Programming

Old habits die hard. So Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav just sat down with Paramount Global chief executive Bob Bakish to talk about merging, and the media business yet again confronted the possibility of a spasm of mega-deals reshaping the landscape.

When the opening bell rang on Wall Street Thursday, however, investors didn’t exactly give the idea of “Warnamount” a ringing endorsement. Shares of Paramount slipped 1% and WBD slid 4% in early trading. Paramount is 40% below its 52-week high, and WBD has lost more than half its value since the April 2022 close of the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger.

The agreement, which was contained in a court filing made Wednesday, is subject to court approval. Diamond Sports has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the Southern District of Texas since it filed for protection in March. The company said in a financial filing last year that it had debt of $8.67 billion.

Paramount Global is in talks to sell its Black Entertainment Television network to a management-led investor group, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The potential buyers include BET CEOScott Mills and Chinh Chu, a former Blackstone Inc. executive who runs New York-based CC Capital Partners, said the people who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. A price of a little under $2 billion has been discussed, the people said. Media mogul Byron Allen also renewed his pursuit of network.

When Disney+, HBO Max (now just Max) and other streaming services were launched, the idea behind their strategies was simple enough. The entertainment companies took what was essentially a “walled garden” approach by having a bunch of content from the same company, new and old, streaming in one place. Lately, though, the walls around the streamers’ orchards have started to crack. Executives have become increasingly willing to license titles from their libraries to third parties, including Netflix, as studios mine their catalogs for much-needed cash.

Once again, the popular newsmagazine show is top of its class, also coming in as No. 1 among true crime franchises, for the 2023 broadcast year-to-date. According to Nielsen’s most current data, the series has amassed more than 125 million viewers this year across broadcast, licensing and syndication. Nielsen’s most current data includes viewership tallies from Dec. 26, 2022, to Dec. 14, 2023. Across TV and digital platforms, viewers have consumed 162.5 billion minutes of Dateline, NBCU says.

Highlights include the plight of stand-up, the enduring appeal of Gilmore Girls and the meteoric rise of South Korean TV.

ABC’s share of the Monday Night Football match-up between the Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks averaged 8.3 million total viewers, down 10% week-to-week in audience. On NBC, Password‘s holiday special drew 3 million and a 0.2, down sharply from any of the revival’s solid summer 2022 numbers.

Karen Sack (left) has been elevated to EVP, finance, Disney Entertainment Television; Peggy Ting to SVP finance and business planning, Disney Television Studios; and Amit Ziv to SVP finance and business planning for ABC Entertainment, ABC News, ABC Owned Television Stations and Freeform. In her expanded role, Sack will be instrumental in setting business strategy and ensuring delivery of profitability targets for the TV business by leading P&L forecasts and short- and long-term financial planning. She will oversee all finance matters, including budget management and analysis.

Television usage jumped 5.7% in November, boosted by the Thanksgiving holiday to its highest levels since January, according to Nielsen. Viewing during the week of Thanksgiving was up 14%. Broadcast viewing rose for the fourth consecutive month, while cable dropped to a new low with a 28.3% share. Streaming grew 4%, but its share dipped to 36.1% from 26.6% in October.

HMPG has been the long-time distributor of the Hanna franchise.  In addition to its current ownership of Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures, HMPG has acquired nearly 400 episodes of the series Jack Hanna’s Wild Countdown and Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild for global distribution.

Warrior won’t be returning for a fourth season on Max. However, the existing three seasons of the martial arts crime drama are set to find additional audiences as Netflix has picked up the series’ library in a co-exclusive deal with Max in Warner Bros. Discovery streamer’s markets.

A Manhattan jury found Majors, 34, guilty of one misdemeanor assault charge and one harassment violation stemming from his March confrontation with then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. She said he attacked her in a car and left her in “excruciating” pain; his lawyers said Jabbari was the aggressor. Marvel and Disney immediately dropped the Creed III star from all upcoming projects following the conviction, said a person close to the studio. (Seth Wenig/AP)

Lang is a former CEO of Miramax, was part of the team that launched Hulu, where he was a founding board member, and has worked for companies including Disney, Fox, Universal Music and Discovery. He was most recently CEO of Pixel United, a mobile games business and joins Vice from the role of operating partner at Fortress, the company that acquired it out of bankruptcy earlier this year.

Amazon is in talks to invest in the biggest regional-sports programmer, a move that would advance the e-commerce giant’s aggressive push into sports content as it takes on streaming rivals like Disney and Netflix. If an agreement is reached, Amazon’s Prime Video platform would eventually become the streaming home for Diamond’s games.