Lionsgate is reconfiguring its worldwide television distribution operations and promoting two executives as it looks to capitalize on the demand for premium content in an ever-competitive market, with more personnel announcements expected in the weeks to come. Kate Nexon (l) is now EVP of domestic TV and digital distribution, and Chase Brisbin is in charge of expanding the studio’s content business with new international platforms.
Back when Hollywood’s glass ceiling was nearly shatterproof, Charlotte Brown cracked it with Rhoda: “Producers started dipping their toes into the water and saying, ‘Maybe I should get me one of those women writers and try it.’ ” Above, Charlotte Brown (top) with (from left) Rhoda stars Julie Kavner, Valerie Harper and Nancy Walker in the mid 1970s.
Since daytime’s biggest host has set her end date, rumors of exploratory talent meetings being set up right now are plentiful, with insiders suggesting Tiffany Haddish is among those being heavily courted.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jon Champion has had to adjust to broadcasting soccer off a television screen during the pandemic. ESPN will have just one of five commentary crews on […]
‘Judy’ Once Again Tops Courts, Syndication
In the session ending May 9, the ageless daytime court show, now in year 25, has surged 28% in the previous two weeks to a 10-week high 5.5 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating.
Exclusives
NBC’s on-the-bubble Debris this Monday drew 2.45 million total viewers and a 0.3 rating, adding a few eyeballs while dipping in the demo for the first time in seven weeks, ahead of next week’s season (?) finale.
After the success of The Bachelorette, delayed by the pandemic, as a Tuesday 8 p.m. anchor last fall, the ABC reality series will be back in the time slot this coming fall with the second of two 2021 cycles. Among the few changes on the ABC schedule from last fall is the move of breakout freshman drama Big Sky to the network’s high-flying Thursday lineup. There, it will succeed canceled Rebel in the 10 p.m. hour, following ABC’s highest rated scripted series, Grey’s Anatomy, which again has spinoff Station 19 as a lead-in.
The daytime gossip queen has tussled with P. Diddy, Whitney Houston, and Tupac Shakur. But her own private life can be as messy as the celebrity dramas she skewers.
Jason Kilar was named chief executive of WarnerMedia just last year, but now he is negotiating his departure after being sidelined by David Zaslav, the longtime leader of Discovery.
While smaller cable networks are still efficient buys for marketers, the question is, for how long?
The Great North has picked up an early Season 3 renewal at Fox. The news comes just after the animated comedy’s first season finale. This is not the first time The Great North has gotten an early renewal. The show was renewed for Season 2 back in 2020 ahead of the first season premiere.
“We are the best media company in the world” says the CEO poised to lead the content powerhouse. The enlarged Discovery-WarnerMedia will have massive reach across news, sports, unscripted, lifestyle content and some of entertainment’s biggest franchises and tentpole events from the HBO and Warner Bros. imprimaturs.
The series from Robert and Michelle King would join fellow network shows SEAL Team and Clarice in migrating to the streaming platform.
The veteran ad sales executive to represent Allen Media Group’s Entertainment Studios syndicated broadcast programming.
Fox is bucking the trend of franchise lineups. On the heels of NBC unveiling One Chicago Wednesday and Law & Order Thursday on their fall schedule and following the success of ABC’s pairing of Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 and CBS’s block of FBI and FBI: Most Wanted, Fox has opted to (temporarily) split its 9-1-1 series. Flagship 9-1-1 will remain the Monday 8 p.m. anchor but offshoot 9-1-1: Lone Star, which has followed it this season, will not be part of Fox’s fall schedule; it will fill in for the mothership in midseason.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has been renewed for five years — a longer term commitment from NBC to the host than the network had previously disclosed. Susan Rovner, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming chairman, confirmed the renewal during NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation Monday. Rovner noted it matter-of-factly her opening conversation with Today anchor Hoda Kotb. Rovner didn’t elaborate on the Fallon renewal.
NBC’s Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist closed Season 2 with 1.2 million total viewers (its third-smallest audience to date) and a 0.2 demo rating (down a tenth from last week’s finals to match its series low). ABC’s American Idol (5.2M/0.65) dipped, although it still pulled off a Sunday demo win.
The two shows were squarely on the bubble and will end after two seasons each.
It was clearly a tough decision for the network because the series, inspired by the life of activist Erin Brockovich, comes from ABC’s most valuable drama showrunner, Krista Vernoff, who is shepherding the network’s top two scripted series, Grey’s Anatomy and spinoff Station 19. Rebel, Vernoff’s first series as a creator, has underperformed in the ratings despite having ABC’s highest-rated series, Grey’s Anatomy, as a lead-in.
Estrella Media will debut Comedy Central Presenta, a one-hour standup comedy series, Friday, May 14, on its EstrellaTV network. The show will be added to EstrellaTV’s Friday night programming slate and […]
Kari Lizer’s multi-camera comedy Call Your Mother, headlined by Kyra Sedgwick, will not see a second season on ABC. Written and executive produced by The New Adventures of Old Christine creator Lizer, Call Your Mother centers on an empty-nester mom, Jean Raines (Sedgwick), who wonders how she ended up alone while her children live their best lives thousands of miles away.
NBC is the first broadcast network to unveil its 2021-22 game plan and, um, funny story: For the first time (ever?) there is not a single sitcom on the network’s fall schedule. The prime culprit? The resurgent Law & Order franchise.
A quintet of scripted ABC series can breathe long-awaited sighs of relief. The Alphabet Net on Friday handed renewals to The Rookie, A Million Little Things and comedy trio The Conners, The Goldbergs and Home Economics.
NBC has renewed the Wolf World drama series that brought Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler character back to the venerable franchise for the first time in 10 years, and revolves around the NYPD organized crime unit led by Stabler. Danielle Moné Truitt, Tamara Taylor, Ainsley Seiger and Dylan McDermott also star.
The network has ordered AGT: Extreme from Simon Cowell and his Syco Entertainment company and Fremantle. The series will showcase the most outrageous and jaw-dropping daredevil acts. Each week extreme contestants will go head-to-head in the most wild, wacky and craziest stunts to vie for the ultimate title. Cowell will serve as one of the judges.
ABC has renewed comedy series Black-ish for an eighth and final season. Creator Kenya Barris first shared the news on social media.
