The new OTT offering targeting African Americans is live, interactive and advertising supported.
A syndicated talk show starring RuPaul won’t go forward for a national launch. The show, featuring the RuPaul’s Drag Race host and executive producer interviewing celebrities and newsmakers, had a three-week trial run in the summer on seven Fox stations.
Feeding The Voracious Multiplatform Beast
As television news broadcasters move to expand their reach into web, mobile and OTT platforms, they are adopting a number of tools and strategies including more automation, better collaboration tools and, in some cases, internal software development. L-r: Gray’s Mike Fass, Avid’s Ray Thompson, Fox’s Emily Stone and ABC’s Fabian Westerwelle. (Photo: Wendy Moger-Bross)
Co-producer and distributor Debmar-Mercury says Fox will serve as the launch group for the eponymous talk show, giving it access to nearly 40% of U.S. TV homes and a fast start on clearing the rest of the country. Cannon is best known for his hosting duties on Fox’s The Masked Singer and NBC’s America’s Got Talent.
25 Words Or Less, Divorce Court and Dish Nation get a green light for the 2020-2021 season.
Plans vary from station to station and feature a mix of coverage on-air, on websites, social media platforms and duopoly stations.
Exclusives
The deal clears the all-new Extra, The Real, TMZ and TMZ Live and will eliminate end breaks across the Fox-owned stations across the country.
The new day-and-date series from Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury and producer Will Packer names five New York and Los Angeles correspondents who will aid hosts Julissa Bermudez and Sanya Richards-Ross in covering the celebrity worlds of relationships, red carpets, money, the law and trends emerging in Hollywood, social media and apps.
Wendy Williams received the 2,677th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Thursday. She was joined at the ceremony by Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox TV Stations. “No one could be more deserving of this honor than Wendy,” he said, adding, “she outworked and outhustled everyone at each stage of her career.”
The broadcast syndication deal with Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury comes ahead of the cult favorite’s final season on Pop TV.
The long-time Fox executive is now overseeing the national sales effort for all 28 Fox owned-and-operated stations.
Week One of the new syndicated game show from Fox Television Stations will feature Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Chelsea Handler, Rick Fox and Penn Jillette.
Fox Florida GM Allyson Meyers Leaving
The head of the group’s WOFL-WRBW Orlando and WOGX Gainesville has resigned to devote herself to a “family situation.”
Beginning in the third quarter, Weigel Broadcasting’s Decades multicast network will be carried on Fox-owned stations in 12 major markets as part of a multiyear agreement with Fox Television Stations, LLC. The deal ups the network’s U.S. coverage to 60% with 65 TV affiliates nationwide. Decades will launch on Fox stations in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta, Tampa, Phoenix, Detroit, Minneapolis, Austin and Gainesville, Fla.
Melissa Peterman will host daily, half-hour, current events-driven game show for a six-week run beginning July 15.
Bill Lamb Named VP-GM Of Fox’s L.A. Duopoly
The former Block Communications executive succeeds Bob Cook who has been tapped to head first-run distribution for Fox Television Stations.
According to a panel of high-level executives gathered Thursday morning at the freshly renamed Kagan Media Summit, TV industry growth will come from a number of sources — including private equity, core and emerging advertising categories, a huuuuge bump in 2020 political dollars, and digital expansion and the promise that ATSC 3.0 holds. At the session, Mike Nelson, EVP-CFO of Fox Television Stations, said his company is interested in buying stations that fit the group’s profile, a top-25 market with a sports presence. “At the right price, Fox is very much interested,” he said.
On Tuesday’s episode of RuPaul’s new talk show, RuPaul (which kicked off a three-week trial run Monday on selected Fox affiliates), Paula Abdul again talked about surviving a plane crash for which no record exists.
James Corden, Paula Abdul, Sen. Cory Booker and The Property Brothers Join RuPaul for the first week of shows in a summer test on seven Fox Television Stations.
Promoting Tyga’s new album, Legendary, iHeartMedia will host iHeartRadio Live with Tyga at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles on June 5 and a concert and interview will also be livestreamed on all Fox Television Stations websites.
Richard Friedel, who oversaw long-term technology strategy and day-to-day operations for the Fox Network Center and the Fox Technical Operations Center, will be in charge of all engineering, operations and technology functions for the station group.
It’s the first O&O station group to join coalition of commercial and public broadcasters, consumer electronics makers, tech companies and trade associations developing a voluntary advanced emergency messaging capability using ATSC 3.0.
Five reporters from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and Detroit will supply all the group’s stations with entertainment news as the Fox Entertainment All Stars.
The test of the new weekday series premieres June 10 in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Phoenix, Minneapolis and Charlotte
Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury and producer Will Packer team for a five-week preview of Atlanta-Based Central Ave starting Nov. 4 on select Fox Television Stations.
A broad coalition of television station groups as well as public broadcasters announced at the NAB Show on Monday that ATSC 3.0 will be rolled out in 40 U.S. markets by the end of 2019.
Spectrum Co. and Pearl TV are expected to jointly announce ATSC 3.0 launches involving some 150 stations in 30 markets during next week’s gathering in Las Vegas. Their goal is to build a national footprint that will let broadcasters better compete with wireless companies and OTT providers while spurring the development of 3.0-ready TV sets and other consumer devices.
Kyle Gaca has been with the Fox Television Stations graphic team since its inception in 2009.
Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury and Funny Or Die partner for a three-week summer preview of an entertainment-talk-comedy hosted by Jerry O’Connell beginning Aug. 12 on some Fox O&Os.
Mike Nelson succeeds Joseph Dorrego as CFO of Fox television Stations, while Dorrego becomes chief investor relations officer and EVP of corporate initiatives at the new Fox Corp.
The digital veteran who has worked at Tribune, Tegna and Amazon, among others, will report to the group’s sales president, Jim Burke.
Abernethy: Stations Need To Get With 3.0
Fox stations chief Jack Abernethy used NATPE to stress the importance of the new tech. Its rollout and the services it enables, he said, is being held back by broadcasters’ short-term thinking and their inability to work with each other and to grasp the technology’s non-TV potential.
Cleared in 93% of the country for fall 2019, the syndicated entertainment magazine from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution will join the FTS lineups in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Orlando and Charlotte, N.C.
The half-hour game show hosted by Meredith Vieira has been cleared in 40% of the U.S. following a test run this summer.
Breakthrough With Dr. Steve Perry, distributed by CBS Television Distribution, is set to launch on Jan. 7, 2019, on eight Fox O&O, in a two-week test.
Mellynda Hartel New Fox San Francisco GM
After serving as VP-sales director at KTVU-KICU for the past four years, she is tapped to succeed Gregg Kelley as leader of the Fox-independent duopoly.
The GMs Powering Fox Television Stations
As TVNewsCheck honors Fox Television Stations as its TV Station Group of the Year with a three-part special report, here is a who’s who of the people on the front line of responsiblity for the performance of each of the group’s 28 outlets. Part 1 focused on the station group’s strategy going forward as a crucial component of New Fox. Part 2 offered a profile of FTS CEO Jack Abernethy. You can read those stories here.
Jack Abernethy: The Local Leader Of Fox 2.0
As CEO of Fox Television Stations, he is charged with executing the local component of New Fox’s plan to reinvent broadcasting by sharply focusing on what the medium does best — delivering live programming to mass audiences. This is part 2 of a three-part special report. Yesterday focused on the station group’s strategy going forward as a crucial component of New Fox. Part 3 on Wednesday will highlight the men and women who lead the 28 stations that make up Fox Television Stations. You can read the other parts here.
FTS Honored As Station Group Of The Year
Fox Television Stations is TVNewsCheck’s Station Group of the Year for 2018. On Wednesday, TVNewsCheck Publisher Kathy Haley presented the annual award to FTS CEO Jack Abernethy at a ceremony at TVNewsCheck’s TV2020 conference. Among the Big Four networks, Fox stands alone. It has a vision for its network and owned stations that goes beyond just doing more of the same. Increased live programming and more stations are central.
