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The race, which began at 1 a.m. ET, attracted 1.3 million viewers, the third-largest F1 audience of the season on cable and sixth-largest overall on ESPN platforms this season.

Can King Charles rule in the heady, competitive world of cable news? CNN will soon find out. The new weekly one-hour program will debut Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 10 p.m., and will be co-anchored by the unlikely duo of Gayle King, who still has her long-running day job at rival CBS News, and Charles Barkley, the outspoken sportscaster who remains a key element in the NBA coverage provided by CNN’s parent, Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN executives are counting on the pair to have freewheeling conversations about the biggest stories in the news cycle. King Charles is viewed as a limited-run series that will last at least through the first quarter of next year.

Holiday favorites like A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story will soon return, along with new family friendly films including Dashing Through the Snow on Disney+, Melissa McCarthy’s Genie on Peacock and much, much more.

There are a lot of lifeless bodies haunting cable television these days, and we’re not talking about the ones still flailing about on AMC’s Walking Dead spinoffs. Iconic cable brands like A&E, TBS, TNT, USA, and TV Land — which just a few years ago were all still churning out a steady supply of tentpole comedies and dramas — have dropped all ambitions they once had of competing in TV’s scripted-content wars. Meanwhile, most of the basic-cable networks still in the fray (AMC, FX, Paramount) have shifted their focus to making shows for streaming rather than playing the ratings game. The cable landscape in 2023 is exceedingly bleak, and yet amid all this carnage, there’s one big bright spot: Hallmark Channel.

Merit Street Media will be anchored by Dr. Phil Primetime, premiering Feb. 26, 2024.

Cable One is entering the “final stages of decline in our video product,” CEO Julie Laulis says. However, the broadband-focused operator lost Internet subs in Q3 and continues to shun the mobile bundle.

Walt Disney’s ESPN sports network could secure an enterprise value of $24 billion and attract investment interest from sports leagues, tech firms like Apple and telecom majors including Verizon, according to BofA Global Research. In a bid to lure an outside investor, the media giant last month disclosed the financials of ESPN that revealed declining sales and profit at the network considered to be the crown jewel of its traditional TV business.

A dispute with a former HBO executive assistant has unearthed allegations in Rolling Stone that Casey Bloys, then the network’s president of original programming, directed employees to troll critics posting about network programming on social media from fake accounts.

To celebrate the life of Matthew Perry, who died on Saturday at the age of 54, TBS will host a weeklong Friends marathon dedicated to Perry’s beloved Chandler Bing, beginning Nov. 1. The marathon will include special tributes showcasing what Perry and Chandler — who was ranked as the best Friends character and second funniest character of all time — meant to the show’s fans.

ESPN Plus looks to add another big revenue punch to this year’s busy PPV boxing category with last Saturday’s (Oct. 28) Tyson Fury (pictured)-Francis Ngannou bout while looking to be opportunistic in the category next year. ESPN’s Matt Kenny says the company is bullish on PPV boxing in 2024.

AMC Networks has enabled advertisers to buy live linear inventory programmatically on three of its networks — an industry first, according to the media company. Starting this month, programmatic buying is fully operational on AMC, WE TV and BBC America. The company worked with FreeWheel, The Trade Desk and Canoe Ventures to implement the technology.

The Daily Show is currently going through a lineup of guest hosts as it continues to search for a permanent one. Last night, the Comedy Central show debuted a new twist – two hosts behind the desk. Correspondents Michael Kosta, who has been hosting this week, the show’s first week back since the writers strike, and Ronny Chieng joined forces on Thursday night’s show.

Seeing untold promise in new technology, he was a prime mover in the creation of the cable industry, helping to transform Time Warner Cable into a giant in the field.

The premium sports brand specialized in boxing and sports docs, but following Showtime’s merger with Paramount+, the company decided to move in another direction.

The death of cable TV as you know it seems to be here. Earlier this month, Spectrum and Comcast announced a new streaming player that will let you watch your TV subscription from Spectrum streaming online alongside other services like Netflix. Now Spectrum has announced that new customers will only receive the streaming-only option.

Segments with show hosts Tony Harris, Keshia Knight Pulliam will appear on A&E, History and Lifetime. Pictured: Crack the Case host Tony Harris will appear in live cut-ins on A&E and History.

In a significant shakeup of pro wrestling programming, WWE SmackDown will leave Fox and jump to USA Network, beginning in October 2024. In addition, the WWE will produce four primetime specials per year, which will air in primetime on the NBC broadcast network.

Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams (The Ms. Pat Show) is taking on the role of TV judge in the upcoming new series Ms. Pat Settles It, premiering Oct. 18 at 10 p.m. ET/PT to air on BET.

Disney’s standoff with Charter shows that the carriage fees for core channels (like ESPN) may keep rising, but the padding of the bundle (like Freeform) is now in the past.

Maher last week said he would bring his show back into production, but on Monday said he’ll wait because talks are scheduled to begin between producers and writers on Wednesday.