Wednesday June 23, 2021

Tonight’s Finales
NBC: The Blacklist at 10p
PBS: Mysteries of Mental Illness at 10p

IN THE NEWS

Catch the wave: Coca-Cola North America announced plans to boost its spending with minority-owned media, to 8% of the company’s total annual media budget in North America by 2024. “Following a thorough analysis of our marketing spend, we recognized we could do more to support an equitable media landscape by creating growth opportunities for minority-owned and led outlets,” said Melanie Boulden, CMO, North America Operating Unit, The Coca-Cola Co. The company is also launching a pilot certification assistance program in partnership with the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council to help Black, Hispanic and AAPI media partners thrive.

The top 25 media companies control two-thirds of all ad spending, up from 42% four years ago, according to a report from GroupM’s Business Intelligence unit. Should that be cause for alarm? “From a marketer’s perspective, one can argue that high and rising levels of concentration among sellers of advertising are not necessarily negative,” said GroupM Business Intelligence Global President Brian Wieser. “Marketers prefer to have many different choices of media owners to work with, but they also like the workflow efficiencies and ease of measurement that comes from having fewer partners.”

TV advertising in May 2021 rose 25.4% from the year prior, according to Standard Media Index’s US Ad Market Tracker, but was 20.0% below pre-pandemic May 2019. Digital posted 64.5% growth versus May 2020, and was up 33.6% over May 2019.

Hulu renewed adult animated comedy “Solar Opposites” for a fourth season. Season three of the show – Hulu’s most-watched Hulu Original comedy debut of the year – is set for a 2022 launch.

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Showtime doubled down with its renewal of late-night variety sketch series “Ziwe.” Season two will include12 episodes, to be split into two installments. Season one, launched in May, had six.

C-SPAN anchor Steve Scully is leaving the network on July 2, and joining think tank Bipartisan Policy Center as SVP of Communications. “For 30 years, C-SPAN has given me a front row seat to history,” said Scully. “I am excited about my next chapter.” Scully was suspended by C-SPAN for three months last year after falsely claiming that his Twitter account had been hacked.

Game show “Jeopardy!” apologized after a clue drew complaints from viewers. “Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome is also known as Grinch syndrome because this organ is too small,” read the clue; the (in)correct answer was, “What is the heart?”. Alerted that the condition, among other things, usually has nothing to do with the structure of the heart, the show tweeted, “After hearing from the community, we found we used an outdated and inaccurate term for this disorder, and we apologize.”

Enter for a Shot in the Spotlight

Entertainment Studios is launching a new court series, “We the People With Judge Lauren Lake.” Lake starred for seven seasons on MGM Domestic Television Distribution’s “Lauren Lake’s Paternity Court.” “We at Allen Media Group are beyond elated to add ‘We the People With Judge Lauren Lake’ to our already stellar portfolio of court shows,” said Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios. The daily show will be available for fall 2022.

Dating series “Sexy Beasts” nabbed a two-season order from Netflix. Rob Delaney (“Catastrophe”) will narrate the Lion TV-produced series, based on a BBC Three show that has singles on blind dates transformed cosmetically into animals.

Wapanatahk Media struck development deal with Anthony Jonson and Dr. James Makokis, Two-Spirit Indigenous couple and winners of season 7 of “The Amazing Race Canada.” The factual series will follow them as they pursue their mission to educate the masses about Indigenous cultural teachings, helping Canadians embark on their own transformational journeys and welcoming them into Nizhoni Acres, the couple’s dream property, which was built using the prize money from “Amazing Race.”

HBO and BBC One have begun production on the third and final season of “His Dark Materials.” Production on the eight-episode season will take place at Wolf Studios Wales stages and on location throughout Wales and England.

FX has ordered “Class of ’09,” a suspense thriller following a class of FBI agents set in a near future where the US criminal justice system has been transformed by artificial intelligence. Produced by FX Productions, the limited series, starring Kate Mara (“A Teacher”) and Brian Tyree Henry (“Atlanta”), will be available exclusively on FX on Hulu.

Italian production company Lux Vide has expanded its roster of American talent by naming Scott Rosenbaum (“The Shield”) showrunner for its new international series “Sandokan,” and Andrew Levitas (“The White Crow”) to develop its “Caravaggio” and “Michelangelo” series.

CASTING NOTES

CBS procedural “NCIS” is adding Gary Cole (“Mixed-ish”) and Katrina Law (“The Oath”) as series regulars for season 19. “We haven’t shot a single frame quite yet, but with the addition of Gary Cole and Katrina Law to the cast, this is already shaping up to be one of the best seasons yet,” said NCIS executive producer/showrunner Steven D. Binder.

Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”) will play a lead in season two of Apple TV+ series “Tehran,” as a British woman living in Tehran…Wanda Sykes (“The Upshaws”) will recur on season five of Paramount+ drama “The Good Fight”…Kyle Bary (“Ginny & Georgia”) landed a series regular role on upcoming Fox drama “Our Kind of People,” set in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard.

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NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Five-part “North Water” premieres Thursday, July 15 on AMC+. Based on the best-seller by Ian McGuire, the drama stars Jack O’Connell (“Unbroken”), Colin Farrell (“True Detective”) and Stephen Graham (“Boardwalk Empire”).

Robert Hays (“Airplane!”) hosts A&E’s “Fasten Your Seatbelt,” premiering Wednesday, July 21 at 10p on A&E. The eight-parter tells true stories of incredible moments on flights.

CNBC is adding new original “Super Heists” to its summer slate. Starting Monday, August 9 at 10p, the six-parter explores crimes from the perspectives of the thieves, and the investigators who pursued them.

Docu-series “Small Town News: KPVM Pahrump,” following life at a privately owned TV station in the small desert town of Pahrump, Nevada, debuts with back-to-back episodes Monday, August 2 at 9p.

Netflix is adding three animated kids’ shows: “A Dark Tale & Grimm,” following Hansel and Gretel as they search for a better home; “Dogs In Space,” set in a future where canines are sent to find a planet that will save humanity; and “Super Giant Robot Brothers,” centered on two robot brothers helping to defend the Earth against intergalactic evil.

New programming on Happykids includes Pac Man series, “Get Wild (San Diego Zoo),” “Big Media Backstage,” sitcom “Latest Buzz,” “How to Be Indie,” “Instant Star,” “Winx Club,” and “LoliRock.”

Season three of British comedy “Motherland” premieres on Sundance Now and AMC+ on Thursday, July 8, with all episodes available.

A new trail of evidence prompts a quest to solve an archaeological mystery on new series “Hunting Atlantis,” making its debut Wednesday, July 21 at 9p on Discovery.

COMING UP

Ed Sheeran will spend Monday, June 28 through Thursday, July 1 as a guest on CBS’ “The Late Late Show With James Corden.” The “Perfect” singer’s new single, “Bad Habits,” will be released June 25.

AXS TV enters the ring with IMPACT Wrestling for a special tag team event, as the “Wrestle Week” block returns on Monday, July 12. The lineup features classic movies, profiles, and IMPACT action, ahead of “Slammiversary” on Saturday, July 17.

fubo Sports Network has a multi-marathon July 4 weekend on tap, including Boxing, MMA Fighting, a full day of PFL matches and a re-airing of the South American Qatar World Cup 2022 (CONMEBOL) qualifying games. The action leads up to a marathon of past Professional Fighting League matches from years past, ahead of the championship tournament this August.

Discovery+ special “Yellowstone Supervolcano: American Doomsday” explores a phenomenon with the potential to erupt into a major natural disaster. The film drops Thursday, June 24.

KISS and tell: A&E will air a “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” marathon on Monday, June 28 from 1p-7p, along with the premiere of the two-part documentary “Biography: KISStory” airing June 27 and June 28 at 8p

TECH TALK

Tubi announced it will be the first CTV publisher to implement Unified ID 2.0, an upgraded alternative to third-party cookies that serves as a connective tissue in cookie-less environments, such as CTV apps. Initially developed by The Trade Desk, Unified ID 2.0 represents an ID solution that is interoperable and aims to address consumers’ desire for more transparency and control. Prebid.org has agreed to serve as an independent operator for Unified ID 2.0 later this year.

Twitter announced it will begin rolling out applications for Super Follows, allowing creators to offer paywalled content, and paid audio chat rooms Ticketed Spaces, enabling users to set ticket prices and limit how many tickets are sold. Grab your phone – applications are only available on mobile.

STREAMING

AVOD VUit announced the addition of hyperlocal programming. “Weather Metrics Vision” offers live content and lapse videos of weather events. Also available is “Small Batch Sessions,” featuring musical talent based in the US. Fashion vodcaster Mermaid Soup will broadcast fashion trends coming out of LA when it launches on the service shortly. VUit has also entered an agreement with the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, to bring their historical content focused on the automotive industry to the platform.

FilmRise has acquired the US AVOD distribution rights to the CBC drama series “Heartland.” The deal gives FilmRise rights to 214 episodes across 13 seasons of the show as well as the TV movie “A Heartland Christmas.”

GOING GLOBAL

UK-based production company One Big Picture has joined BlackBox Multimedia and Stone Village TV’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (The Modern Prometheus). The three companies are co-producing the series.

GSL announced a license and co-production arrangement with Playground (“Wolf Hall”) which is to co-develop with Red Arrow Studios International a new English-language drama series based on Georges Simenon’s series of novels about French detective Jules Maigret.

All3Media International has signed new deals for Two Brothers Pictures’ latest installment of detective drama “Baptiste,” ahead of its BBC One premiere in the UK. Broadcast partners include Masterpiece in North America, TOHOKUSHINSHA in Japan, Sky (New Zealand) as well as a pan territory deal with Starz covering German speaking Europe, French Speaking Europe, Italian speaking Europe, Latin America, French Dom Tom, BBC Studios ANZ for Australia and BBC Studios Asia for BBC First, BBC’s premium drama SVOD service.

Banijay Productions Germany will produce “Let the Music Play – Das Hit Quiz” (Name That Tune) for SAT.1. Returning after 20 years, the German adaptation will be hosted by Amiaz Habtu.

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Broadcast Nielsen Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of June 7 ranked in order by HH Rtg
Family Feud (CMV) 5.9 AA
Judge Judy (CMV) 5.2 AA
Jeopardy (CMV) 5.1 AA
Wheel of Fortune (CMV) 4.8 AA
The Big Bang Theory (WB) 2.2 AA
Inside Edition (CMV) 2.1 AA
Entertainment Tonight (CMV) 2.0 AA
Last Man Standing (DAD) 1.7 AA
Live With Kelly and Ryan (DAD) 1.6 AA
The Dr. Phil Show (CMV) 1.4 AA
Hot Bench (CMV) 1.4

TV Time Shows on the Rise for the week of June 14
Elite (Netflix) – 99.30%
Black Summer (Netflix) – 94.70%
Workin’ Moms (CBS) – 93.30%
RuPaul’s Drag Race (LOGO) – 53.00%
Legacies (The CW) – 29.50%
Lupin (Netflix) – 25.50%
Loki (Disney+) – 22.80%
Suits (USA Network) – 19.90%
Shameless (US) (Showtime) – 13.50%
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu) – 11.80%
Every week, millions of viewers around the world use TV Time to track their favorite series. “Shows on the Rise” is calculated by determining the week-over-week growth in episodes watched for a given program.

TV Time Binge Report for the week of June 14
Elite (Netflix) – 16.63%
Lupin (Netflix) – 3.61%
Lucifer (Netflix) – 2.06%
One Piece (Fuji TV) – 1.64%
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC US) – 1.60%
Modern Family – 1.60%
Friends (NBC) – 1.18%
Love, Victor (Hulu) – 1.18%
Sweet Tooth (Netflix) – 1.13%
The Office (US) (NBC) – 0.91%
The weekly Binge Report ranks shows with the most binge sessions. A binge session is when four or more episodes of a show are watched and tracked in the TV Time app within a given day.

Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Monday, June 21
Show, P2+ 0000s, (A18-49)
ABC: The Bachelorette 3.34 (0.9), The Celebrity Dating Game 2.21 (0.5)
CBS: The Neighborhood 3.44 (0.5), Bob Hearts Abishola 3.04 (0.4), NCIS: New Orleans 2.52 (0.3), Bull 2.65 (0.3)
CW: All American 0.68 (0.2), The Republic of Sarah 0.38 (0.1)
FOX: Hell’s Kitchen 2.47 (0.6), HouseBroken 1.06 (0.3), Duncanville 0.74 (0.2)
ION: NCIS: Los Angeles 0.97 (0.1), NCIS: Los Angeles 0.99 (0.1), NCIS: Los Angeles 0.92 (0.1)
NBC: US Olympic Trials 3.97 (0.60, American Ninja Warrior 2.78 (0.5)
Telemundo: Exatlon Estados Unidos 1.11 (0.3), La Suerte de Loli 1.24 (0.4), Café con Aroma de Mujer 0.98 (0.3)
Univision: Disenando Tu Amor 1.49 (0.4), Si Nos Dejan 1.70 (0.5), La Hija Del Embajador 1.42 (0.3)
Source: Nielsen, live + same day time period averages

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Mike Gavigan and Mark St. Amour have joined Kubient’s sales team as Vice Presidents of Performance Media. Gavigan has used digital acquisition as a core growth strategy for clients including Lands’ End, Hearst, and theSkimm. St. Amour has executed campaigns from Enfamil, Leo Burnett, Domino’s Pizza, and Plum Organics, among others.

Devon Quinn has been tapped to serve as SVP of Television for Trevor Noah’s Day Zero Productions. Quinn joins from Marvel Television.

David Katz, EVP of Digital at Fox Sports, is leaving the company in September. In a memo to staff, Katz said is returning to his “entrepreneurial roots.”

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
The comments about his wife from which fellow guest on “The Dick Cavett Show” prompted Lily Tomlin to walk off the show in 1972? Chad Everett, who said listed his animals as “three horses and three dogs and a wife,” adding that his wife was “the most beautiful animal I own.” Kudos to: Pete Hazell-Discovery Inc./London; John Ferlazzo/London; Louis Lewow-FITE/Atlanta; Rev. Mark Wajda/Clermont, FL; Joni Cohen Zlotowitz-WABC-TV/NYC; Ken Nice-TeamPeople/Falls Church, VA; Greg Stewart/LA; Paul Blutter-Walk and Production Rentals/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Garber-Loyola Marymount University/Playa Vista, CA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question
In which drama series did Christian Slater play two roles? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four.)