Cynopsis 06/27/24: Apple TV+ announces docuseries "Vietnam: The War That Changed America” - Cynopsis Media (2024)

IN THE NEWS

Verizon unveiled a brand refresh – complete with a new logo – as well as new the way people live, work and play. The new logo features a red V with a yellow glow, which anchors in the Verizon name – Veritas (truth) and Horizon (the future of possibility). New programs include “myHome,” which serves as a one-stop shop for internet, entertainment and connected home offerings for Verizon Home Internet customers; the self-explanatory “Guaranteed trade in;” “Verizon Access,” a premium program for all customers that provides access to pre-sales, free giveaways and events like concerts, music festivals and red-carpet movie premieres; and “Verizon Business Complete,” an end-to-end smartphone management solution. “By listening to our customers, we continue to significantly evolve our offerings and brand promise to connect people when it matters most on our reliable network,” said chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg. “…This next chapter is a continuation of our journey of service and innovation.”

The Sorting Hat has spoken. HBO and Warner Bros. Television found the writer and director for the “Harry Potter” series, naming Francesca Gardiner (HBO’s “Succession” and “His Dark Materials,” “Killing Eve”) as showrunner and executive producer, and Mark Mylod (HBO’s “Succession,” “Game of Thrones” and “The Last of Us”) as executive producer and director of multiple episodes. The new series, currently in development, will be available on Max’s expanding global footprint. The series will be an adaptation of the Harry Potter book series by author and executive producer J.K. Rowling.

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Jeffrey Wright will join the cast of espionage political thriller “The Agency” (formerly “The Department) as a series regular, Paramount+ with Showtime said Wednesday. Currently in production in London, “The Agency” is commissioned by Showtime Studios and produced in association with 101 Studios. George Clooney and Grant Heslov will executive produce through Smokehouse Pictures. The political thriller follows Martian (two-time Academy Award nominee Michael Fassbender), a covert CIA agent, ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to London Station.

A new “Van Helsing” series is in the works at CBS, according to Deadline. The series, where the legendary vampire hunter uses his skills to solve crimes in contemporary New York City, is being written by Jonathan Lee (“Lockerbie”) and executive produced by “Elementary” creator Rob Doherty, Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman under a deal with studio Lionsgate Television.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Animated comedy series, “Primos,” from Disney Branded Television, will premiere July 25 with two episodes at 8p on Disney Channel. The first nine episodes will be available on Disney+ on July 26. Episode premieres will move to Saturday mornings at 9a beginning July 27, with two episodes weekly.

Season two of Paramount series “Tulsa King” will premiere September 15 in the U.S. and Canada and across Paramount+ international markets beginning September 16.

AMC Networks has renewed “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire” for a third season, days before the finale of its second season on AMC and AMC+. AMC’s Anne Rice Immortal Universe now includes three series: “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire,” “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches,” which is currently in production on its second season, and the recently greenlit “Anne Rice’s The Talamasca.”

Magnolia Network set the cable premiere of a new season of “Barnwood Builders” for July 11, with the streaming premieres of the eighth season of “Beachfront Bargain Hunt Renovation” slated for July 5 and “A Home Away” on July 17. A new series, “BBQ High,” will premiere later this summer. Produced by Hit + Run, this hour-long, six-episode series follows Texas teens during their senior year of high school as they compete in a series of regional BBQ competitions for a shot at winning the state championship and scholarship money. Additionally, new seasons of “Where We Call Home” will premiere this summer.

PBS Kids released premiere dates for its civics-themed content slate, with season 2 of animated short series “City Island” debuting on July 5. The first 10 episodes of “Together We Can,” which offers music videos centered on a civics curriculum to young viewers, will drop on July 3, with the remaining 10 premiering on August 7.

The HBO Original documentary “Quad Gods” directed by Jess Jacklin, will debut July 10 at 9p on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. The documentary, which had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival, follows the lives of three New Yorkers with quadriplegia that meet in a neuro-rehabilitation lab where they create the world’s first-ever, fully quadriplegic e-sports team.

Telemundo’s “La Isla: Desafío Extremo” will premiere July 30 at 7p on the network. Hosted by Javier Poza, the program features 24 participants who will face extreme challenges of physical and mental survival in wild and remote locations on Turkey’s beaches, mountains and forests in their pursuit of a $200,000 prize.

COMING UP

Just in time for the next heat wave, Great American Family will launch its holiday programming event – “Christmas in July” – a little early this year. The event will kick off on June 28 with the first of 29 holiday-themed films – “Destined at Christmas” at 8p. On June 29, four films – “My Christmas Hero” at 4p; “Jingle Bell Princess” at 6p; “Catering Christmas” at 8p; and “‘Twas the Text Before Christmas” at 10p – that were selected by GAF viewers who won its “Jingle Bell Bracket” competition, will air.

NBC will honor late country music legend Toby Keith with the concert celebration special “Toby Keith: American Icon” on August 28 at 9p. The two-hour event, to be filmed at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, will feature an A-list lineup of musical performances and special guests including Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Jelly Roll, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Lainey Wilson, and The War and Treaty, performing Keith’s greatest hits as well as their original songs. Keith died in February and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame shortly before his passing. Over his career Keith amassed 42 top-10 hits, 33 #1’s, 44 million albums sold, 100 million BMI performances and more than 10 billion streams.

Telemundo will premiere drama “El Conde: Amor Y Honor” on July 1 at 10p, available to stream next day on the Telemundo app and Peaco*ck. Set in Mexico during the 1930s and 1950s, the drama stars Fernando Colunga and Ana Brenda Contreras.

STREAMING

Hyperlocal streaming service Zeam Media has launched several new channels including “Always Funny TV,” from the creators of America’s Funniest Home Video, TEGNA’S “Locked on Sports” and “True Crime Network” channels, and Hubbard Broadcasting’s roster of local stations across Minnesota, New Mexico, and upstate New York. Earlier this month the platform launched “Fast Lane TV” from professional race car driver Ryan Phinny.

TECH TALK

As Congress considers the American Privacy Rights Act, which would restrict data collection critical to the ad industry, a new study led by the Connected Commerce Council (3C) and Advertiser Perceptions found that overregulating data could severely impact small and medium-sized business advertisers and publishers that use these tools to find customers. According to the study – “Digital Advertising: Balancing regulation and Growth Opportunities for American Businesses” – 69% of SMBs use digital ads to find new customers and of those, most (59%) said the ads were more effective than TV, radio, or print ads. About 82% attributed their 2023 revenue growth to online ads.

A new study by Moloco and YouGov shows that American consumers are increasingly moving away from traditional TV for their content viewing, with more willing to watch ads in exchange for lower subscription fees. The study – “Consumer Perceptions of Ads on Streamers Survey 2024 – found that 55% of US consumers use a Smart TV for personal streaming, compared to 24% for mobile devices, 13% for laptops/PCs and 7% for tablets; 42% said they were cutting the cord with traditional TV and more than 60% said they would choose lower fees in exchange for watching ads. About 26% said they saw ads as interesting and relevant. Pre- and post-roll ads were seen as most acceptable, while banner, display and mid-roll ads were considered most intrusive or disruptive.

SPORTS UPDATE

Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals averaged 7.7 million viewers, up 182% versus last year’s Finals clincher. Game 7 reached an average of 3.1 million people 18-49, up 182% and 170% versus last year’s Stanley Cup Final Game 5 clincher (Florida-Vegas), and up 32% and 39% versus 2022’s Stanley Cup Final Game 6 on ABC (Colorado-Tampa Bay). Viewership of Game 7 peaked at 10.3 million in the 10:45p quarter-hour and drew the largest non-Original Six audience on record. It also ranks as the most-viewed NHL game ever on ESPN+.

Nominees for “The 2024 ESPYS Presented by Capital One,” have been released, with first-time nominees like Haleigh Bryant, Coco Gauff, C.J. Stroud, Juju Watkins and Victor Wembanyama joining veterans Patrick Mahomes and Shohei Ohtani, LeBron James, Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods vying for top awards. Fan voting is open and will close at 5p on July 11, just prior to the live broadcast, which will be hosted by tennis legend Serena Williams at 8p on ABC from Los Angeles.

ReachTV has partnered with Dr. Jennifer Welter, the first female coach in the NFL, to launch a new original short form series “First & Goals,” which will air across the company’s network of screens at 2,400 airport gates and 750 venues in 90 airports, plus 500,000 hotel rooms. Each 3-minute episode of “First & Goals,” draws on Dr. Welter’s groundbreaking experiences and personal journey to motivate viewers to overcome obstacles and strive for personal excellence.

NBCUniversal said a virtual representation of legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels will deliver AI-enhanced updates of the upcoming Paris Summer Olympics on Peaco*ck. The streamer, which is carrying full coverage of the Paris Olympics events, will present “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peaco*ck,” described as “a first-of-its-kind, personalized experience complementing NBCUniversal’s comprehensive coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.” The feature, unveiled at the end of a two-hour presentation at NBCU headquarters in New York according to Deadline.com, is a collaboration with Michaels using generative AI and AI voice synthesis technology.

GOING GLOBAL

DeAPlaneta Entertainment has signed an agreement with Canal + Poland for three preschool series: “Milo,” (co-produced by DeAPlaneta Entertainment and Fourth Wall); preschool coding series “Mia & Codie” and the multi-awarded “Nina & Olga.” As part of the agreement, Canal + has renewed season 1 of “Milo” and will broadcast its season 2 together with “Mia & Codie” and “Nina & Olga” in Poland through its linear TV channel and SVOD.

Digital content studio Little Dot Studios has acquired more than 40 hours of premium factual content from Quintus Studios for its digital channels. Programming includes three seasons of “Mega Transports,” “Behind Bars” (both produced by Maximus Film); “Jungle Midwives of Columbia” (produced by ARTE); “Ultimate Vehicles” and Quintus Originals series “Beyond Borders,” “Most Mysterious Places in the World,” “World’s Most Dangerous Rescues” and “Crisis in Cocaine Valley.” The series will play out across Little Dot Studios’ YouTube channels including Real Stories, Real Crime, Real Responders, Spark, Wonder, Absolute Documentaries, and Absolute Sci Fi. All crime titles have also been acquired for Little Dot Studios’ Real Crime FAST channel.

The African version of classic TV show “Kids Say the Darndest Things” is readying its third season on the continent, via a new partnership between Paramount Global Content Distribution and What Media Group. With production partner Mansa Studios, casting calls will be announced shortly, inviting children aged 4 to 11 from all over Africa to share their unique perspectives. The U.S. version of “Kids Say the Darndest Things” is produced by CBS Studios in association with Anvil 1893 Entertainment and She Ready Productions. The format rights are licensed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Screenline Productions has formed a partnership with writers Matthieu Rumani and Nicolas Slomka, granting Screenline the rights to any future projects and developments from the duo, who will also co-produce through their own company, Vodka & Caramel. Screenline has already collaborated with Rumani and Slomka on “Trash,” an upcoming Prime Video mini-series inspired by the real-life events of “Loft Story,” the French adaptation of “Big Brother.”

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Telemundo said it is on track to be the most watched Spanish-language network for the second quarter in weekday primetime, excluding sports, among both total viewers and adults 18-49. To date, the network has delivered a total of 1.14 million total viewers and 332,000 adults 18-49 for the Monday-Friday 7-11p timeslot, excluding sports, in the period, according to Nielsen, outperforming Univision by +10% in both demos. In addition, Telemundo said it is the most-watched Spanish-language entertainment network, excluding sports, on Sunday nights in the second quarter, averaging 1 million total viewers and 267,000 adults 18-49, beating Univision by +38% and +47%, respectively.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

ITV named Stefan Hoejmose Group Chief Data and AI Officer, effective July 8. He will report to CTO Simon Farnsworth and will work across both ITV’s Media & Entertainment and Studios divisions. Hoejmose had previously led Roku’s Data Science and Machine Learning team and earlier held senior data roles at Dyson, Sky, MediaCom and Lloyds Bank.

Happy Accidents has appointed Courtney Colman as its Chief Financial Officer. Colman will be responsible for the financial and tax department of the studios’ film and TV productions, corporate strategic planning, accounting, finance, budgeting and forecasting. Colman brings over 30 years of strategic financial experience in media and entertainment to Happy Accidents, having held CFO positions at the Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA), Mob Scene, XPRIZE Foundation, Gold Circle Entertainment, Porchlight Entertainment and First Look Studios.

Versus has named Ashley Champ vice president of brand partnerships and talent. She will work with the commercial team servicing brands and agencies and in the originals division. Prior to joining Versus, Champ was the head of growth and creator partnerships at Blacktag.

GroupM has appointed Alycia Mason as CEO of Wavemaker U.S. Mason will lead the agency’s U.S. operations and client relationships and will begin at the end of July. She will join the Global Wavemaker Leadership team, as well as the GroupM North America Leadership Team, and report to Sharb Farjami, CEO of GroupM North America.

Independent media company Tastemade promoted Elvina Payne to Chief Financial Officer. Payne, who joined Tastemade in 2016 as Global Corporate Controller, will spearhead the company’s financial strategy, planning, and operations.

Today’s Trivia Question
What short-lived TV show was created by Buck Henry and starred William Daniels as a superhero who was afraid of heights and only battled bad guys because his mother told him to? (Email [emailprotected] 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.)