Programming

Freshman dramas A Million Little Things and The Rookie, along with freshman comedy The Kids Are Alright and sophomore comedy Splitting Up Together have all received orders for more scripts for this season.

Chris Castallo will oversee unscripted TV development and executive produce series including Eco-Challenge and the streamer’s Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn series.

 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is undergoing a major behind-the-scenes change. Producer Mike DiCenzo is leaving NBC’s latenight program. He just confirmed his departure on Twitter. I hear former Today executive producer Jim Bell is in talks to come in as new Tonight Show showrunner.

Netflix said Monday it is tacking on an additional $2 billion in debt so it can continue to make original shows and movies and license content from others as it faces mounting competition from other streamers, including services expected next year from Disney and WarnerMedia.

The annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode of The Simpsons was down year to year in Sunday’s ratings, and ABC’s Alec Baldwin Show continued to struggle.

Legal sports betting stands to generate an extra $4.2 billion a year for America’s four main professional sports leagues, according to a new study. The study by Nielsen Sports allocates $2.3 billion of the windfall to the NFL, followed by $1.1 billion to MLB, $585 million to the NBA and $216 million to the NHL.

CBS has been the great ATSC 3.0 naysayer. But now that retrans-centric CEO Les Moonves is gone and 4K is an apparent must for future NFL broadcasts, we can hope that it will reconsider and join Fox and NBC in embracing the new broadcast standard.

God Friended Me, Magnum P.I. and The Neighborhood are the latest new series to get full season pickups from their broadcast network.

Discovery’s $2 billion swing at the international golf market is taking shape, with its upcoming streaming service to be branded “GolfTV.” The OTT service will launch around the world at the beginning of 2019 and have live PGA Tour coverage in a raft of territories at launch. More territories will get the live coverage in the next four years as existing rights deals play out.

On Sunday night at Washington’s Kennedy Center, the 57-year-old actress received a stream of testimonials from celebrities including Jerry Seinfeld, Stephen Colbert and 2010 Mark Twain recipient Tina Fey — touching on the multiple aspects of her career.

New Fox Chairman and CEO Lachlan Murdoch looked outside for a leader of the soon-to-be independent Fox broadcasting network that will emerge after Disney’s acquisition of key Fox assets. AMC President and General Manager Charlie Collier has been named CEO of entertainment. He will start Nov. 1, reporting to Murdoch who made the announcement Friday in an internal memo.

Hulu is hoping to boost its over-the-top live TV subscriber rolls by extending a special promo to Sprint’s wireless customers. Starting Oct. 19, Sprint customers can upgrade to Hulu With Live TV, which includes 50-plus local and national networks and access to thousands of on-demand titles, from their Sprint account.

As her daytime talk show heads into its 10th season, Wendy Williams on Thursday received the NAB Show New York Impact Award for her 10 years as a New York-based TV talk show host, for her more than 20 years as a New York City drive time radio deejay and for the philanthropic work done with her husband and manager, Kevin Hunter, and their Hunter Foundation.

The Big Bang Theory tied its series low among adults 18-49 in Thursday’s ratings, although it still led the night’s non-sports programming. Fox’s Thursday Night Football also took a hit as it featured a lopsided game between two sub-.500 teams.

For quite some time, it looked as though Netflix, with its seemingly bottomless coffers and try-anything attitude, would never cancel anything. The company habitually renewed shows as soon as they hit the platform. Recently, though, that’s began to change. The streaming service just pulled the plug on the Marvel show Iron Fist after two seasons, and Everything Sucks after one—and comedian Michelle Wolf’s talk show The Break after only 10 episodes. Netflix’s laissez-faire approach to programming, it seems, is coming to an end.

David Nevins has been named chief creative officer of CBS Corp. effective immediately. The announcement was made by Joe Ianniello, the company’s president and acting CEO. Nevins has also been promoted to chairman of Showtime Networks, and will remain as the business’ CEO. He will remain based in Los Angeles and report to Ianniello.

That brings the show’s Season 1 episode count to 16. Though shows are typically ordered for 22- or 24-episode seasons on broadcast, this is not always the case. For example, NBC’s hit drama This Is Us has aired 18-episode seasons throughout its run.

The Fox drama finishes first in adults 18-49 on the broadcast networks, and NBC’s Chicago shows lead in total viewers.