Programming

The veteran writer and producer takes over for series creator Jim Reynolds, who left the show amid complaints about his leadership.

Univision’s coverage of the U.S. men’s national team’s 3-2 victory over rival Mexico in the final of the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League on Sunday night tied ABC’s season premiere of Celebrity Family Feud for the night’s top broadcast in primetime. The game, which aired live from Denver and was decided in overtime, drew a 0.8 rating and 1.96 million viewers from 9 to 11 p.m. for the Spanish-language broadcast; it also aired live via CBS Sports Network.

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With the return to pre-pandemic behavior in newsrooms, critic David Zurawik reflects: “Adaptability, resilience, being nimble and the willingness to improvise are some of the lessons TV can teach us from the last 15 months. But there are deeper aspects of our relationships to the screen that bear further thought, such as how important those screens and the stories told on them have become to our lives.”

WTVO in Rockford, Ill., just completed the seventh season of its high school quiz show, Bergstrom Stateline Quiz Bowl. The station has aired 230 episodes so far. “It has been just hugely successful,” says David Rydell, chairman of the Bergstrom Manufacturing company, the show’s title sponsor.

Sunday’s Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul exhibition bout has apparently crashed Showtime’s servers. “We are aware that some customers have been having trouble accessing tonight’s Pay Per View event on Showtime.com. We are working diligently to resolve the issue and will redress customers appropriately,” a Showtime spokesperson said in a statement around 7:30 p.m. ET.

While many in the TV business are investing billions in subscription streaming services, big broadcasters are focusing on free over-the-air digital channels. Sinclair Broadcast Group has been investing in its digital channels — Comet TV, Charge and TBD — and is seeing a healthy increase in advertising revenue since getting ratings from Nielsen and upgrading their programming. In June, for example, Charge is adding CSI: Miami to its schedule. “What we’ve tried to do with these networks is level up the programming to make them general-market worthy,” Scott Ehrlich, Sinclair SVP, growth networks and content, said.

The final ratings for Season 46 of Saturday Night Live are in, and the venerable latenight sketch program ranked as the No. 1 entertainment show among all ad-supported networks in the adults 18-49 demo. The show averaged a 2.06 rating in 18-49 and 9.0 million total viewers overall in Live+7 numbers. SNL generated the No. 1 most YouTube video views (1.6 billion) of any late-night show in all of TV. It also gained the No. 1 most new fans/followers/subscribers (2.7 million) across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube of any late-night show in all of TV.

Broadcast shows like NCIS (which just finished its 18th season), ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy (17 seasons) and NBC’s Law & Order: SVU (21 seasons) continue to have massive staying power and tremendous fan bases. And because they boast such large episodic libraries, they’re all among the most-watched acquired shows on streaming. In the world of the Emmy Awards, however, these shows seem to no longer exist.

CBS’s Clarice returned from its latest mini-hiatus — though with the first of four episodes in a row! — to 1.8 million total viewers and a 0.2 demo rating, hitting and tying series lows. Station 19 (4.7M/0.6) dipped in the demo with its season finale, yet delivered Thursday’s biggest audience. Grey’s Anatomy (4.6M/0.8) ticked up with its season finale, and led the night in the demo.

Following a seven-month search for an executive to head U.S. originals, Netflix global TV VP Bela Bajaria has opted to promote from within the company for the role. Longtime Netflix exec Peter Friedlander (l) has been promoted for the second time under Bajaria and will serve as head of U.S. and Canada scripted series. With Friedlander taking on added responsibilities, Brian Wright (r) has opted to exit the streamer.

The Jeopardy announcer worked with late host Alex Trebek for 37 years and was reluctant to continue after losing his admired colleague. But others with the show urged him to consider his role as a comforting touchstone for viewers who also were in mourning.

News and sports programming are a significant factor in keeping consumers tethered to cable and satellite subscriptions in an era rife with cord-cutting, said Andy Forssell, general manager of HBO Max, while speaking Thursday at an investor conference hosted by Barclays. But the way those formats are presented will likely have to change for streaming viewers, he said.

Fox Sports says that it will be the broadcast partner for a reboot of the league set for spring 2022. Fox is also an equity investor in the USFL’s parent company, The Spring League. The football league, which was originally active from 1983 to 1985, counted future NFL stars Doug Flutie and Herschel Walker among its players.

In his expanded role, Magnus will oversee all programming and content for ESPN’s linear channels as well as the ESPN+ streaming service, including ESPN Films and the 30 for 30 franchise.

Fox’s MasterChef opened Season 11/”Legends” with 2.4 million total viewers and a 0.6 rating, topping Wednesday in the demo. ABC’s $100,000 Pyramid (3.5M/0.5) ticked up in the demo and delivered the night’s largest audience.

The pandemic made the ceremony, honoring Debbie Allen, Joan Baez, Garth Brooks, Midori and Dick Van Dyke and airing on CBS on Sunday, like no other.

Jeffrey Katzenberg is stepping down as chairman of the board of governors at the Motion Picture & Television Fund, where he and his wife Marilyn have been among its biggest boosters and fundraisers for three decades. His departure comes as the charitable organization celebrates its 100th anniversary.