reached an audience of 25.7 million in delayed viewing since it premiered on Jan. 17. The premiere episode ranked as the No. 1 broadcast premiere of the 2022-23 season in both the ad-friendly 18-49 demographic and in total audience. In total viewers, it raked in the most viewers for any comedy premiere since The Conners debuted on ABC in 2018. It was NBC’s best comedy premiere since Will & Grace in 2017.
While overall revenue grew at Google's parent, advertising revenue fell by nearly 4% and revenue at YouTube declined 8% year-over-year. That appeared to spook investors, who sent the company's stock lower in after-hours trading. The company said it earned $13.62 billion, or $1.05 per share, in the October-December quarter. That's down 34% from $20.64 billion, or $1.53 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Industry leaders from Fox Television Stations, Debmar-Mercury, E.W. Scripps and Sinclair Broadcast Group will unpack business challenges and programming opportunities in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s Programming Everywhere event at the NAB Show on April 16. Register here.
New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include an opening for a digital manager at a university public media service.
Executives from Fox Corp., E.W. Scripps Co. and CBC will share their expertise in building IP networks that suit their companies’ specific needs along with critical security considerations in the process during a TVNewsCheck Working Lunch Webinar on March 16 at 1 p.m. ET. Register here.
The day-long event, to be held on April 16 at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, will explore the critical need for more programming across linear, syndication and streaming channels and how station groups and content producers are rising to the challenge with creative and adaptable solutions.
16 March 2023
16 April 2023
