Programming

According to a newly unsealed report from a PBS-hired external investigator, former talk-show host Tavis Smiley’s alleged misconduct dates back decades and spans inappropriate sexual comments and touching, verbal abuse, as well as sexual relationships with subordinates and guests on his show.

A syndicated talk show starring RuPaul won’t go forward for a national launch. The show, featuring the RuPaul’s Drag Race host and executive producer interviewing celebrities and newsmakers, had a three-week trial run in the summer on seven Fox stations.

In the week ending Dec. 22, Tamron Hall surged 11% from the prior frame while The Kelly Clarkson Show climbed 15% to a 1.5, its highest rating since its strong premiere week in early September, even though it was in reruns for most of the stanza.

Ten months after he chafed under AT&T’s takeover of the network, he reboots himself as a producer in a five-year deal with Apple TV Plus.

Without the benefit of an NFL lead-in, the second episode of Fox’s Flirty Dancing took a sizable ratings hit on Wednesday. The unscripted series, in which singles learn half of a dance routine then meet their partner for the first time when they perform, had a decent debut on Dec. 29, when it scored a 1.0 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.46 million following Fox’s NFL doubleheader. In its regular home, however, the show drew a 0.4 in the 18-49 demographic and 1.81 million viewers.

The 2019-20 TV season has hit the winter midway point, so with a new year and a new decade upon us, here’s a list of midseason premiere dates for new and returning series. The list covers more than 200 broadcast, cable and streaming programs debuting from Jan. 1 through March 31 and includes shows that were on hiatus and some one-off specials such as awards shows.

The Cox Media stations acquired by Apollo Global Management have been blacked out to subscribers to Verizon’s FiOS as the result of a retransmission consent fee dispute. Verizon’s deal with the stations expired Tuesday at midnight.

Fox reached a new carriage agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative, averting a New Year’s blackout. The NCTC represents more than 700 small and rural cable operators covering about 3 million subscribers.

From the moment at the 2019 NFC championship game when two officials watched a Los Angeles Rams defender slam into a New Orleans receiver well before the ball arrived and failed to throw a flag for pass interference that was obvious to tens of millions of fans watching at home, officiating and replay became a constant theme in 2019.

The NBA was lagging behind the NFL and Major League Baseball in both revenue and television profile when Stern took over in 1984. But by the time he stepped down in 2014 he had overseen the league’s growth from fears of extinction in the late 1970s to a $5 billion enterprise. TV revenue increased more than 40-fold in that span, crossing the $1 billion threshold. He was 77. Above, Stern is flanked by Hakeem Olajuwon, right, the No. 1 pick overall by the Houston Rockets, and Sam Bowie, the No. 2 pick overall by the Portland Trail Blazers, at the NBA Draft in 1984. (AP photo: Marty Lederhandler)

It was clear the place to be on New Year’s Eve was at ABC, as it conquered Tuesday night ratings by ringing in 2020 with Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. The traditional two-part New Year’s Eve celebration won all six half-hours of primetime.

Among the broadcast networks last week, NBC averaged 5.6 million viewers in primetime. CBS had 3.8 million, ABC had 3 million, Fox had 2.6 million, Univision had 1.31 million, Ion Television reached 1.27 million, Telemundo had 760,000 and the CW had 590,000.

Monday in primetime featured an entire slate of repeats and encores as we prepare for the new year. CBS topped the evening with The Neighborhood, which earned a 0.6 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic and 5.12 million viewers in early Nielsen numbers. The network won overall in total viewers as it followed with an all-rerun lineup of of Bob Hearts Abishiola, All Rise and Bull.

Sports betting continues to be key for a growing sports future, say professional leagues — and hopefully for TV networks that air those sports. But for now, effects from sports betting aren’t clear for TV networks.

If you think today’s Washington is dysfunctional, venal, cutthroat, uncaring and winner-take-all, take heart: It’s not nearly as bad as the Washington you’ve seen this decade on fictional TV. This was the decade that idealism vanished from political TV. That might not be a coincidence.

Coming off of TVLine’s weeklong review of how the shows on each broadcast network are faring thus far this TV season, we can now take a step back and celebrate the most watched and top rated single telecasts of the year 2019.

Carrie Underwood has decided she’s had enough of being the face of the CMA Awards, the award-winning singer announced Monday on social media. After hosting for 12 years, Underwood said on Instagram “it’s time to pass the hosting torch.”

In a year of huge streaming hits, Murder Mystery topped Netflix’s most popular U.S. releases list for 2019. The comedy movie beat out some impressive titles, including Stranger Things 3, 6 Underground, The Incredibles 2, The Irishman, The Witcher, The Triple Frontier, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and The Umbrella Academy, which rounded out the streaming company’s top 10 list.

Flirty Dancing didn’t flirt with a ratings win or anything on Sunday, but Jenna Dewan’s Fox series had a pretty decent debut following football. A huge lead-in basically guaranteed that outcome. Of course, the final Sunday of the NFL Regular Season was dominated by pigskin.

Hasbro has completed its $3.8 billion all-cash acquisition of Entertainment One. The merger gives Hasbro access to a pool of valuable international brands, including the wildly popular children’s character Peppa Pig, along with PJ Masks, Clifford the Big Red Dog and the upcoming Ricky Zoom. Those join Hasbro’s already lucrative existing catalog of properties — which includes Transformers, G.I. Joe, Ouija and what it gained last year after buying the remaining stake in the Mark Gordon Co., the independent TV and film studio behind Grey’s Anatomy.