Programming

The amazing run of James Holzhauer propels the game into first place for syndication overall, knocking Judge Judy out after 40 straight weeks as No. 1.

The Voice and 911 claimed Monday night’s top ratings numbers, as they were the only two broadcast shows to climb above a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49. The Voice drew a 1.2 in the key ad-sales demographic, even with last week’s performance. Fox’s 911 was the top scripted show in adults 18-49 at 1.1, although it slipped a little bit versus last week’s numbers.

CBS announced Monday that after the Big Bang finale on May 16, the network will air Unraveling the Mystery: A Big Bang Farewell, a half-hour special in which stars Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco take viewers behind the scenes of the longest-running multi-camera comedy series in television history.

AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan saw his 2018 compensation fall 30% from the previous year to $20.5 million. Sapan earned a salary of $2 million and a bonus of $4.6 million, according to AMC Networks’ annual proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The test of the new weekday series premieres June 10 in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Phoenix, Minneapolis and Charlotte

Coverage of all three days is up 11% vs. 2018, which previously had been the most-watched draft. Coverage of the three days of the draft on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and NFL Network (plus ESPN and NFL digital properties) averaged 6.1 million viewers.

Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury and producer Will Packer team for a five-week preview of Atlanta-Based Central Ave starting Nov. 4 on select Fox Television Stations.

American Idol turned in its best ratings in almost two months on Sunday night. The ABC competition delivered a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49, easily the best on the broadcast networks for the night and the show’s best performance in the key ad demographic since a 1.5 on March 6. Its 7.88 million viewers are the most since its season premiere.

A+E Networks is warning viewers of a possible blackout of A&E Network, Lifetime, History and other channels across DirecTV platforms as the sides go down to the wire on carriage renewal negotiations. DirecTV and A+E Networks are facing a deadline of midnight ET Tuesday to strike a new deal that will keep A+E Networks channels on DirecTV, DirecTV Now and U-verse.

According to NBC’s updated schedule, the series will not air in its normal Friday 8 p.m timeslot beginning tonight and continuing May 3-17, with the show returning on May 24 and May 31 for the final episodes of its fourth season. The Blacklist will air in its place, moving up an hour from its normal 9 p.m. slot. The sixth season finale of The Blacklist is set to air on May 17. The news comes as Blindspot is still awaiting word on whether or not it will be renewed for a fifth season.

The series finale of Gotham goes quietly, with the opening of Avengers: Endgame  possibly factoring into declines for some shows.

Amazon is in talks to join Sinclair Broadcast Group in a deal to buy the 21 Fox regional sports TV networks that are being auctioned off by Disney. Sinclair is looking for Amazon’s backing as it preps a roughly $9 billion, all-cash offer for the so-called RSNs, sources say.

The return of the Windy City triumvirate gives NBC Wednesday’s biggest total audience and a share of the demographic lead.

This fall sees the most national debuts in seven years as Kelly Clarkson and Tamron Hall try to succeed in a challenged landscape.

Across the past five TV seasons, 61% of midseason launches wound up canceled after that freshman run. In that same span, 58% of fall launches were ill-fated — so, premiering earlier isn’t necessarily better.