Programming

Emmy-winning docuseries Who Do You Think You Are? is returning to NBC for a second go-round. The network has ordered 13 episodes of the docuseries from executive producers Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky. Ancestry and Shed Media are producing.

Sinclair’s deal to buy the former Fox regional sports networks values them at less than expected.

The network has established a Star Trek global franchise group that will “manage and maximize the expansion of the brand beyond the traditional boundaries of linear broadcasting and streaming,” with the goal of broadening the Star Trek fan community through multiple avenues such as as podcasts, new digital spaces and live experiential events. Leading the unit will be EVP Veronica Hart.

The CBS Station Group is on board to premiere the Monday-Friday strip, along with stations from groups including Weigel, Nexstar, Gray/Raycom, Sinclair, Fox, Meredith, Scripps, Tegna, Mission and Northwest.

This is the second time Vince McMahon has launched a football league. The networks will start airing its games its games when the new league starts on Feb. 8, 2020, after the NFL season ends with the Super Bowl. The first version of the XFL — a joint venture of WWE and NBC — lasted one season in 2001.

American Idol topped Sunday’s adults 18-49 ratings, and was the No. 1 entertainment show in viewers, but it fell a good amount from the previous week’s strong showing.

It’s paying Cooper Media $77 million for the 85% of the two diginets it doesn’t already own. Brian Weiss, Cooper’s president-GM, will join Tegna and continue to run the two.

There may be a big silver lining to Sinclair’s loss of its proposed merger with Tribune. In its wake the group has shifted its strategy from TV station acquisition to nonbroadcast ventures like regional sports networks, OTT services and possibly some kind of national news service. And it’s continuing to lead the way toward ATSC 3.0, which it is convinced will multiply the value of broadcast spots through targeting, and enable lucrative new businesses like datacasting.

OK, maybe not no one, but the numbers are way down. As per Nielsen, broadcast C3 ratings in the first quarter dropped 17% versus last year, with all four major broadcast networks taking major hits in the coveted 18-49 demo. (Fox, which has a heavy sports presence, was the only broadcaster network not to see double digit dives.)

The traditional TV landscape where NBC once ruled has been disrupted by the rise of prestige shows on premium cable and online streaming services. All the broadcast networks are scrambling to hold onto their diminishing audiences and cultural relevance. But the demand for the people who developed the arsenal of NBC’s high-quality hits of the 1990s — many of which have sustained their popularity thanks to online streaming — has remained.

Jeopardy host Alex Trebek, 78, who announced in March he has advanced pancreatic cancer, told the Daytime Emmy Awards audience Sunday he had been worried that sympathy, rather than merit, might snare him the trophy for best game show host. But he changed his mind. “You guys like me, and you value my work. I tell you if that’s the case, I can live with that,” Trebek said. General Hospital was among the big winners, with a leading five trophies that included best lead actor honors for Maurice Benard. But The Young and the Restless won the top drama series award, as well as writing and directing honors.

Byron Allen becomes an equity and content partner in the new RSN holding company, Diamond Sports Group. The RSNs includes exclusive local rights to 42 professional teams consisting of 14 Major League Baseball teams, 16 National Basketball Association teams, and 12 National Hockey League  teams.

ABC has picked up a sixth season of its hit comedy series Black-ish for the 2019-2020 season. In addition, the network has given an early season order to Mixed-ish, a spinoff about Rainbow Johnson’s (Tracee Ellis Ross) experience growing up in a mixed-race family in the 1980s.

Among the new outlets announced for the network’s revival that launches on May 8 are stations in 48 new markets owned by Meredith, Tegna, Nexstar, Quincy, Lockwood and American Spirit. Over-the-air coverage will be more than 80% of the U.S. at launch. It’s also added cable and OTT coverage.

The Billboard Music Awards fell to an all-time low among adults 18-49 — but despite that, NBC’s broadcast still easily led Wednesday night’s ratings. The awards also improved a bit year to year in total viewers, and the demographic declines weren’t as severe as some other recent music awards.