| A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM HEARST
HEARST ANYSCREEN
Reach your audience, anytime, anywhere, on any screen. Hearst Anyscreen offers a targeted OTT platform that provides a single, centralized access point to the streaming TV marketplace. With a unique focus on quality, Hearst Anyscreen delivers premium “living room experience” television that is served primarily on Connected TVs. |
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Tuesday October 5, 2021 |
| Today’s Premieres discovery+: The Prison Breaker Food Network: Dinner: Impossible at 10p Fox Soul: The Mix at 8p HGTV: The Nate & Jeremiah Home Project at 9p Today’s Finales IN THE NEWS Facebook responded to Sunday’s damning “60 Minutes” segment, which featured former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen, who leaked documents to the Wall Street Journal. Haugen said in her interview with Scott Pelley, “The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook, and Facebook over and over again chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money.” Not so, responded Lena Pietsch, Facebook’s Director of Policy Communications: “Hosting hateful or harmful content is bad for our community, bad for advertisers, and ultimately, bad for our business. Our incentive is to provide a safe, positive experience for the billions of people who use Facebook.” But that didn’t end Facebook’s very bad day. In addition to a decline in the company’s stock price following the “60 Minutes” report, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger users experienced massive outages. “We are experiencing networking issues and teams are working as fast as possible to debug and restore as fast as possible,” tweeted Facebook CTO Mark Schroepfer over four hours after the outage began. Ozy Media is not shutting down after all, according to founder/CEO Carlos Watson. While the company’s board announced on October 1 that it was closing amid a fraud investigation and reports of questionable business practices, Watson said Monday on “Today” that the decision to shutter operations was reconsidered over the weekend. “This is our Lazarus moment,” he told NBC’s Craig Melvin. “I think what we do with newsletters, what we do with TV shows, original TV shows, podcasts and more, I think has a place.” The members of the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees voted to give their union president the authorization to shutter film and TV production. The blessing comes as negotiations between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have stalled. “This vote is about the quality of life as well as the health and safety of those who work in the film and television industry,” said Matthew D. Loeb, IATS International President. “Our people have basic human needs like time for meal breaks, adequate sleep, and a weekend. For those at the bottom of the pay scale, they deserve nothing less than a living wage.” The vote passed with 98% in favor of the authorization, but Loeb said his hope is that the studios will return to the bargaining table; the AMPTP said it is “committed to reaching an agreement that will keep the industry working.” The season six premiere of Showtime’s “Billions” has been set for Sunday, January 23 at 9p. Daniel Breaker (“Girls5Eva”) has been upped to series regular, while Damian Lewis will not return, at least for the time being, as Bobby Axelrod. London-based Lewis, who lost his wife, actress Helen McCrory, to cancer in April, told the New York Times he wants to remain close to home and his two teenage children. “A pleasure and a privilege to play Axe for 5 seasons with some of the smartest, funniest most talented cast and crew I’ve worked with,” tweeted Lewis the day after the finale aired. “I’ll miss the Billions family. Yep, some jobs are more than just a job.” Howard University and Netflix announced a $5.4 million endowed scholarship to honor alumnus Chadwick A. Boseman. “While he was taken from us too soon, his spirit is with us always in his work and the good that he has inspired. He always spoke of his time at Howard and the positive way it shaped his life and career. Now, we will have the opportunity to give many future superheroes a chance to experience the same,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix Co-CEO and Chief Content Officer. Sesame Workshop is expanding its Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children initiative with new resources featuring Julia, a 4-year-old Sesame Street Muppet with autism. The new resources are designed to help families create new routines, build flexibility, and cope with the challenges of change. Esports Business Summit is coming to Las Vegas in just two weeks! If you’re an executive looking to grow your business or capitalize on the opportunities esports presents, attending this show is a must. You’ll hear expert insights from Verizon, Bud Light, XSET, Fly Quest, NBA 2K, Misfits Gaming, and many more. Time’s running out to register, lock in your attendance now. |
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| PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
“This Is Us” star Sterling K. Brown will star in and executive produce limited series “Washington Black,” based on the novel by Esi Edugyan, for Hulu. Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (“The Twilight Zone”) will serve as writer and an executive producer; Edugyan is co-producing. “This Is Us” wraps its run in 2022. RuPaul Charles (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) has signed a first-look scripted deal with Sony Pictures Television focused on queer, character-driven stories spanning drama, comedy and animated projects across platforms. “As a kid in high school, I was mocked for dancing to RuPaul’s hit song Supermodel,” said Jason Clodfelter, SPT Co-President. “I never imagined then how many walls Ru would break down for the LGBTQIA+ and straight allied communities alike. Ru’s love for all people correlates to the cultural specificity we crave in our storytelling at Sony Pictures Television.” “American Born Chinese,” an action-comedy series based on the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang, has gone straight to series at Disney+. 20th Television is producing, with Destin Daniel Cretton (Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) set to direct and executive produce. Written and executive produced by Kelvin Yu (“Bob’s Burgers”) and Charles Yu (“Westworld”), the series is also executive-produced by Melvin Mar and Jake Kasdan (both of “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.). Asher Goldstein (“Short Term 12”) and Gene Luen Yang are also executive producers; Kelvin Yu serves as showrunner. HBO is developing a dark comedy from Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider (“The Other Two”) and Gettin’ Rad Productions. The untitled project, set in 2000, focuses on a closeted gay teen. “GMA Weekend” producer Quiana Burns will step in as intermin executive producer of syndication talker “Tamron Hall,” which in its third season is moving from ABC Entertainment to ABC News. Burns replaces Candi Carter, who remains at ABC Entertainment with her first-look deal. Daniel Lissing will join former “When Calls the Heart” co-star Lori Loughlin as she makes her post-prison return to TV in the two-part season two premiere of GAC Family spin-off “When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas.” Season one of “When Hope Calls” made its debut on Hallmark Movies Now, and moves to GAC Family as its first original series. NEW & RETURNING SERIES A teenager organizes an underground esports gambling ring to pay off his father’s gambling debt and take care of his younger brother in Snapchat original series “Action Royale,” premiering Saturday, October 9. Nickelodeon’s “Danger Force” will kick off its sophomore run with a four-part event, culminating with the return of Jace Norman (“Henry Danger”) as Henry Hart. Season two of the series premieres Saturday, October 23, at 8p; Norman guest stars in the episode airing Saturday, November 13. A new season of “Homestead Rescue” launches on Discovery Sunday, October 17 at 9p, with survivalist Matt Raney and his children saving families in remote locations from dangers like swamps, toxic soil and falling boulders. Danish romantic drama “Couple Trouble” returns for a second season on Sundance Now on Thursday, October 21. TikTok has teamed with CelinaSpookyboo (aka Celina Myers) for the first-ever Canadian live Halloween-themed series, “Celina’s Spooky TikTok Live.” The show streams live globally Thursdays at 9p, starting October 7. Call for Submissions: Cynopsis is producing our annual Holiday Programming Guide, which comes out on October 28 and will be sent to all Cynopsis subscribers. If your network has holiday programming airing from October 28 through January 1, please send your listing to Lynn@Cynopsis.com and janetdilauro@gmail.com no later October 15 with the subject line: Holiday Guide. To be included, programs must be listed by date, title of program, and start times, in the following format: “Thursday, November 19: Network Name: My One Christmas Wish at 9a, Paper Angels at 11a, 12 Days of Giving at 1p”. Holiday-related programs only! A confirmation email will be sent following each submission (if you don’t receive a confirmation email, please resubmit). STREAMING Scripps-owned Newsy launched Monday over the air, supplementing its OTT and CTV distribution. The national news network boasts 14 news bureaus across the country, providing 17 hours of daily news. “We have built a team of strong storytellers, anchors and reporters with a goal of making journalism as enjoyable, relevant and interesting as it is important,” said Kate O’Brian, head of the news group for Scripps Networks. The OTA launch brings Newsy to Scripps’ broadcast stations’ spectrum as well as that of partner broadcasters, making it the only American news television network to be on both OTA and OTT. Comcast AVOD Xumo is offering an “Ad-Free Movie of the Week,” starting with “Miss Stevens,” available through October 10, followed October 11 by “Hero.” Redbox is partnering with FreeWheel, a Comcast Company, to integrate programmatic technology across Redbox’s free streaming platforms. Advertisers will be able to access and buy Redbox inventory, both nationally and locally, and target specific audiences. Streaming entertainment company Cinedigm announced the evolution of its streaming service Fandor will include a wider footprint, with hundreds of new acquisitions from an array of rights holders and film distributors. The updated platform features a new design and an intuitive user-experience, with a continuous refresh of independent titles each month. Sports streamer FloSports announced the acquisition of HockeyTech, a live and on-demand hockey streaming platform and sports data provider to teams, leagues and national organizations. The acquisition of HockeyTech includes its entire media rights portfolio, live and on-demand streaming platform HockeyTV, and enterprise solutions. TECH TALK Performance advertisers can now take advantage of YouTube on CTV to drive and measure conversion through the expansion of Video action campaigns. Viewers of a Video action campaign on their television can type the URL on their screen into a browser to shop on the brand’s website, without interrupting the viewing session. The ability to connect the jump from CTV to desktop and mobile digital is aimed at helping advertisers drive more online sales and leads. OpenVault, source of SaaS-based revenue and network improvement solutions and data-driven insights for the broadband industry, announced a strategic funding event with funding from three existing customers: Service Electric Cablevision, Service Electric Cable TV & Communications, and Blue Ridge Communications. The money is targeted to help accelerate OpenVault’s growth, most notably in Europe and Latin America. The Cynopsis Digital Model D finalists have been announced. Now get ready to celebrate in person at the Awards Breakfast November 9th in NYC. Vaccine mandate and all CDC protocols to gather safely. See the full list and register today>> COMING UP Cookbook author Pepper Tegen shares her favorite recipes for the family in Food Network special “Getting Spicy with Pepper Teigen,” premiering Saturday, November 6 at 12p. “Black Widow” will be available to all Disney+ subscribers beginning tomorrow, October 6. The film was released on Disney+ with Premier Access back in July. AXS TV and IMPACT Wrestling celebrate the return of PPV event, “Bound for Glory” with a special edition of “Wrestle Week,” starting Monday, October 18 at 9p. Wrestle Week kicks off with the return of “Bad A$$ Movies With The Good Brothers,” as the IMPACT World Tag Team Champions Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows present 1989 action film “Road House.” “Fauci,” a documentary about infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci,. will premiere on Disney+ tomorrow, October 6. The film explores the professional career and personal life of Fauci, who after a lifetime of service faced his biggest test: COVID-19. GOING GLOBAL Quintus Studios announced takers for prison docuseries “Behind Bars – The World’s Toughest Prisons,” including pre-sales to Discovery Latin America, Discovery Iberia, Bell Media in Canada, WELT Germany, SBS VICELAND in Australia and AMC Networks International – Central and Northern Europe for Spektrum in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Saturday Animation Studio is developing its second original children’s UHD-CGI animated series, “Aiko and the Masters of Time,” a serialized sci-fi action adventure for ages 7+ that is produced utilizing DDEG’s real-time pipeline based on Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. Latin American animation studio Ánima announced that the company, in association with distributor Videocine, has reached an agreement with The Walt Disney Company Latin America for the acquisition of the distribution rights in Disney+ in Latin America to Anima’s horror-comedy movies “La Leyenda de la Llorona” (The Legend of Llorona), “La Leyenda de las Momias” (The Legend of the Mummies), “La Leyenda del Chupacabras” (The Legend of Chupacabras), and “La Leyenda del Charro Negro” (The Legend of Charro Negro). Among the Magnify Media scripted and unscripted formats set to launch at today’s live New Formats Showcase: dating format “Love Raft,” from Story Productions for Denmark’s DR3; real estate reality show “Two of a Kind,” from Bermuda Productions for Denmark’s TV2; and social experiment “Is My Country Prejudiced?”, from Joined Up Productions for SBS in Australia. Rive Gauche has licensed factual content to various broadcasters globally: “The Killer Truth” to TF1 in France and Foxtel Australia; serial killer series “Very Scary People” to Crime + Investigation in the UK and Germany; and “Ice Cold Killers” to Discovery Italy, among others. |
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| RATINGS
“The Many Saints of Newark” had a soft $5 million opening in theaters, but it was a different story on HBO Max. The prequel film attracted 1 million US households over the weekend on the streamer, according to Samba TV’s data. Shareablee Top 10 Streaming Shows for the week of September 27 Broadcast Nielsen Ratings for Friday, September 17 EXECUTIVE MOVES Hulu President Kelly Campbell has left the company, “effective immediately,” according to an internal Disney memo. Campbell, who had been with Hulu for four years, replaced Randy Freer in 2020. The Wall Street Journal reports she is in preliminary negotiations to take a senior role a Comcast Corp., noting that NBCU’s President of Direct-to-Consumer, Gidon Katz, resigned last week. “While I’ve made the decision to move on from Hulu, I’ll forever bleed green,” Campbell wrote on LinkedIn. Al Hawes has joined Tastemade as Head of Partner Experiences & Operations. Hawes previously oversaw Starcom USA’s content practice. Rebecca McGill has joined Wolf Entertaiment as EVP. McGill was most recently SVP, Current Series and NBC, and oversaw Wolf Entertainment’s series. Gina Oliva-Pinto has been promoted to Vice President of Marketing for NBCUniversal Local. She will continue to serve as an in-house marketing expert for the division’s local businesses and will be in charge of leading the creative marketing efforts for OTT spaces. Elena Nachmanoff, head of talent recruitment at NBC News, is leaving the company at the end of the year to “pursue external opportunities.” “It’s thanks to her that we have the most talented, captivating and brilliant team of journalists,” said Noah Oppenheim, President of NBC News. Nachmanoff will be succeeded by Jessica Kurdali. Tina Chow has been promoted from EVP of Development and Production to CEO at Bardel Entertainment, and Richard Greive has been bumped up to COO from EVP, Finance and Operations. IN MEMORIAM Hair and make-up designer Marc Pilcher died October 3 of COVID-19. He was 53. Pilcher recently won an Emmy for his work on “Bridgerton.” |
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| This Day in History 2011 – Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died at age 56. Answer to Our Last Trivia Question Today’s Trivia Question |
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| TUESDAY OCTOBER 5 ABC: Bachelor in Paradise [f] CBS: FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International CW: DC’s Stargirl, Supergirl FOX: The Resident, Our Kind of People NBC: The Voice, La Brea, New Amsterdam PBS: Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., American Masters Telemundo: La Casa del los Famosos, Hercal: Amor e Venganza, Malverde: el Santo Patron Univision: Disenando Tu Amor, Si Nos Dejan, La Desalmada |