Programming

Claudia Eller: It will be a downright fiasco if the leadership of Hollywood’s studios, networks and streamers doesn’t do everything in its collective bargaining power to prevent the labor union representing camera operators, editors, production designers, grips and other workers from going out on strike.

The appointment comes two days after Campbell announced that she was leaving Disney’s Hulu, where she had been president. Campbell will join the Peacock leadership team starting in November and will be based in the Los Angeles area. She will report to Matt Strauss, chairman, NBCU’s Direct-to-Consumer and International.

NBC’s La Brea drew 4.9 million total viewers and a 0.6 rating, down just a tick in the demo from the preliminary numbers for last week’s series premiere. Bookending the freshman drama, The Voice (6.9M/0.8) was also down a smidge but still led Tuesday both measures.

Negotiations between the studios and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees are expected to continue on Wednesday as the sides try to avoid a strike that would shut down production and immediately cripple Hollywood’s content pipeline. In what could be taken as a sign of progress, the two sides are not saying much publicly about the negotiations.

The broadcaster is telling the satellite provider’s customers that with an extension to the current carriage agreement set to expire, they could lose access to its stations.

NBC won the second week of the television season handily, averaging 7.5 million viewers. CBS averaged 5.3 million, ABC had 3,7 million, Fox had 2.1 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and Ion Television had 890,000. ESPN led cable networks, averaging 2.78 million in primetime. Fox News Channel had 2.26 million, MSNBC had 1.19 million, HGTV had 972,000 and TLC had 832,000.

It’s typical for Hollywood’s labor unions to support for each other during labor disputes, but the support for IATSE during its current contract dispute with film and TV producers goes beyond the usual labor solidarity. That’s because the below-the-line workers’ union could be setting a standard for all future Hollywood contracts in the streaming era.

Fans of ESPN’s Monday Night Football might get something next week they won’t be expecting — a tribute to hockey. The Disney-backed sports-media giant expects to spend part of its next halftime show treating viewers to a concert as well as a surprise visit from someone who is emblematic of the icy pastime, says Mark Gross, senior vice president of production and remote events, in an interview. He declined to name the person likely to appear. The weekly football showcase “exposes a large audience to the NFL and a larger audience” to a new NHL schedule slated to start the very next night, says the executive.

Interim host Mayim Bialik helps move the game up to a 5.4 in the session ending Sept. 26, joining Family Feud at the top.

NBC’s The Voice this Monday drew 7.2 million total viewers and a 0.9 rating, up in audience but down a tick in the demo week-to-week yet still leading the night in the latter measure. Ordinary Joe then did 2.8M and a 0.4, adding eyeballs in Week 3 while stabilizing in the demo.

Good Morning America weekend executive producer Quiana Burns will serve as the interim EP for ABC’s syndicated Tamron Hall. The news comes a few days after it was first reported that Candi Carter was abruptly exiting the daytime talker. Carter will return to her first-look development deal with ABC Entertainment.

Veteran NBC current executive Rebecca McGill has joined Dick Wolf’s NBCUniversal-based Wolf Entertainment as executive vice president. Reporting to COO Peter Jankowski, she will have co-executive producer credits on all of Wolf’s scripted series going forward. McGill is coming off a 15-year stint at NBC.

In an overwhelming show of union solidarity, IATSE members have voted to authorize a nationwide strike against film and TV productions if last-ditch negotiations with the AMPTP fail to produce a fair deal. The vote — 98% in favor — now gives IATSE President Matthew Loeb indisputable authority to call a strike if he and AMPTP President Carol Lombardini can’t reach an agreement in the coming days.

Bucs QB Tom Brady’s return to Patriots country pumped up Sunday Night Football‘s numbers by a good amount. NBC’s coverage of the well-hyped game drew 22.4 million total viewers and a 6.1 demo rating (per fast nationals), easily marking the best prelim numbers for any SNF telecast in this young season.

As the business of broadcasting continues to add platforms, pressure grows to produce more content more efficiently. The Weather Company, an IBM business, has responded with a major technology announcement, set for Oct 12. TVNewsCheck and The Weather Company will follow up this announcement on Oct. 28 with an in-depth conversation about what the future of digital weather storytelling will look like. Join us.

The Season 47 Saturday Night Live premiere, hosted by Owen Wilson, didn’t get the sketch-comedy show off to a great start in TV ratings. According to Nielsen’s earliest-available data, SNL drew a 3.5 household rating, which was in line with the final two Season 46 episodes, but down 35% from the Season 46 debut. Those numbers are drawn from the 44 metered media markets from which Nielsen gets its first results.

NBCUniversal and YouTube TV have reached a carriage agreement a day after the previous one expired, enabling 14 NBCU networks to avoid going dark. The companies had been at odds in recent days over a number of networks, including regional sports outlets, the broadcast mother ship and local stations.