NBCUniversal said its regional sports networks plan to debut their own direct-to-consumer products later this year. The regional sports network business has been under pressure between cord cutting by consumers and a growing number of traditional and virtual distributor deciding not to carry RSNs because of their high fees.
You were really, really ready for some NFL conference championship football this past Sunday. For starters, The NFL on CBS‘ broadcast of the Cincinnati Bengals’ overtime victory against the Kansas City Chiefs averaged 47.9 million viewers, marking the most-watched Conference Championship Game in the early window in six years (since the Pats beat the Broncos in front of an audience of 53.3 million). The Bengals-Chiefs match-up peaked with just shy of 61 million viewers.
Draper Media Launching Delmarva Sports Network
The company is picking a simpler method to complete its deal with Discovery that will make the transaction easier for individual investors to digest, but will still leave the telecom company with about 7.2 billion shares outstanding.
Tuesday marks the start of Black History Month, with the broadcast and cable networks and streamers planning a slew of TV series, movies, news programming, documentaries, specials and more to roll out over the course of February to celebrate, educate and entertain.
Exclusives
NEW YORK (AP) — The actress Whoopi Goldberg has apologized for saying the Holocaust was not about race, comments that caused a backlash. She made the initial comments on ABC’s […]
The new entity, known as TelevisaUnivision Inc., builds on a previous production alliance created by the companies as they looked to fend off a rising number of rivals aiming at Hispanic viewers in the age of streaming. As of the merger close, the company claims reach to more than 60% of TV audiences in both the U.S. and Mexico. Across television, digital, streaming and audio, the company says its audience is more than 100 million Spanish speakers daily.
Imagine Entertainment has tapped Netflix executive Kristen Zolner as head of Imagine Television. This marks the first major executive hire since Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns, co-founders of Imagine-owned Jax Media, were named presidents of Imagine Entertainment this month, overseeing film and television for Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s indie company, which has been the center of acquisition speculation. (Dave Cole photo)
Under the continued agreement, AMC Networks’ linear channels — AMC, We TV, BBC America, IFC, and SundanceTV — and streaming service AMC Plus will remain available to Comcast Cable’s Xfinity TV, broadband and XClass customers. Additionally, the pact covers expanded availability of AMC Networks’ other targeted streaming services — Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, Allblk and the recently acquired Hidive — to Comcast users.
As the NFL on CBS crew broke down the first half of the game, a performance by the country music singer Walker Hayes was so loud, it made the commentary all but inaudible.
NEW YORK (AP) — Cheslie Kryst, the 2019 winner of the Miss USA pageant and a correspondent for the entertainment news program “Extra,” has died at age 30. Police said […]
Hesseman, who had himself been a radio DJ in the 1960s, earned two Emmy nominations for playing Johnny Fever on CBS’S WKRP in Cincinnati, which ran for four seasons from 1978-1982. The role made Hesseman a counterculture icon at a time when few hippie characters made it onto network television. He was 81.
PBS Digital Studios announced the three member stations selected as Regional Digital Centers of Innovation. Over the next two years, Houston Public Media (KUHT), Rocky Mountain PBS (RMPBS), and PBS […]
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal judge resentenced “Tiger King” Joe Exotic to 21 years in prison on Friday, reducing his punishment by just a year despite pleas from the […]
Dish Network tonight could lose 12 stations in seven markets due to a carriage dispute with their owner, Morgan Murphy Media.
Discovery Inc. was by far the most prolific commissioner of TV shows last year and it extended the lead it established in 2020. According to research from Ampere Analysis, Discovery commissioned 556 first-run TV titles in 2021, 153 more than second-place ViacomCBS with 406. Netflix came in third with 403 followed by Disney, the BBC and Comcast with 387, 373, and 353 first-run shows, respectively. Discovery could likely extend its lead again this year if the company closes its merger with WarnerMedia and adds HBO and Turner to its portfolio.
CBS is bulking up its non-scripted and specials team. The network has hired Gloria Medel Solomons as VP, alternative and specials. Reporting to Jack Sussman, EVP, specials, music and live events/alternative and reality, she will oversee portions of alternative and specials programming for CBS Entertainment’s primetime lineup.
The CW will joins the parade of TV networks returning to in-person upfronts, with a presentation slated for Thursday, May 19 in New York City. Time will tell whether the network will present as a joint venture of ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia or under the aegis of a new corporate owner.
With both NBC and ABC in rerun mode, CBS’s primetime serving of Let’s Make a Deal led Wednesday both in total audience (with 4.3 million viewers) and in the demo (scoring a 0.6 rating).
