Programming

CBS’s Big Brother claimed another ratings win on Thursday, outperforming Fox’s Masterchef by a comfortable margin. The series finale of Elementary also posted its biggest total audience in several weeks.

Drew Barrymore is taking another run at daytime, but this time with CBS Television Distribution at the helm.The Santa Clarita Diet actress is shooting a talk show pilot with CBS in New York this week. In 2016, Warner Bros. shopped a talk show starring the actress but it could not get the show on the air because it could not find time slots in major markets.

After more than 8,100 episodes and 32 years on the air, The Bold and the Beautiful finally snared first place in the key soap opera demographic. The CBS daytimer hit a 0.9 among women 25-54, beating longtime No. 1 and sister show The Young and the Restless’ 0.8. In actually sheer audience, that’s 530,000 for B&B to 507,0000 for Y&R.

Fox’s BH90210 took a sizable ratings hit in its second week, where it fell to third overall among adults 18-49 in primetime behind America’s Got Talent — which recorded an all-time low in the demographic — and Big Brother.

Bachelor in Paradise narrowed the demographic gap with America’s Got Talent in Tuesday’s ratings, but the NBC mainstay remained on top in both adults 18-49 and total viewers.

The merging companies will reunite the Star Trek and Mission: Impossible franchises and highlight a 3,600-plus title film library, 140,000-plus TV episodes and “more than 750 series ordered to or in production.”

FuboTV has expanded distribution of its new 24-hour sports network to Roku Channel. Roku said  that it now has 30.5 million regular users of its OTT ecosystem, with many of them regularly tapping into the ad-supported Roku Channel.

NBC’s variety showcase brought in 9.7 million viewers last week according to the Nielsen ratings. The show chose the singers, comedians, dancers and beatboxers that will be on its season-ending live episodes.

It’s syndication’s top show despite being blacked out on DirecTV and AT&T’s U-verse in 14 markets including New York and Los Angeles.

American Ninja Warrior improved in the ratings Monday, and Bachelor in Paradise remained on top of the adults 18-49 rankings.

After seeing Netflix eat away at their TV businesses, legacy media are targeting the streaming rights for classics like Seinfeld and The Office.

As media giants gird for battle with Netflix and Amazon, CBS and Viacom continue to pursue marginally more patient streaming strategies, gaining steady ground without spending their way into trouble. Now, as the companies prepare finally to consummate a merger that has been many years in the making, they stand to become a bulked-up media player with arguably the industry’s most diversified streaming portfolio.

From sizable investments in studio facilities to high-end office spaces in some of the world’s priciest neighborhoods, the company is quickly building a robust physical presence around the globe — and exporting its unique corporate culture in the process.

The classic animated series joins the diginet’s weekday lineup beginning Monday, Sept. 30.

With several big media companies gearing up for the launch of new streaming platforms, long-running broadcast comedy series are taking center stage as cornerstones of their offerings. NBCUniversal paid $500+ million for The Office, and HBO Max shelled out $425 million for Friends — both pulled away from Netflix. Additionally, Disney+ is taking over streaming rights to The Simpsons library which Disney-owned FX Networks had paid $100 million for in a multi-platform deal several years ago.

The Teen Choice Awards plummeted to an all-time ratings low Sunday. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the same thing happened a year ago. Fox’s broadcast of the awards managed just 722,000 viewers from 8 to 10 p.m., down 30% from the 1.03 million who tuned in last year. In adults 18-49, the show’s 0.2 rating was half of the 0.4 it drew in 2018.