Programming

CBS has canceled CSI: Vegas after three seasons and So Help Me Todd after two. That despite CSI: Vegas and So Help Me Todd being solid ratings performers. With the entire CBS schedule doing well this season and three new drama series joining in 2024-25 — NCIS: Origins, Matlock and Watson (in addition to a second season of the Australian NCIS: Sydney) — the network was faced with painful decisions, and So Help Me Todd and CSI: Vegas are the least watched CBS drama series this spring in both linear and multi-platform ratings.

Nexstar Media Group said it does not intend to renew the affiliations of The CW stations owned by E.W. Scripps in seven markets. In two of those  markets — Norfolk, Va., and Lafayette, La. — Nexstar-owned stations will become the new The CW affiliates, effective Sept. 1. “We have interest from other station groups in the five remaining markets and expect to make announcements about those affiliations soon,” Nexstar said in a statement.

CBS News and Stations debuts a multi-part investigation called Anything For Love: Inside the Romance Scam Epidemic Sunday, April 21. Airing across CBS News and station programs, Anything For Love runs through Sunday, April 28. The year-long investigation hears from victims, families, dating app executives and government officials across seven states: California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Texas

Change is afoot on another Dick Wolf series: Rick Eid is stepping down as showrunner of FBI but will remain an executive producer on the series. Eid has been the showrunner on FBI since its debut in 2018. The drama is currently in its sixth season and was renewed by CBS through 2027.

All of the nominations are in for the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards, which will air live in June on CBS and Paramount+. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences revealed noms in five key categories Thursday, and the rest rolled out this morning.

He will be responsible for developing new series.

Both Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are actively in talks with the NBA, and those discussions will continue past April 22, when the exclusive window expires.
Amazon, NBCUniversal, Netflix, YouTube TV and Apple have all expressed preliminary interest in talks with the NBA about potentially buying a package of games as a new partner.

With NBC’s #OneChicago still in rerun mode, CBS’s Survivor was Wednesday’s most-watched and top-rated program with 4.8 million total viewers and a 0.8 rating. ABC’s Not Dead Yet (2.1M/0.2) hit and matched season lows.

The docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV posted Max’s best streaming numbers to date for its premiere week. The show, which streamed on Max concurrent with its on-air premiere on ID, had 1.25 billion minutes of viewing for the week of March 18-24. That’s the largest weekly total for any series on Max in the nearly four years of Nielsen’s streaming rankings, edging out the 1.19 billion for The Last of Us in early 2023.

The Chrisleys rose to fame with their USA network show Chrisley Knows Best, which chronicled the exploits of their tight-knit family. But prosecutors said they engaged in an extensive bank fraud scheme and hid their earnings from tax authorities while showcasing their extravagant lifestyle.

Across broadcast and streaming, Elsbeth is netting nearly 11 million viewers after 35 days of viewing. That’s up 52% from CSI: Vegas’ performance in the time slot last year.

Day has spearheaded production on La Casa de los Famosos, Los 50, Exatlon, Top Chef VIP, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, Miss Universe and more.

CBS’s FBI was Tuesday’s most-watched and highest-rated program (with 7.1 million total viewers and a 0.5 rating). In addition, FBI: International (5.7M/0.4) and FBI: Most Wanted (5M/0.4) all added viewers and were steady in the demo. In fact, International and Most Wanted delivered best-since-season premiere audiences, while FBI came very close to doing the same.

The latenight program will broadcast live from Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre during this year’s Democratic National Convention, also taking place in Chicago Aug. 19-22 on CBS. The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will also be available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+. Colbert announced the news on Wednesday night’s episode.

The Tennis Channel is lining up to play on multiple distribution courts in 2024 as it looks to serve its hard-core viewers wherever and whenever they want to see live tennis and Pickleball action, according to Tennis Channel president Ken Solomon. The Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned service is planning to launch a direct-to-consumer offering in 2024 to complement its lineup of the Tennis Channel linear service, its Pickleballtv and T2 FAST Channels and its Tennis Channel Plus SVOD service.

At a time when daytime talk shows are on a relative decline in viewership Live seems to have found the secret sauce to retaining its audience. This season, it is one of just two syndicated talk shows to improve on its average total viewership from the previous year. Live remained the No. 1 entertainment talker on television over the past year, growing 3% in average total viewers to 2.23 million per episode. According to Nielsen data, the show has been the most-watched syndicated talk show in every week since Ripa and Consuelos teamed up.

Bob Hearts Abishola will premiere in broadcast syndication this fall on station groups including Nexstar, Sinclair, Hearst, Tegna, Scripps, Weigel, Sunbeam, Gray, Mission, Lockwood and Bahakel, Warner Bros. Discovery Content Sales confirmed Wednesday. The Warner Bros. Television sitcom, which is concluding its five-season run on CBS, is joining its Chuck Lorre-produced siblings – The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon and Two and a Half Men – in syndication.

Frndly TV, the low-priced, family-friendly streaming service, said it launched a channel store where users can sign up for subscription streaming services. Lifetime Movie Club, History Vault, A&E Crime Central, from A+E Networks, and Great American Pure Flix will be added to the channel store.

CBS’s NCIS was Monday’s most-watched program and landed in a four-way tie for the nightly demo win with 6.7 million viewers/0.4.

The college basketball season may be over, but Caitlin Clark helped lead ESPN to one more audience record before going pro. The Iowa Hawkeyes superstar was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft on Monday, and 2.45 million viewers tuned in to ESPN to watch her be selected by the Indiana Fever, according to Nielsen. This is a record-smashing audience for the WNBA draft, marking the first time that the event has ever tallied over a million viewers. The former record holder was the 2004 draft, which this year’s beat by 304%. Pictured: Clark with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert (Adam Hunger/AP).

Bill Schultz claims he was fired in retaliation for pushing back against executives at Al Roker Entertainment, who allegedly undercut a PBS-mandated diversity program.