Programming

ABC’s The Bachelor closed out its Clayton edition with 4.4 million total viewers and a 1.0 demo rating, down a tick from Monday’s Part 1 but still dominating Tuesday in the demo. CBS’s FBI rerun copped Tuesday’s largest audience: 4.5 million.

For the week, CBS led the way in primetime with an average of 4.9 million viewers. ABC had 3.5 million viewers, NBC had 2.9 million, Fox had 2.1 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Ion Television had 1.02 million and Telemundo had 990,000. Fox News Channel was the most popular cable network, averaging 2.79 million viewers in primetime. ESPN had 1.4 million, MSNBC had 1.19 million, CNN had 1.12 million and HGTV had 1.1 million.

The online shopping giant said last year that it was buying MGM in a $8.45 billion deal aimed at bulking up its video streaming service with more content to watch.VThe European Commission said its investigation found the deal “would not significantly reduce competition” in European markets, including for movie and TV production, wholesale supply of TV channels and retail supply of “audiovisual services.”

Fox’s yet-to-be-renewed The Cleaning Lady closed out its freshman run on Monday night with a hair over 2.8 million total viewers and its fifth straight 0.4 demo rating. ABC’s The Bachelor (4.3M/1.0) ticked up with Part 1 of its season finale, dominating Monday in the demo.

The streaming giant is expanding its relationship Dr. Seuss Enterprises with a deal for five new animated preschool series and specials. The agreement covers projects inspired by the works of the beloved children’s author including Horton Hears a Who, The Sneetches, Wacky Wednesday and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish and beloved characters like Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose.

Its 5.7 household rating was the best in the week ended March 6, closely followed by Family Feud at a 5.5; and Wheel of Fortune at a 5.3.

The HBCU Go free streaming digital platform will have distribution rights to sports content related to the Southwestern Athletic Conference beginning this fall.

NBC’s Weakest Link opened Season 2 on Sunday with just 1.5 million total viewers and a 0.2 demo rating, falling well shy of its previous lows (2.5M/0.5). ABC’s American Idol (6.4M/0.9) was down, but still dominated Sunday in the demo.

NBCU Launch, the umbrella brand that houses the comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across NBCU’s television portfolio, has forged a new partnership with Telemundo to increase the number of Hispanic female directors in scripted television. This partnership is an extension of the Hispanic network’s award-winning corporate initiative Mujeres Imparables (Unstoppable Women).

ABC’s breakout comedy hit Abbott Elementary will be back for another school year. The Alphabet net confirmed on Monday that the critically acclaimed workplace laffer, from Warner Bros. TV and 20th Television, has been renewed for the second grade, a.k.a. Season 2.

Medical drama New Amsterdam will end with its previously announced fifth season during the 2022-23 broadcast season. The Ryan Eggold-led series was previously renewed for its third through fifth season back in January 2020 and, despite being owned in-house by Universal Television, has continued to see its ratings slip. Season four, which ends in May, ranks as one of the network’s least-watched dramas and has subsequently been bounced around the schedule.

He’s been a life-insurance salesman, a stand-up comedian, a game-show host and a TV “judge.” He’s not done yet.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback took to Instagram Sunday to tell fans that he will be returning to the field for his 23rd season, despite having announced his retirement in February. “These past two months I have realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” he wrote. “That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. Without them, none of this is possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. We have unfinished business. LFG.”

Oscar winnerWilliam Hurt, who died Sunday at 71, left behind a yet-to-be-released TV series, AMC’s first animated drama Pantheon. Hurt was cast in the project, from creator and showrunner Craig Silverstein a year ago. He had completed vis voice work on the series before his death, sources say.

As the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards celebrated the best in television and film, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog and Ted Lasso led the night’s winners with four trophies apiece. Succession, Belfast and Dune each took home three awards.

Deals with Apple TV Plus and Peacock could help revive the national pastime.

DirecTV is again removing four A&E-owned channels from subscriber lineups if the satcaster deems that the subscriber isn’t watching them very often. The channels are: The History Channel, A&E Network, Vice, and Lifetime Movies. All four channels are owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture owned by Disney and Hearst.

It’s not much of a mystery why we are seeing brands that dove into streaming using the premium model now pivoting to ads. The story of the past few months in the industry has been slowing growth for the most established and successful platforms, particularly in mature markets such as the United States. The arrows are still headed up — streaming is not a fad — but acquiring and holding on to customers is infinitely harder to do when you’ve already signed up huge swaths of the populations in North America and Europe (as Netflix and, to a lesser degree, Disney+ have done). And while raising prices can bring in more revenue, it also risks increasing churn.

NBCUniversal’s Peacock is nearing a deal with Major League Baseball for exclusive rights to stream games in a new Sunday time slot, according to people familiar with the discussions, as the league looks to increase digital partnerships. The deal with NBCU would involve a package of 18 games, some beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET and others just after noon, the people said. That would limit the conflict with Sunday games that typically start at 1 p.m., making the telecasts more valuable for Peacock. The games would primarily be played on the East Coast, given the early timing, the people said.

Titled An Audience with Adele, the two-hour special, which aired last fall in the U.K., will premiere Sunday, March 20, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, and stream the following day on Peacock. The special will find the British chanteuse performing in her hometown at the London Palladium, in front of a star-studded audience.

Thursday primetime had yet another four-way tie for the night’s highest demo between Young Sheldon, Station 19, Law & Order: SVU and Grey’s Anatomy, as was the case the previous week. All four titles brought in a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demo, matching last week’s performance. As has typically been the case for Thursday primetime, Young Sheldon (0.6/6.56M) was the most-watched program of the evening.

For the week of Feb. 7-Feb. 13, the show came in at No. 1 on the list, with 1.589 billion minutes watched during its first full week of availability. Nielsen said: “The audience for the action thriller starring Alan Ritchson largely skewed male (58%), while increasing its viewership from younger streamers in the 18-34 and 35-49 age demographic.”