Programming

On Monday, former Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings debuted as the show’s first post-Alex Trebek guest host. Jennings paid tribute to Trebek just after he walked out on stage. “Sharing this stage with Alex Trebek was one of the greatest honors of my life,” he said.

The Big Three broadcast networks are mulling a roadblock special to air in primetime Jan. 20 celebrating the inauguration of Joe Biden as president of the United States and Kamala Harris as vice president. Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell Variety that the special would be 90 minutes to two hours in length and would be produced by Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, the same team that handled the Democratic National Convention. Weiss is set to direct. The special would feature remote performances as well as other possible highlights such as an outdoor, ball-style “first dance” with Biden and soon-to-be-First Lady Jill Biden, and a fireworks display.

The appointments include veteran executives from ViacomCBS, WarnerMedia and Telemundo. Pierluigi Gazzolo fills the newly created role of president of Univision Communications Inc. and chief transformation officer, while Luis Silberwasser fills the newly created role of president of the Univision Television Networks Group, leading Univision’s national TV properties.

The same producer who helped Drew Carey succeed Bob Barker on The Price Is Right is now working on the Jeopardy succession.

The deal calls for Hart to star and produce four features for the streamer and then enter into a first-look deal via his production banner, HartBeat Productions. The comedian previously had a first-look deal with Universal, for whom it made the comedy Night School, and a deal with Nickelodeon.

Nielsen said its local ratings service is now not accredited because the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted its ability to manage the panels it uses to measure what viewers are watching. The Media Rating Council accreditation of Nielsen’s local people meter and set meter service in large- and mid-sized markets has been put on “hiatus” while the company develops new ways to recruit and maintain its panels. Nielsen’s system for measuring viewership in the smallest markets is not MRC accredited.

Since its founding in 2006, CBS Entertainment’s first-run distribution division has been known as CBS Television Distribution. But starting today, in an attempt to fuse with an evolved media landscape and CBS’s brand strategy to-date, the syndication company has been rebranded to CBS Media Ventures. With a new name comes a new brand identity, which includes a logo that draws on the iconic CBS Eye and a remix of CBS’ current five-note mnemonic on its programming.

Tom Zappala will be responsible for developing and executing programming strategy for the new Scripps networks. He will report to Jonathan Katz, chief operating officer and head of entertainment for Scripps networks.

NBC’s broadcast of the NFL Wild Card game between the Browns and Steelers dominated Sunday primetime with 21.5 million total viewers and a 6.3 demo rating. On ABC, The Rookie drew series lows of 3M and a 0.4.

Queen Latifah is an enigmatic hero in the 30-second teaser for CBS’s The Equalizer, which is a reimagining of the 1980s series of the same name starring Edward Woodward. Latifah stars in the series as Robyn McCall, a single mother with a mysterious background who uses her skills to protect and defend those who cannot do so for themselves. Set to premiere Feb. 7 after the Super Bowl, the series marks the second reboot of The Equalizer franchise, following the 2014 film starring Denzel Washington and its 2018 sequel.

The new, 10-episode chapter from Michael Patrick King will feature Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon all reprising their roles.

The 90-second montage, set to Hugh Jackman singing the Peter Allen song Once Before I Go, is a lighthearted and laughter-filled remembrance showing Trebek’s changing look through his 36 years as host, with moustache and without, with black hair and with grey, with suits from several decades.

Stirr, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s over-the-top service, is exclusively streaming the late Alex Trebek’s last episodes as host of Jeopardy. The episodes are available on demand in markets where Sinclair stations air the syndicated show. And they will only be available until five more episodes air. At that point, the new episodes will be available on demand.

Roku created its business solely as a hub for other streaming services, but has recently begun piling up content for its free Roku Channel. With the acquisition, Roku will acquire 75 staccato-style programs with some very big names attached. Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Liam Hemsworth, Anna Kendrick, Nicole Richie, Chrissy Teigen and Lena Waithe have all been in Quibi shows. That includes more than 12 shows that never aired on Quibi before it was shuttered.

ABC’s first spin of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune dominated Thursday in both the demo (with a 1.1 rating) and in total audience (drawing 7.8 million viewers).

The syndicated talk show from WB’s Telepictures Productions stayed dark this week rather than returning to production as scheduled because of the surge in coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County. Ellen has been airing reruns since Dec. 10 after the host was diagnosed with COVID-19. The plan had been to resume production on Jan. 4, but that was untenable given the health risk and the fact that Southern California’s hospitals are already over-extended.

Johnny Gilbert, 92, started on the game show with Trebek in 1984. Now, he must imagine a Jeopardy without his longtime colleague.

Both NBC and ABC shifted from their regularly scheduled programming to air primetime coverage of the violence in the nation’s capital city on Wednesday afternoon. In the overnight ratings, NBC topped all of its competitors across primetime, averaging a 1.0 rating in adults 18-49 and 5.4 million viewers. ABC was second in viewers with 4.2 million and tied for second in the demo with a 0.7 rating.

For the week of Dec. 7, the cringe comedy and mockumentary about the lives of office employees at a drab Pennsylvanian paper manufacturer blasted past the mysterious Mandalorian and weirdly endearing Grogu (aka, Baby Yoda), settling into first place in Nielsen’s Top 10 SVOD programs list. It is the seventh time The Office takes the gold, a record-breaker.

NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Chairman Mark Lazarus will be the opening opening keynoter of the virtual gathering. He will be joined on stage by Hoda Kotb, co-anchor of NBC News’ Today, who will moderate the fireside conversation.

Reruns and preemptions during the session ending Dec. 27 depressed the majority of shows.