| A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY
At TNT Sports, There’s No Offseason…
Check-out what’s coming up on our roster:
*2025 NCAA Men’s March Madness
*Roland Garros (French Open) *MLB on TBS *NBA Playoffs
*NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs *NHL Stanley Cup Final
*NASCAR *NCAA Big 12 Conference Football
— TNT | TBS | truTV | Max | Bleacher Report —
Warner Bros. Discovery: Make it happen here. |
 IN THE NEWS |
| President Trump amended his lawsuit against CBS, and is now claiming he is owed double the original amount, or $20 billion. Trump sued CBS in October, saying the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with his then-opponent, Kamala Harris, violated the Texas consumer fraud statute. Now he is claiming “unfair competition” under the federal Lanham Act, alleging he was harmed as an owner of the Truth Social platform. “Viewership was improperly diverted to Defendants’ media platforms, resulting in lower consumer engagement, advertising revenues and profits,” reads the complaint. The complaint was also amended to address CBS’ argument that since neither it nor Trump resides in Texas, there is no reason to litigate the case there. Trump added Ronny Jackson, the Republican congressman from Amarillo, as a co-plaintiff, alleging that Jackson was “deceived and misled” by the “60 Minutes” interview.
December 25, 2024 was the most-streamed day of television in the US since Nielsen started keeping count, according to the measurement company, with over 50 billion viewing minutes for a range of programming. Christmas Day NFL games led the way, with Prime Video’s “Red One,” Netflix’s “Carry On” and 2003 holiday mainstay “Elf” on Max also drawing eyeballs. |
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| “This is a Christmas story of how all streamers are finding success balancing new and evergreen programming on streaming,” said Brian Fuhrer, SVP of Product Strategy, Nielsen. “While live football was the highest profile and most-viewed, the diverse slate of original and classic shows and movies really resonated with audiences.”
Among the television winners of Producers Guild Awards, handed out Saturday, were the producers of “Shogun” for drama; “Baby Reindeer” for limited series; “The Traitors” for competition series; “Saturday Night Live” for live entertainment; and “Hacks” for comedy.
Directors also got their due over the weekend. Winners of DGA awards included “Shogun” for drama; “Hacks” for comedy; “Saturday Night Live” for variety; and “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted” for reality. |
 ABC has hit pause on “The Bachelorette.” While the last three seasons have premiered in July, the reality show will not return for a 22nd installment this summer. It’s not the first time ABC skipped a season – the reality show didn’t air in 2006 or 2007.
Seeing Starz: Verizon is offering 12 months of Starz to eligible home internet customers. This is the first time Starz will be bundled with an offer of this kind.
More news outlets are losing their Pentagon workspaces. CNN, The Washington Post, The Hill and The War Zone have been told to cede their spots to the Washington Examiner, Newsmax, The Free Press and The Daily Caller. Last week, The New York Times, NBC News, Politico and NPR got the boot as part of a new Defense Department program that rotates spaces. All of the outlets remain full members of the Pentagon press corps, with the same media access to the Pentagon as they had previously. |
 The very first episode of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” will air February 15 at 11:30p. The host is George Carlin, with Billy Preston and Janice Ian as musical guests. “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” debuts the following night at 8p.
A nine-hour Netflix documentary about Prince has been blocked by the estate of the “Purple Rain” artist. Said Netflix in a statement, “The Prince Estate and Netflix have come to a mutual agreement that will allow the estate to develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive. As a result, the Netflix documentary will not be released.” Ezra Edelman (“OJ: Made in America”) spent five years making the film, but while he was initially granted access to Prince’s archives, objections were raised after a change in the administration of the estate.
Prime Video had a win in court on Friday, when a judge dismissed a class action suit tied to its introduction of an ad-supported tier. After Prime Video unveiled the ad-supported offering with limited advertisements, and switched users to the plan by default with the option to avoid ads by paying $2.99/month, a lawsuit alleged the move was “deceptive” and “unlawful.” Not so, ruled US District Judge Barbara Rothstein, who found that Prime Video never guaranteed subscribers the streaming service would remain ad-free, and made clear to users that it reserved the right to modify, add or remove benefits. |
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DIGITAL OPPORTUNITIES
Maximize Your Impact at the 2025 Upfronts
The 2025 Upfronts are the ultimate stage for brands to showcase innovation and leadership in media. With branding, newsletters, eblasts, and custom content, Cynopsis offers unmatched opportunities to connect with key players in the industry.
New this year: Virtual Upfront Summaries! Share your presentation highlights with a multichannel campaign, gain access to attendee lists, and host your video on the Cynopsis platform for one year.
Contact Amy Abbey at [email protected] or 410.979.0171 to secure your spot and make your mark! |
| NEW & RETURNING SERIES |
| NBA All-Star Anthony Edwards and his Three Fifths Media are collaborating with Wheelhouse Sports and Portal A for sports docuseries “Year Five,” launching Tuesday, February 11 on Edwards’ YouTube channel. Five, 15-20 minute episodes will be built around crucial moments of Edwards’ current season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The series is the first project to debut via Three Fifths’ partnership with Wheelhouse, announced in October. |
 Discovery’s “Naked and Afraid” starts a new season Sunday, March 9 at 8p. This will be the first time a double amputee will be featured on the competition series. |
Today’s Premieres
BritBox: Breaking Dad: Britain’s Unlikeliest Drug Dealer
Fox: Extracted at 8p
Hulu: Muslim Matchmaker
MHz Choice: Sex (re)Education
Netflix: Surviving Black Hawk Down
Vice: Calipari: Razor’s Edge at 10p |
| PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT |
 FX’s “English Teacher” has been renewed for a second season. “’English Teacher’ was one of the most critically acclaimed new shows of 2024 and we are grateful to the producers, writers, cast, directors and crew for the show’s creative excellence,” said Nick Grad, President, FX Entertainment. |
| Jason Winer (“Modern Family”) has been enlisted to direct and executive produce Apple TV+’s untitled comedy from 20th Television starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as brothers. David West Read is showrunner on the series, executive producing with McConaughey, Harrelson and Winer, alongside David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Matt Thunell for Skydance Television and Bill Bost and Jeremy Plager.
Acorn TV has ordered a fifth season of “My Life Is Murder,” to premiere later this year.
Kids programming has not escaped the massive impact of changes in the media landscape. Guillermo Pino, CEO and Creator of audiovisual production company Smilehood (“Plim Plim”), shares insights on how children’s content execs must adapt in 2025, in Cynsiders. |
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| The FAXIES 2025
Honoring Excellence in Media & Marketing
The FAXIES 2025 are here to recognize the most innovative minds in PR, marketing, and communications across the cable, broadband, and media industry. This is your chance to showcase groundbreaking campaigns, outstanding teams, and visionary leaders shaping the future of media.
Price Increase Alert!
Submit before February 17 to save $200! (Entry fee increases from $499 to $699 after this date.)
Enter Now |
| SPORTS REPORT |
| Major League Baseball and Sportradar Group AG announced a long-term extension and expansion of their partnership, set to begin with the 2025 season. Under the new terms, Sportradar, in partnership with MLB, will exclusively distribute MLB’s ultra-low latency official data, media content, including MLB Statcast Data, and AV content across its global client network. As part of the agreement, MLB has acquired an equity stake in Sportradar. |
| DISTRIBUTION |
| Family Entertainment Television has launched on Midco, serving communities in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Kansas and Wisconsin. The family-friendly entertainment network is now available on MidcoTV’s IPTV Expanded Basic channel package. |
| RATINGS |
| ABC has the top five show among A18-49 season to date, according to Nielsen multiplatform Live+7 ratings: “Shifting Gears” (2.43 rating), “High Potential” (2.42), “Abbott Elementary” (2.26 ), “The Rookie” (1.89) and “9-1-1” (1.81). |
 CBS averaged 5.62 million primetime viewers on Thursday, up 7% from the week prior, according to early Live+SD numbers from Nielsen. “George & Mandy’s First Marriage” was the #1 program of the night, drawing 6.54 million viewers (up 4%); “Ghosts” averaged 5.49 million (up 3%), “Matlock” pulled in 6.14 million (up 8%), and “Elsbeth” delivered 4.71 million (up 11%).
Never gets old: The season 17 premiere of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” delivered a Live+3 A18-49 rating of 0.993, the best season opener in 12 years. Among A18-34, the episode delivered a seven-year best of 0.908. The reality show moved from VH1 to MTV starting with season 15. |
| EXECUTIVE MOVES |
| Stacey Lynn Schulman has left her role as Executive Vice President of Platform Marketing and Intelligence at Nextstar Media Group after a year in the role. “The media and entertainment space is changing exponentially, providing many more canvases for creators to tell their stories,” wrote Schulman in a social media post. “I’m interested in building opportunities for content and brands to partner in ways that are less interruptive, more synergistic and deeply engaging for consumers and fans on screens, in soundscapes, and in real-life communities.” |
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This Day in History
1863 – A patent was granted for the first fire extinguisher.
Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
Who had the shortest national anthem performance at a Super Bowl? Neil Diamond, in 1987. Kudos to: Justin Pierce-JP Consulting Group/LA; Marni C. Gold/Hawthorne, NJ; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton, FL
Today’s Trivia Question
What was Rose’s job at the start of “The Golden Girls” (1985-92)? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four answers per time zone.) |
VICE PRESIDENT BUSINESS AFFAIRS >>
HEARST MEDIA PRODUCTION GROUP/CHARLOTTE, NC: Focus on FCC compliance, brand integrity for all current series and day-to-day business affairs for development and production. Strategize with management and outside counsel on business issues, and draft, review and execute various short-form business documents. Legal background and/or related media experience is required. Full info HERE
SALES LEAD – AGENCY PARTNERSHIPS
UPWAVE
NEW YORK, NY
Build and manage relationships with our agency partners – mostly targeting media buyers and planners – and help them see the value of adding Upwave measurement to The Trade Desk campaigns. You will both leverage your existing network and open new doors to achieve aggressive but achievable sales targets. Full info HERE
VICE PRESIDENT, POLITICAL SALES >>
NEXSTAR MEDIA GROUP, INC./WASHINGTON, DC: Lead the company’s political advertising revenue across its dynamic portfolio of broadcast stations. Responsible for developing sales strategies tailored to the fast-paced, high-stakes political advertising market. You will possess an understanding of the political advertising landscape, and the ability to forge strong relationships with campaigns. Full info HERE
COUNSEL, LEGAL & BUSINESS AFFAIRS >>
MLB NETWORK/SECAUCUS, NJ: Responsible for a variety of matters, including services agreements, production related agreements, talent agreements, software and other technology related agreements, licensing and programming agreements, third party rights clearances, distribution agreements, contract summaries, confidentiality, and general contract matters. Full info HERE |
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