The end of September brought in the expiration of another carriage deal with no agreement in place to renew it. At midnight on Sept. 30, the Disney-owned television stations that carry ABC programming as well as cable networks ESPN, FX Networks, Nat Geo, Freeform and Disney Channel, are no longer available on Dish and Sling TV. The news comes just a couple of days after the Game Show Network was restored on Dish and Sling TV after it too went dark over a carriage dispute. The disruption also comes as ABC is launching the new seasons of its series at the start of the broadcast season,
Keep This Between Us, a docuseries that sees a woman reexamine her relationship with a trusted teacher, “exposes an epidemic of widespread grooming—manipulative and coercive behavior by abusers to gain access to potential victims—in U.S. high schools.” (Image: Freeform)
Exclusives
Julie Jarmon, most recently VP scripted programming development at The CW, has been named SVP development for Freeform, overseeing scripted series development for the Disney network. This marks Jarmon’s return to Freeform where she previously was an executive director in development.
Football has long been TV’s ultimate big-audience sport. Nearly every one of the medium’s most-watched broadcasts is an NFL football game. This past Sunday, however, the National Football League and several of the media companies eager to keep ties to its high-rated matches targetted niche crowds on Freeform, Nickelodeon and Telemundo.
As part of a “megacast” of a wild-card playoff game in January, ESPN will produce a version of the telecast for Freeform, Disney’s cable network targeted at young women. The game will also air on ESPN, ABC, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
Following the news last month that Tom Ascheim would depart as head of Freeform to lead Warner Bros.’ kids and young adults division, the young adult cabler has named producer and former Netflix exec Tara Duncan as its new president. She will step into the role on June 8, overseeing strategic planning, brand development, content strategy, original programming, production, scheduling, finance, research, marketing and communications.
Longtime network president Tom Ascheim has opted to exit Disney’s younger-skewing cable network. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Ascheim, who was expected to renew his deal, has another post lined up that should be announced shortly. A replacement has not yet been determined.
If the companies are unable to reach a new agreement, DirecTV subscribers could lose access to ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Freeform.
Freeform, formerly known as ABC Family, rebranded in 2016 to lose the “family” appeal and narrowly target new adults — or, as Freeform President Tom Ascheim describes them, “basically legal adults” who “haven’t quite yet found their way in the world.” Since then, very little is off limits on Freeform.
Tricia Melton replaces Nigel Cox Hagen, who departed the cable network after nearly three years.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Disney Channel is giving a big push to its sequel for the “Descendants” movie in July, premiering it simultaneously on five television networks and online. […]
Disney just unveiled plans to revamp its ad sales operation, combining all broadcast, cable network and digital teams — except for ESPN’s — into a new organization led by Rita Ferro, president of sales for Disney-ABC.
It’s a show that has been on the brink of cancellation, officially canceled on Fox, then rescued by Hulu. To say The Mindy Project has endured a winding road on the small screen would be as understated as one of the outfits worn by its titular character, Mindy Lahiri.
The Universal Television-produced Hulu comedy will begin airing on both cable networks in October as part of syndication deal.
