Ryan Murphy ABC Series ‘Dr. Odyssey’ Casts Don Johnson

CBS Greenlights First Black Daytime Soap Opera In 35 Years

The network has handed out a formal series order to The Gates. The network on Monday announced that the series, following the lives of a wealthy Black family in a posh, gated community, will debut in January 2025. The specific time period, launch date and other details will be revealed later. The official series pickup comes a month after CBS announced it was teaming with the NAACP to develop The Gates.

Horizon Sports & Experiences Names Kerry Bradley SVP Of Strategy

BRAND CONNECTIONS

‘The Rookie’ Renewed For Season 7 By ABC

The renewal comes amid strong ratings for Season 6. The Alexi Hawley-created crime drama starring Nathan Fillion kicked off its sixth season with its most-watched episode in nearly six years, with 11.92 million total viewers across platforms after 35 days of viewing. That’s up 14% from its Season 5 average and marks the show’s strongest MP35 number since Oct. 23, 2018, according to the network and Nielsen.

WNCN Raleigh Debuts New Hosts For Lifestyle Show

CBS To Rebroadcast Billy Joel Concert After ‘Piano Man’ Debacle

CBS just announced that the network will rebroadcast Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden special in its entirety this Friday, April 19, after Sunday’s presentation cut out in some parts of the country as the singer was in the middle of his signature hit Piano Man. The special will be rebroadcast in its entirety on CBS on April 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

CNN Ends Gayle King-Charles Barkley Show After Limited Run

“I have loved working with you and something tells me Charles, this will not be the last time that we’re working together,” Gayle King told Charles Barkley in what was the show’s final episode.

‘Suits’ To Make Broadcast Debut On MyNetwork TV

Suits will make its broadcast television debut on MyNetwork TV this fall, where it will be offered on free television for the first time. The legal drama, created and written […]

Emmy-Winning ‘Tamron Hall’ Renewed For Sixth Season

Picking up Disney’s second longest-running syndicated show are ABC Owned Television Stations and leading broadcast groups including Hearst, Scripps, Nexstar, Tegna, Gray and Allen Media Group.

Seattle Reign FC And KING Media Set Broadcast Partnership

Seattle Reign FC announced a new partnership that will provide exclusive local broadcast rights for 11 regular season games to fans in the region during the 2024 NWSL season. Fans […]

Netflix’s New Film Strategy: More About The Audience, Less About Auteurs

Dan Lin, the streaming service’s new film chief, wants to produce a more varied slate of movies to better appeal to the array of interests among subscribers.

How A Reality TV Show Turned The UFC From Pariah To Juggernaut

The Ultimate Fighting Championship, whose 300th numbered pay-per-view fight card was last weekend, was once effectively banned on television because of its violence.

 

Ron Weiner, Emmy-Winning Director of ‘Donahue,’ Dies At 93

Iowa Star Caitlin Clark Makes Surprise Appearance On ‘Saturday Night Live’

The Iowa native delivered a heartfelt message about her basketball future, thanking many of the great players who came before her. “I’m sure it will be a big first step for me, but it’s just one step for the WNBA thanks to all the great players like Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, the great Dawn Staley, and my basketball hero, Maya Moore,” Clark said. “These are the women that kicked down the door so I could walk inside. So, I want to thank them tonight for laying the foundation. Clark came back on stage at the end of the show, bringing her former Hawkeye teammates Kate Martin, Gabbie Marshall and Jada Gyamfi with her. (Chrlaie Neibergal/AP)

 

TVN’S PROGRAMMING EVERYWHERE

Game Shows Are TV’s First Stop On The Road To Interactivity

Many in the veteran genre are introducing apps, QR codes, the metaverse and more to retain and engage audiences, grow viewers and optimize monetization.

Retiring Chairman Sean McManus Leaves CBS Sports With Its Critical Properties Locked Up Long-Term

McManus, who turned 69 in February, started to consider retirement two years ago. With CBS carrying the Super Bowl this year along with the NCAA Tournament and the Masters, McManus and CBS President-CEO George Cheeks agreed the timing was right. David Berson, president of CBS Sports for over 10 years, is McManus’ hand-picked successor.

Roku Discloses New Data Breach Affecting 576,000 User Accounts

Following a data breach earlier this year affecting 15,000 user accounts, Roku has revealed a much larger security episode. In a blog post Friday, the streaming giant said 576,000 user accounts had been affected in the second breach. Roku noted that its investigation had found that it was not responsible for the breach, which it said occurred via third-party websites. The company, which has more than 80 million active accounts, said its systems were not compromised.

‘Cold Case’ Reboot From Creator Meredith Stiehm Eyed By CBS

After bringing back CSI: Crime Scene Investigation with CSI: Vegas, CBS is looking to revive another Jerry Bruckheimer Television-produced crime procedural from the 2000s. The network is in negotiations with Warner Bros. TV for a reboot of Cold Case, which aired on CBS for seven seasons from 2003 to 2010. The followup comes from the series’ creator/executive producer Meredith Stiehm.

Netflix Acquires ‘Rather,’ Documentary About TV News Icon Dan Rather

Netflix has landed Rather, the documentary about veteran journalist Dan Rather‘s landmark career in news. The film, which premieres April 24 on the streamer, uses the story of of Rather’s life on television to also explore the evolution of broadcast journalism, the troubles a free press now faces, along with the slide of American society from hard-fought advances in social justice and democratic freedoms.

Q&A

The CW President Dennis Miller Talks Up Net’s Reboot And What’s Coming Next

Dennis Miller took over as president of The CW in October 2022, after the network was acquired by Nexstar Media Group. He quickly set about refashioning The CW by bringing in more live sports, decreasing the number of scripted series that are exclusive to the network and deploying a coproduction model that sees series air on The CW and another network in a different country, Canada. Here, he talks about his eventful first 18 months atop The CW, including the network’s shift away from the younger demo it once targeted, and what’s next. (Chris Frawley/The CW)

‘The Talk’ Renewed By CBS For 15th And Final Season

The Talk is coming to an end: CBS revealed today that its daytime talk show has been picked up for a 15th and final season and will wrap its run in December.

Valerie Bertinelli Slams Food Network After Firing

‘Jennifer Hudson Show’ EP/Co-Showrunner Mary Connelly To Step Down, Leave Warner Bros. After 20 Years

Mary Connelly will be departing as executive producer and co-showrunner of The Jennifer Hudson Show at the end of daytime syndicated talk show’s current second season. The daytime veteran is leaving The Jennifer Hudson Show‘s producer Warner Bros. Unscripted Television/Telepictures, her studio home of more than two decades, to pursue new projects. She made the announcement to the show’s staff and crew Thursday.

Showtime Streaming Service Shutting Down At End Of April

After nearly nine years, Showtime’s streaming apps are fading to black. The Showtime standalone service will be shut down on April 30, according to notices sent to subscribers. The end of Showtime’s streaming apps comes just less than a year after parent company Paramount Global integrated Showtime’s programming into the top-tier Paramount+ plan.

Streaming Ratings: ‘Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version)’ Scores For Disney+

Taylor Swift made her chart debut in Nielsen’s streaming rankings, as her concert movie The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) had a strong showing over its first four days of release on Disney+. The film racked up 677 million minutes of viewing in the U.S. in the week of March 11-17 (it debuted on Disney+ on March 14), finishing second among movies and eighth among all titles for the week.

‘S.W.A.T.’ Gets Season 8 On CBS

CBS has renewed S.W.A.T. for the 2024-2025 season, which will be Season No. 8 for the drama. Shemar Moore leads the cast. The show was canceled in 2023, but resurrected three days later amid protests on social media, including those from Moore.

The CW Adds Eight NBC Sports-Produced Xfinity Series NASCAR Races To Fall Schedule

The run of season-ending races will start September 20 in the Xfinity Series Championship from Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, Nov. 9. NBC Sports will handle production, with Rick Allen serving as lead race announcer alongside analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte, and NBC Sports VP of Motorsports Jeff Behnke in charge of production.

Meghan Markle Sets Lifestyle Series And Polo Championship Series At Netflix

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has set two new unscripted series at Netflix via her and Prince Harry’s Archewell Productions banner, which is under an overall deal at the streamer. Though titles and release dates are yet to be announced, both projects are currently in early production.

NEWS ANALYSIS

The Rise And Fall Of O.J. Simpson Changed Media Culture Forever

‘The Night Manager’ Revived At BBC, Amazon With Two-Season Pickup

Amazon and the BBC are teaming to revive the Emmy- and BAFTA-winning thriller The Night Manager, eight years after its initial run. Tom Hiddleston will reprise his role in the show, which scored a two-season order from the BBC and Amazon’s Prime Video streaming platform. Series creator David Farr is also set to return as writer. Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie, who starred in the first season, will also be executive producers.