Programming

In a rich deal, indie studio Warner Bros. TV has inked a syndication deal with ViacomCBS for Big Bang spinoff prequel Young Sheldon. Under the multiple-year deal, the 1990s-set single-camera comedy from Chuck Lorre will join ViacomCBS-owned Nick at Nite’s syndication lineup in November.

America’s Got Talent topped Tuesday in primetime, delivering a 0.7 in the adults 18-49 demographic and 5.58 million viewers to hold steady with last week’s numbers. The reality talent competition led into Night 2 of the Republican National Convention, which so far trails Night 1 in the early data with NBC (0.3, 2.42 million) and ABC (0.3, 1.74 million) leading in the demo and CBS (0.2, 1.30 million) at No. 3. These numbers will likely be adjusted when finals are delivered.

Apple plans to add bonus augmented reality content to its Apple TV+ streaming video service. The new feature is said to take aspects of scenes in a TV show, such as characters or objects, and display them on the viewer’s iPhone or iPad so they can be seen as if they existed in the user’s surrounding environment.

The “World News Tonight” anchor’s nightly summary averaged 8.2 million viewers last week, more than any primetime program on television, according to Nielsen.

Over the past few years, Ellen DeGeneres’ image as a paragon of kindness has begun to crack. Can fans forgive her after recent toxic workplace claims?

The quarantined second season of Love Island premiered on CBS on Monday and took a two-tenths hit from last year’s freshman debut. Still, the reality dating competition in which hot and bothered singles are essentially stuck on an island to find “love” scored a 0.4 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic and 1.94 million viewers, plenty enough to finish No. 1 among primetime’s new offerings.

Dr. Phil was mostly immune to the carnage, giving back 5% to a still-potent 1.8 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating, and easily leading the yak pack for the eighth time in nine weeks despite being in repeats on all five days.

It was once considered the holy grail, landing a comedy series on a broadcast network. But now studios may be walking away from the genre as the decades-old broadcast model is becoming increasingly non-viable in the streaming age. Sony TV, which is behind the hit ABC comedy series The Goldbergs, has informally notified networks that it will not be selling broadcast comedies in the current financial model, while Lionsgate TV independently has been contemplating a similar decision and may not be an active half-hour seller in broadcast this coming cycle.

Six of 41 broadcast network primetime TV series have showed viewership gains through 12 weeks this summer, with NBC’s America’s Got Talent remaining the top performer overall.

After airing repeats for three-plus months due to the coronavirus shutdown, CBS’s The Young and the Restless returned with original episodes  the week of Aug. 10. However, a sizable chunk of the show’s audience was not there to greet it.

CBS’s Big Brother and an ABC News interview with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris led Sunday’s broadcast ratings among adults 18-49. 60 Minutes also delivered its best viewer tally in two months.

The original corporate home of Monday Night Football is poised to return to the NFL business in a very big way. The Walt Disney Co.’s ABC broadcast network is in an increasingly strong position to score its first live NFL game package in 15 years, sources say. ABC broadcast MNF from 1970 to 2005, blazing the NFL’s path into primetime TV. But sister Disney cable network ESPN took over MNF in 2006, absorbing ABC Sports in the process.

A holiday advent calendar is the latest in a string of licensing deals for the ’90s hit sitcom that could see it build a long-lasting merchandising legacy.