Programming

Lythgoe is also co-creator and executive producer of the Fox dance competition series, whose 18th season is set to start in March.

Gibbs is returning to the NCIS universe as the lead of a new CBS drama, which serves as a prequel to the long-running procedural. The network has given a straight-to-series order to NCIS: Origins, about young Leroy Jethro Gibbs, for the 2024-25 broadcast season. The project comes from the two actors who have portrayed Gibbs on NCIS, Mark Harmon and his son Sean Harmon, veteran NCIS writers-producers, Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North, as well as CBS Studios, which is behind the NCIS franchise.

The deal includes football, men’s and women’s basketball, as well as Olympic sports through 2032.

Marie Donoghue, who parlayed a stint at ESPN into a job helping Amazon break into the U.S. sports-media business, is leaving the company, according to a person familiar with the matter. Amazon declined to comment.

The Grey’s Anatomy spinoff will end this year with an abbreviated seventh season. With Station 19 and Grey’s serving as the only remaining shows on ABC produced by hitmaker Shonda Rhimes — who is now based exclusively at Netflix — why would the network ax one of its Thursday staples? The answer can be found in the math.

The former CNN president and onetime executive producer of Today, is investing in Media Res, the independent Hollywood studio behind the hit prestige dramedy The Morning Show on Apple TV+. It’s the latest gamble by Zucker in his effort to build a mini media empire for RedBird IMI, the venture company he founded in 2022.

YouTube TV is not only the fastest-growing virtual pay TV provider with an estimated 6.9 million subscribers, but has surpassed Dish Network (6.7 million), and now has become the fourth-largest of any pay TV provider of any kind, says MoffettNathanson Research. YouTube TV has grown 35% year-over-year (at just over 5.1 million subscribers in the third quarter of 2022).

The YES Network and MSG Networks have formed a streaming joint venture that could one day lead to New York Yankees and New York Knicks games being housed on a single service. Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment, or GAME, is the new 50-50 venture, which is aiming for technical and operational synergies. Like many players in the cash-intensive direct-to-consumer business, the two sports entities have found streaming to be a costly proposition.

As Shari Redstone decides how to part with her empire, a number of players have emerged as suitors — all with varying, and conflicting, motivations to make a bid for the historic studio.

The network will debut the latenight show, hosted by comedian Taylor Tomlinson and based on Comedy Central’s @midnight, on Jan. 16 — or technically Jan. 17, as it debuts at 12:37 a.m. ET/PT, but at the tail end of the Jan. 16 broadcast day.

The NCAA and ESPN today announced a $920 million, eight-year agreement that will give the cable network exclusive rights to 40 championships, including the Division I women’s basketball tournament, an event growing in popularity that the association has been accused of undervaluing in the past. Pictured: Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (r) celebrates in front of Michigan State guard Moira Joiner after her three-point basket won the game on Jan. 2. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

Comet and Charge! are now available on CBS Affiliates in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco while TBD and The Nest can be seen on KCAL Los Angeles.

In addition to major across-the-board viewership growth during the NFL season, Amazon Prime Video says it had major gains among younger and female viewers in its second year of the Thursday Night Football franchise. Younger 18-34 viewers averaged 2.4 million per game in 2023 — up 14% over a year ago versus its first year Prime Video airing (2.11 million) and 26% higher than the total that Fox/NFL Network earned in 2021 (1.9 million). For its entire 13-game schedule, Nielsen-measured TNF viewership was up 24% to 11.86 million viewers versus a year ago.

Though the legal drama racked up another 682M viewing minutes from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, that wasn’t enough to be among the 10 most-watched streaming titles in the week after Thanksgiving. However, it did manage to remain on the acquired title list at No. 6. This marks the first time since June that Suits hasn’t claimed a spot on the Top 10, since eight of nine seasons landed on Netflix. Young Sheldon took first place on the overall list during this measurement period, up from fourth place the week prior.

Tegna is the largest independent owner of NBC affiliates. The 20 markets renewed cover more than 21 million households, nearly 17% of U.S. TV households.

The group has been key in developing the studio’s original programming, highlighted by the Anne Rice and Walking Dead universes.

Rodgers, the Jets quarterback, suggested during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show that Kimmel had a connection to Jeffrey Epstein, leading Kimmel to threaten legal action.

ABC’s Celebrity Jeopardy! semifinal was Tuesday’s most-watched show (by a wide margin) and also came out on top in the coveted-and-delicious 18-49 demo. Celeb Jeop! returned from the holiday break to 4.4 million viewers and a 0.5 demo rating, hitting and matching Season 2 highs. ABC’s broadcast of Only Murders in the Building‘s first three episodes averaged 3 mil and a 0.24. On NBC, Night Court’s Season 2 premiere (3.7 million/0.4) was down a tick from the revival’s freshman averages.

Veteran producer Dylan Massin (The West Wing) has been named EVP of production for Sony Pictures Television Studios. Massin (left), who reports to SPTS President Katherine Pope, assumes the head of production role from Ed Lammi, who retired in December after a 36-year career at the studio. Massin will oversee all physical production for the U.S. scripted studio, including pre-production/budgeting, production, and post-production teams. Additionally, SPTS’ SVP of Production Adam Moos (right) has been promoted to SVP of production and head of production operations, reporting to Massin. Both Massin and Moos begin their new roles today.

T-Mobile is sweetening the deal for its most expensive wireless plan with another free streamer: The carrier is bundling the ad-supported version of Disney’s Hulu for no extra charge later this month. Starting Jan. 24, Hulu With Ads (normally $7.99 per month) will be included at no extra cost as a part of T-Mobile’s Go5G Next unlimited plan. Under such agreements, the distributor (i.e., T-Mobile) typically pays a wholesale per-subscriber fee to the content provider (i.e., Hulu).

CBS has given a straight to series order to a drama series that will see Morris Chestnut star as the iconic literary character Dr. John Watson, the companion of master detective Sherlock Holmes. The show, titled Watson, is a contemporary story set one year after the death of Holmes at the hands of his archnemesis Moriarty. The show is expected to air during the 2024-25 broadcast season.