Programming

NBCUniversal intends to identify a group of partners for its ambitious measurement plans by mid September — and traditional measurement companies like Nielsen and Comscore are in the mix, the company disclosed Tuesday.

Less than a month after the Southeastern Conference made an expansion power play by inviting Texas and Oklahoma to the league, three of the SEC’s Power Five peers countered with an alliance of 41 schools that span from Miami to Seattle.

Fox News, which averaged 2.94 million viewers, was followed by broadcaster ABC with 2.39 million last week. Among other networks, CBS had 2.57 million, NBC had 2.53 million, Fox had 1.38 million, Univision had 1.28 million, Ion Television had 1.12 million and Telemundo had 1.04 million.

The cable network was the highest-rated in primetime last week for total live views for the first time since last September.

NBC has found its Little Orphan Annie: 12-year-old Celina Smith will headline the network’s forthcoming musical event Annie Live!, it was announced Tuesday. Smith — who is best known for her supporting role as Rebecca Wilson on Tyler Perry’s Nickelodeon sitcom Young Dylan — won the role after a nationwide search

Comscore said it is seeking to have its national and local TV measurement products audited by the the Media Rating Council earlier than previously planned. A process leading to potential accreditation of Comscore’s ratings service could begin as soon as October.

The first week of his guest host stint drives the game show up 16% from the week before to a 5.2, the show’s best performance since the week ending May 16.

AMC Networks is undergoing a significant changing of the guard, as CEO Josh Sapan has announced he will step down after a 26-year run in the corner office. Former Showtime chief Matt Blank will take over on an interim basis, in a one-year appointment designed to maintain stability during a search for a permanent CEO. Sapan will become executive vice chair of the company as of Sept. 8.

ViacomCBS’s sell-off of its iconic real estate properties may next include the CBS Studio Center, popularly known as the “CBS Radford lot,” in Studio City, Calif. In a memo to staffers, CBS CEO George Cheeks confirmed that it had hired commercial real estate firm JLL to explore a potential sale of the Radford campus.

For the first time since before the pandemic, The Kelly Clarkson Show will feature in-studio audience when the syndicated talker returns for its third season on Sept. 13. Clarkson will kick off the new season with the premiere week filming in New York City where the show and its audience will be housed by Jazz at Lincoln Center

Mayim Bialik will be the first guest host of Jeopardy now that Mike Richards has stepped down. The Big Bang Theory alum is scheduled to tape three weeks of episodes (so, 15 episodes) when production on the syndicated daytime hit resumes this week. Additional guest hosts are expected to be announced in wake of Richards leaving the hosting podium just one week after being announced for the position by Sony Pictures Television.

The use of jam band music by Fox Sports during some Major League Baseball games has fans — and some band members —  lighting up social media. “It kind of became a thing,” says Joe Carpenter, the lead audio mixer for Fox Sports.

TBS is looking to turn to a Hall of Fame broadcasting pinch-hitter to host the National League Championship Series between Oct. 15 and 24. Bob Costas and TBS are working toward an agreement that would see him host the network’s marquee MLB event. TBS wanted to alleviate the pressure on TBS’s regular host, Ernie Johnson, as his duties on Inside the NBA begin in mid-October. Johnson is expected to host the opening rounds of the TBS playoff coverage.

The same tricks that nearly destroyed online journalism now threaten to take over the streaming service.

Nickolas “Nick” Davatzes, CEO Emeritus of A+E Networks who developed and launched A&E Network and History Channel, died Aug. 21 at his home in Wilton, Conn. His cause of death is not being disclosed. Davatzes, one of the architects behind the boom of the cable network business in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, joined what would become A+E Networks in December 1983 following the merger of the Entertainment Network, owned by RCA and the Rockefeller family and the ARTS Network, owned by Hearst and ABC.

Carrie Ann Inaba won’t be returning to The Talk for the CBS daytime talk show’s upcoming season. Inaba, who replaced Julie Chen as a permanent co-host in January 2019, had been on a leave of absence from the show since April.

Tamron Hall is moving to a new part of the Walt Disney empire. The news and talk show veteran, whose current program has been syndicated by Disney since its launch in the fall of 2019, will now be part of ABC News, according to a person familiar with the matter, adding another daytime talk program to the news division’s portfolio.

The former president and general manager of NBC Sports Washington is tapped by Sinclair Broadcast Group to lead its Bally Sports West, Bally Sports SoCal and Bally Sports San Diego regional sports networks.

VidCon 2021 has been canceled due to a spike in COVID-19 cases — marking the second straight year the major creator convention has been scrapped because of the pandemic. The event, which typically takes place in June, was set for Oct. 22-24 in Anaheim, Calif. The next VidCon event in the U.S. is now slated to take place at the Anaheim Convention Center June 22-25, 2022.