
The CW CEO Mark Pedowitz talks about doing more straight-to-series orders, the future of the DC brand and finding hope in freshman fare like Walker, Superman & Lois and Kung Fu.

Scripps will continue to operate the Ion Television network on its 48 Ion stations’ primary channels but will cease operations of the Ion multicast networks Ion Plus, Qubo and Shop Ion, effective Feb. 28.

NBC’s Chicago Med returned from its eight-week break to 7.4 million total viewers and a 1.0 demo rating, right on par with its fall finale and leading Wednesday in both measures (tying Chicago Fire for the demo win). The third part of the franchise, Chicago P.D. (6.4M/0.9) ticked up in the demo.

This year’s recipients of the lifetime artistic achievement awards also include country music legend Garth Brooks, dancer and actress Debbie Allen, violin virtuoso Midori and folk music icon Joan Baez

Alabama’s 52-24 rout of Ohio State in the College Football National Championship game drew 18.7 million viewers for ESPN’s family of networks on Monday. That puts it on pace to be the least-viewed championship game in college football’s era of staging an end-of-season matchup to determine the national champion.

The show announced Wednesday that Katie Couric, the journalist and former Today host, will become the first woman ever to host the show. Others on tap are Mayim Bialik, Aaron Rodgers and journalist Bill Whitaker.

After a brief pause following County Health Department recommendations, Hollywood’s major studios are getting cameras rolling again. The industry had paused much of its Los Angeles-based filming around the holidays and into the early part of January when it became clear a coronavirus surge was underway.

Entertainers Penn & Teller will host the Jan. 21 ceremony honoring Kelly Clarkson, Jordan Wertlieb, Kevin Frazier and Entertainment Tonight at NATPE Virtual Miami.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Screen Actors Guild Awards will not share the same air date as the Grammys after all. The SAG Awards announced Wednesday that the 27th annual ceremony has been moved to April 4. Both awards events were scheduled to air March 14, but the SAG Awards shifted to a different date […]
Estrella Media, a vertically integrated, multi-platform, Spanish-language media company announced today that its EstrellaTV network will be launching a half-hour comedy interview series Escorpión Al Volante with social media superstar Alex Montiel’s alter ego Escorpión Dorado. Escorpión Al Volante will make its U.S. television debut on Saturday, Jan. 16, at 10 p.m. ET. In this half-hour comedy interview show […]

The multi-year deal covers 13 CBS affiliates serving nearly six million television households.
Magazine Shows Start The New Year Strong

All in the genre post gains from the previous session in the week ending Jan. 3, with Extra growing the most of the big five and matching its season high with a 17% spurt to a 0.7.

Fox’s Prodigal Son opened Season 2 with 2.3 million total viewers and a 0.5 demo rating — well below both its freshman averages (3.4M/0.7, airing Mondays) as well as what Empire averaged in the Tuesday time slot last season (2.7M/0.7).

NBC is getting an early start on its primetime lineup for the 2021-22 TV season, handing series orders to drama La Brea starring Natalie Zea (above) and comedies American Auto and Grand Crew.
CNN Has Best Ratings Day Ever For Capitol Attack

CNN averaged 5.2 million viewers last Wednesday, eclipsing its previous high of 5.1 million on Election Day 2016, Nielsen said. NBC, led by a strong NFL playoff game Sunday night between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, was the top broadcast network last week, averaging 8.6 million viewers in primetime. CBS had 5.7 million, ABC had 3.8 million, Fox had 2.5 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 920,000.
NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for PBS resigned Tuesday after being caught describing President Donald Trump as “close to Hitler” in a right-wing sting operation. Michael Beller, a contracts lawyer in PBS’ general counsel office, was recorded offering political opinions in what appeared to be a barroom conversation with a woman. It was released […]

The show is currently using a series of interim hosts to replace Alex Trebek, who died of cancer on Nov. 8. That process began when record-holding contestant Ken Jennings made his debut on an episode that aired Monday.
Sewee Entertainment’s seven-time Emmy-winning quarterly series Andrew Young Presents will return for a 14th season in 2021. The series has been renewed in over 80% of the U.S. Andrew Young Presents is shot on-location around the world and produced in HD. Andrew Young Presents delivers a compassionate series of 1-hour documentaries exploring civil rights history […]

FuboTV shares are riding high again after the emerging company announced it is acquiring sports betting startup Vigtory and will use it to launch a full-fledged sportsbook later this year. Terms were not disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter. It positions Fubo, which was founded in 2015 as an internet-delivered pay-TV operator akin to YouTube TV, as more of a hybrid company.

Spanish-language broadcast giant Univision today announced first quarter launch plans for PrendeTV, joining the crowded streaming market with a free, add-supported service created for the U.S. Hispanic audience. It will featuring premium 100% Spanish-language programming, debuting with over 30 channels and 10,000 hours of video-on-demand content in Spanish from global partners.