Longtime General Hospital cast member Steve Burton is leaving the ABC show due to his refusal to comply with the production’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate. Burton announced his departure on Instagram today.
NBCUniversal has rebranded its international production business to better align with Universal Studio Group and sister studios UCP, Universal Television and Universal Television Alternative Studio. The change is cosmetic and little else is changing structurally on the international side. The shift solely impacts the production operations, and distribution group NBCUniversal International Global Distribution will remain titled as such.
Top Talkers Are Syndication’s Bright Spot
Dr. Phil, Live with Kelly and Ryan and Ellen DeGeneres all set rating records in the week ending Nov. 14.
ABC’s Dancing With the Stars drew 5.4 million total viewers and a Monday-leading 0.8 demo rating, ticking up week-to-week but down from last year’s championship dance-off (6.4M/1.0) to mark new finale lows. Over on NBC, The Voice (6.1M/0.7) dipped week-to-week yet still delivered Monday’s largest audience.
Mills spent four years as president of BET before being elevated to CEO. He has held a variety of executive roles since joining BET in 1997.
When the Miss America Pageant (now formally known as the Miss America Competition) returns this year for its 100th anniversary after being scuttled by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, it won’t air on a traditional television network — the latest indication how TV culture is radically changing in the face of broadband technology that gives entertainment seekers whatever they want at the push of a button. The finale, set to stream on NBCUniversal’s Peacock on Dec. 16 from the Mohegan Sun Arena, with feature a pre-show at 7 p.m. ET followed by a live competition show at 8. For the first time in the pageant’s history, viewers will be able to watch the program live no matter the time zone in which they live.
Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal is considering removing much of its content from Hulu and making it exclusive to its Peacock platform, according to people familiar with the matter, as the media giant determines how to best play its hand in the streaming wars. NBCUniversal, which owns one-third of Hulu, with Disney controlling the rest, has to make a decision soon. Under the terms of an agreement with Disney, NBCUniversal has a one-time window to exit from the content-licensing agreement between the two early next year. If it doesn’t exercise the option, the content would remain there until at least 2024.
TV Measurement Standard Remains Firmly In Flux
NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia, Nielsen and more are seeking the best way to provide accurate, usable information to buyers and sellers.
Just days after analyst Michael Nathanson downgraded Roku shares, Roku has announced a significant ramp-up of its so-far-limited original content strategy. Roku, which doesn’t charge users to stream content over its Roku Channel, plans to develop 50 “ad-friendly” new shows for 18-49 year-olds between now and 2024, and is now taking pitches for scripted and unscripted shows.
An arbitrator rules that the actor’s pattern of sexual harassment caused damage to MRC and flouted…An arbitrator rules that the actor’s pattern of sexual harassment caused damage to MRC and flouted contractual obligations.
ABC’s broadcast of the American Music Awards on Sunday night averaged 3.8 million total viewers and a 1.0 rating, steady in audience and up a tick in the demo vs. last year’s early numbers — though still a far cry from what the kudoscast last did pre-pandemic (6.7M/1.8). Over on NBC, meanwhile, Sunday Night Football (11.9M/3.0) was down about 15% from last week’s preliminary numbers.
The holidays are (almost) here — and so is the ever more competitive war for Christmas movie viewers. And then there’s the curious case of GAC Family, a new cable network that has the backing of an investor group with ties to former president Donald Trump, and that appears to be positioning itself as a destination for viewers who think Hallmark holiday movies are too edgy.
The local sports saga is playing out in markets across the U.S. as cable and satellite TV companies abandon regional sports networks. Rather than accept large monthly subscription fees, pay TV providers like Comcast, DirecTV and Dish, and digital providers such as YouTube TV and Hulu, are increasingly walking away to keep costs down. They’ve decided the amount they have to pay to keep RSNs in the bundle no longer makes economic sense, given how few people watch them and how much they charge.
Market data paints a grim picture for the future of pro sports. In league offices around the country, the campaign to secure it is well underway.
Urooj Sharif, who had a previous run at Showtime early in her industry career, is returning to the premium cabler as vice president, scripted programming. In her new role, Sharif will be responsible for the development and production oversight of premium scripted series, including drama, comedy and limited series. She will creatively oversee all steps of development and production, as well as serving as the network liaison for projects through delivery and release.
CBS’s Young Sheldon this week drew 6.7 million total viewers and a 0.7 demo rating, holding steady in the demo to lead Thursday’s non-NFL fare in that measure. Fox’s Thursday Night Football coverage (8.1M/2.1) matched last week’s early numbers.
The main stage lineup for the Jan. 18-20 gathering includes Bob Greenblatt, Byron Allen, Chris Abrego, Dan Cohen, Jeff Sagansky, Jessica Reif Ehrlich, Kathleen Finch, Laura Molen and Soledad O’Brien.
Streaming specialist 24i has supported OTT service Cinessance to launch in the U.S. and Canada, bringing a catalog of classic and modern movies to fans of French culture and cinema. […]
The United States is “considering” a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, President Biden told reporters on Thursday. The president’s remarks come amid a broader discussion of China’s role as the host the Winter Games because of its record on human rights abuses.
Norman Lear is heading back to the Sony lot. The television veteran and Jimmy Kimmel will revive their Emmy-winning Live In Front of a Studio Audience series on Dec. 7 with live episodic reenactments of the classic sitcom Diff’rent Strokes and its spinoff The Facts of Life.
The Premier League announced the deal on Thursday. NBC will pay more than $2.7 billion to continue showing the world’s richest soccer competition. A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press it almost triples the value of the U.S. English- and Spanish-language broadcast rights.
Nielsen’s monthly snapshot shows sports and fall dramas helping networks gain; You passes Squid Game in the weekly rankings.
The company held its first industry-wide measurement innovation forum on Tuesday.
The demo rating standoff between Survivor and The Masked Singer carried over to a second week as the two competition series tied to top Wednesday. Survivor and The Masked Singer remained steady from last week’s episodes to earn a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demo. The former attracted more viewers, 5.63 million to be exact, marking the night’s most-viewed program. The Masked Singer drew in 4.39 million viewers. Both rose from the previous week.