Programming

The global success of Netflix’s Korean drama Squid Game illustrates the growing strength of non-English-language programming worldwide.

Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos sent a lengthy missive to the entire company following the mounting controversy around The Closer, a new original special from comic Dave Chappelle.

Not surprisingly, the start of the football season led to an uptick in broadcast TV usage. Somewhat unexpected, however, is that the gains for broadcast networks didn’t take away audience share for cable and streaming outlets, according to Nielsen’s Gauge snapshot of TV use for September.

The CW‘s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow opened Season 7 — barely a month after Season 6 finaled, and on a new night — with 600,000 total viewers and a 0.1 demo rating, up in audience versus its previous average (420,000) while steady in the demo. On Fox, The Masked Singer (4.3M/0.9) topped the demo, while NBC’s Chicago Fire (7.1M/0.8) delivered the night’s biggest audience.

The titular host won’t be returning for the talk show’s 13th season, including the Oct. 18 premiere, until she’s in better health, with producers citing “serious complications” from her Graves’ disease and ongoing thyroid problems. The producers said in a statement that she was “making progress,” but “Wendy continues to be under medical supervision and meets with her medical team on a daily basis…. It has been determined that more time is needed before she is able to return to her live hosting duties.”

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is not a fan of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s $250 million plan to parlay its 19 regional sports networks into a streaming service. For one thing, Manfred doesn’t believe Sinclair has enough digital rights from the 14 MLB clubs it has licensing agreements with to pull off such an enterprise.

According to the Standard Media Index Fall TV Season Preview Report, the 2020-21 national linear TV season ad revenue fell 10% due to COVID impact on production and scheduling, pre-existing trends in linear ratings declines; while eCPMS grew across key dayparts.

The Walt Disney Co. and the National Football League reached a five-year deal that will put a new Monday night wild card playoff game on ESPN and ABC, starting at the end of this year’s regular season. The Disney networks plan to use the game as part of a megacast that will include a simulcast on ESPN and ABC, with Peyton and Eli Manning hosting their popular alternative telecast on ESPN2 and ESPN Plus.

NBC’s The Voice claimed the Tuesday demo win while CBS’s FBI squeaked by with the night’s biggest audience. The Voice drew 6.3 million total viewers and a 0.8 rating, dipping week-to-week while CBS, FBI drew 6.4M and a0.7.

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees International President Matthew Loeb said Wednesday that the strike would begin at 12:01 a.m. Monday unless an agreement is reached on rest and meal periods and pay for its lowest-paid workers.

The dystopian-themed Korean hit surpasses Extraction as the streaming platform’s most initially viewed show.

NBC was the most popular network in primetime last week, averaging 6.1 million viewers. CBS had 5.9 million, Fox had 5.3 million, ABC had 3.5 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and Ion Television had 910,000. ESPN led the cable networks with a 2.92 million average in primetime while Fox News Channel, in its 25th anniversary week, reached 2.25 million.

CBS’s NCIS drew 7.4 million total viewers and a 0.5 demo rating, dipping on both counts yet still commanding Monday’s largest audience. Over on NBC, The Voice (6.8M/0.9) dipped week-to-week yet still topped Monday in the demo.

The Yale doctoral student’s winning streak moved Jeopardy up 2% in the week ending Oct. 3.

In a move that many were expecting, Alan Horn, 78, is retiring as chief creative officer of Disney Studios Content, effective Dec.31. It will end a nine-year run at the Burbank, Calif., lot in an executive TV and motion picture industry career that has spanned close to 50 years. The news comes in the long wake of Bob Iger’s retirement from Disney which will be at the end of this year.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is forging ahead with a way to recognize the best of this year’s film and television achievements despite the fact that NBC will not televise this year’s Golden Globes ceremony.

The Yale doctoral student failed to answer the Final Jeopardy clue correctly and came third on Monday’s show, leaving him with 38 wins and more than $1.5 million in prize money.