Programming

NBC’s Manifest this Thursday drew 2.9 million total viewers and a 0.4 rating, dipping in the demo to mark a series low. CBS’s Mom series finale (6.1M/0.7) rose in the demo, with it hitting its best rating since March 4.

The NFL is coming under growing pressure from critics who say its landmark concussion settlement treats ex-players differently based on race, making it more difficult for Black retirees to get payouts. Critics argue the settlement amounts to a form of systemic racism because it uses race-based criteria for neuropsychologists to assess whether Black and White former players have valid dementia-related claims stemming from their professional football careers.

The shift toward streaming deals and new competitors present a very real threat to its 70-year lead as the currency for TV buying.

We can officially unmask the September-to-May ratings winner: It’s Fox. Again. Fox also won the September 2019 through May 2020 TV season in ratings among adults under 50 years old. Fox is currently averaging a 1.1 rating in the key adults 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen, including one week of DVR viewing where available. NBC and CBS are both averaging a 1.0 and ABC has a 0.9.

The network will program across all seven nights of the week beginning Oct. 2, offering 14 hours of primetime each week with the addition of the new night.

The long-awaited first look is here, along with a wild list of guest players including Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Kit Harington.

The network has also picked up Supermarket Sweep, Shark Tank and America’s Funniest Home Videos for the 2021-22 season.

CBS’s on-the-bubble SEAL Team dipped to an audience low (3.4 million) while posting its fourth straight 0.4 rating on Wednesday night. On ABC, another bubble show, Million Little Things slipped to an audience low (1.95M) while holding steady in the demo (with a 0.3).

The Critics Choice Association said Wednesday that the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards will air live on The CW on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, at 7-10 p.m. ET (delayed PT). The show will continue its combined film and television awards format, honoring the best in cinematic and televised/streaming achievement. Location and additional details for the January 2022 ceremony will be announced later.

NBC will broadcast the holiday musical event Annie Live!, with Robert Greenblatt as executive producer along with Neil Meron, who has served as executive producer on such NBC’s live musicals The Sound of Music Live! and Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.

The streamer has inked a multi-year deal with the league to run 16 regular season games, including the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup title matchup.

NBC’s swift decision May 10 to cancel the 2022 Golden Globes telecast took most in Hollywood by surprise — even inside the network, where the announcement was made so fast (to avoid news leaks) that it wasn’t widely shared internally beforehand.

The Spanish language television giant is in the midst of significant change. Not six months into new ownership and a new CEO (former Viacom CFO Wade Davis), the company announced a larger merger with the Mexican TV giant Televisa and plans to go global in the streaming video space.

NBC’s award-winning and top-rated drama series This Is Us will come to an end with its sixth season. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the network is poised to announce on Friday that its time-jumping family tear-jerker from creator Dan Fogelman will close its run during the upcoming 2021-22 broadcast season.

NBC’s This Is Us returned from a month-long break to 4.9 million total viewers and a 0.8 demo rating, holding steady to lead Tuesday in the demo. On CBS, NCIS (8.6M/0.6) slipped two-tenths in the demo, though it easily commanded Tuesday’s largest audience.

Daytime’s most recognizable face has decided her upcoming season, the show’s 19th, will be the last. The decision, which fell to DeGeneres, is said to have been several years in the making. She informed her staff May 11, and will sit down with longtime pal and daytime predecessor Oprah Winfrey to discuss the news on Ellen‘s May 13 show. “When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged — and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore,” DeGeneres says.

In primetime last week, CBS was the most-watched network with an average 4.8 million viewers. NBC had 3.2 million, ABC had 3 million, Fox had 2.3 million, Univision had 1.3 million and Telemundo had 960,000. Fox News Channel topped the cable networks, averaging 2.1 million viewers in primetime. MSNBC had 1.5 million, HGTV had 1.2 million and CNN had 907,000.

His credits stretched from the earliest known U.S. TV drama, 1939′s On the Streets of New York on the nascent NBC network, to 21st-century projects including Modern Family and The Practice. His other TV credits include roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Murder, She Wrote, The Paper Chase, Quincy M.E., Kojak and two Alfred Hitchcock series.

Days of Our Lives has been picked up for two more seasons at NBC, the network announced Tuesday. The long-running daytime soap, which is currently airing its 56th season, will now run through Season 58. The renewal comes about a year after the show was forced to temporarily halt production due to the coronavirus pandemic. Production on Season 56 resumed last fall under new safety guidelines and wrapped back in April as NBC and producers Corday Productions and Sony Pictures Television worked out a deal for renewal.

The group that was once assailed by the FCC steadily gained influence in Hollywood over the years until scrutiny of its practices and lack of diversity led NBC to say it would not air its show in 2022.