Programming

Activist hedge fund Blackwells Capital will nominate three directors at Walt Disney Co., rivaling Trian Fund Management which is seeking two seats on the entertainment giant’s board, people familiar with the matter say. While board challenges typically represent attempts to change a company’s strategy, Blackwells is supportive of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s work, the sources say.

In charting the evolution of Black TV, don’t forget the shows that faded from popular memory, struggled to get their due or were canceled before their time. Pictured: L-r: Daphne Maxwell Reid, Virginia Capers and Tim Reid in CBS’s Frank’s Place in 1987. (Everett Collection)

Rebrands, consolidation and AVOD set the tone as Netflix, Disney, Prime Video and more vie for ad-tier subscribers in the new year.

Jimmy Kimmel has responded to Aaron Rodgers‘ comments about the latenight host’s potential connection to the list of Jeffrey Epstein‘s associates. During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, the New York Jets quarterback suggested that Kimmel was among those named on the Epstein list, saying, “There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that doesn’t come out.” Kimmel took to X to dismiss Rodgers’ claim about his connection to Epstein, writing, “Dear Aasshole: for the record, I’ve not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any ‘list’ other than the clearly-phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can’t seem to distinguish from reality. Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”

The annual special was up 30% in primetime on ABC with an average of about 8.4 million people tuning in from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the latenight edition posted a whopping 18 million viewers, soaring to 22.2 million by the time the ball dropped in Times Square. As expected, the audience grew as the night went on. By 10:30 p.m., about 10.4 million people were watching, while the first two hours of the show averaged around 7 million. Things fell off after midnight, with the second half of the latenight show only drawing 5.1 million.

The Los Angeles Times invited a panel of top entertainment industry executives from companies including Sony’s TriStar Pictures, Warner Bros. and United Talent Agency, along with producers of hits such as Barbarian, Wednesday and BS High, to participate in a wide-ranging discussion of topics including the damage done by the strikes, the challenges facing the theatrical movie business, the uncertain future of streaming and linear television and how studios and artists are responding to the threat of artificial intelligence technology.

Boosted by a full season of games on ABC, rising viewing on Prime Video Thursday Night Football, and three big extra Christmas Day games, NFL’s average regular-season game is up 10% to 17.9 million Nielsen-measured viewers through 16 weeks of the season. ABC, which added a full season of Monday Night Football games simulcast with ESPN, witnessed a massive boost of 33% to average 17.1 million. Prime Video’s TNF package of games is 25% higher versus a year ago to 11.8 million viewers.

The lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles also accuses Lythgoe of sexually assaulting Abdul after she left American Idol and became a judge on Lythgoe’s other competition show So You Think You Can Dance.

Programming Everywhere, TVNewsCheck’s conference gathering content executives and creators across platforms to provoke innovative thinking, will return to the NAB Show for its second year under the theme Ideas Beyond Boundaries on April 14. Register here.

Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia on Sunday unveiled plans for the United Football League, the new spring pro football league born from the merger of the XFL and USFL. During an appearance Sunday morning on Fox’s NFL on Fox, the pair said the UFL‘s debut season will begin March 30, 2024, with a game between the Arlington Renegades and Birmingham Stallions, the previous champions from each league. More details are expected soon regarding teams and markets. A promo logo suggests games will be played on ABC, ESPN, Fox and FS1.

With the 10th edition of the College Football Playoff set to cap off a high-rated season starting on New Year’s Day, Disney says advertising inventory is nearly sold out for the semifinals and championship. The level of buy-in is a welcome development for Disney as a challenging 2023 winds to a close. This season’s viewership surge precedes the expansion of the CFP field and negotiations for new media rights deal

As Hollywood can’t wait to close the book on one of the most disruptive years in history, marked by a industry-paralyzing double strike that shut down production for more than six months, there is a lot of hope riding on 2024. There is also a dose of anxiety about what exactly the new normal might be.

Complete broadcast, cable and pay TV ratings ranker for 2023 in total viewers and adults 18-49.

Nonfiction field and story producers have cheered gains made by the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA in their deals with studios, but also have noticed that they’re one of the only departments unprotected by a union even on unionized sets.

Between the brutal Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, a crumbling TV advertising market, and looming uncertainty over the economy and generative artificial intelligence, it was a year to forget for the business. While the strikes are over and everyone is back to work (at least after the holidays), 2024 is shaping up to be nearly as uncertain, with venerable Hollywood studios likely to make market-moving decisions, the continuing evolution of generative AI spooking creatives, and macroeconomic factors all taking their toll.

Bright spots like The Golden Bachelor and the NFL can’t paper over a lost fall for the networks.