Television

Warner Bros. Discovery said profit rose in the first quarter despite declines in traditional TV audiences, as revenue from advertising and distribution increased thanks in part to the company’s streaming initiatives. Warner Bros. Discovery is essentially a new company, having completed its acquisition of the former WarnerMedia earlier this month. But the results released Tuesday

Kevin Hart is expanding his busy comedy production empire with the merger of two existing production banners and an influx of $100 million though the sale of a minority stake to private equity firm Abry Partners. With the deal, Hart combines Hartbeat Productions and Laugh Out Loud into a single Hartbeat banner led by CEO

The BBC has unveiled its latest statistics regarding disability and ethnicity representation in a new impact report. The data is taken from the corporation’s 50:50 Project, an initiative which “uses a methodology that is rooted in data, creativity, practicality and passion to fundamentally shift representation within the media.” The 50:50 Project’s 2022 impact report shows

Viola Davis has responded to critics of her portrayal of Michelle Obama in Showtime’s “The First Lady,” admitting that “not everything is going to be an awards-worthy performance.” In an interview with BBC News to promote her new memoir, “Finding Me,” the Oscar, Tony and Emmy-winning actor spoke candidly about her turn as the former

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the third episode of “Better Call Saul” Season 6, titled “Rock and Hard Place.” Like the title of Monday night’s episode says, Nacho Varga (Michael Mando) found himself between a rock and a hard place — Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) and Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis) —

Entertainment-focused private investment firm Coral Tree Partners has closed its inaugural round of funding with committed capital of approximately $470 million, well above the initial target of $350 million. Per Coral Tree, inaugural fund was “significantly oversubscribed above its original hard cap” and “received strong support from a range of high‐quality institutional investors, including endowments,

David Hollander will no longer be an executive producer on the CBS comedy series “How We Roll,” Variety has confirmed with sources. The news comes shortly after it was reported that Hollander had been let go from his role as showrunner on the upcoming Showtime series “American Gigolo” following a misconduct investigation. Production has already

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Comedian Jon Stewart was awarded the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize on Sunday in a raucous affair that celebrated his genius at exposing hypocrisy and injustice wherever they occur. “This is incredible,” said an emotional Stewart upon receiving the miniature bust of Twain that followed two hours of roasting and tender testimonials

NBCUniversal Television and Streaming has promoted Orit Blankrot to senior vice president of entertainment business and legal affairs, Variety has learned exclusively. In her new role, Blankrot, who most recently served as vice president of entertainment business and legal affairs for NBCU’s TV and streaming arm, has increased oversight of business and legal affairs for

The Weeknd’s HBO drama series “The Idol” is being reworked with changes to its cast and crew, Variety has learned. According to sources, production was already completed on multiple episodes of the six-episode series, which will now be redone due to a change in creative directions. “‘The Idol’s’ creative team continues to build, refine, and evolve

When Jamie Hector heard the true story of the dirty cops at the heart of the new HBO limited series “We Own This City,” it wasn’t the corruption that surprised him. “What surprised me was how well-documented it was,” Hector told Variety. “We Own This City” is based on Justin Fenton’s book of the same

Right on the heels of the news that Elon Musk is nearing a deal to buy Twitter, a television documentary about the polarizing businessman has been announced to premiere this May. Titled “Elon Musk’s Crash Course,” the upcoming film is the latest in FX and The New York Times’ collaborative documentary series “The New York

HBO is developing a half-hour comedy series based on the Dave Eggers novel “The Every,” Variety has learned. In the show, world’s largest tech company merges with the planet’s dominant e-commerce site, creating the richest and most dangerous – and, oddly enough, the most beloved – monopoly ever known: The Every. Eggers will serve as

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you haven’t watched the season finale of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 14 came to an end on Friday night, and Willow Pill was crowned America’s Next Drag Superstar. Willow Pill, a fan favorite from the beginning, beat out Lady Camden in a lip sync for the crown

Kris Thykier’s Archery Pictures, whose credits include John Madden’s “Operation Mincemeat” and Sky thriller “Riviera,” has acquired the television rights to Ned Beauman’s highly anticipated new novel “Venomous Lumpsucker.” The dark comedy is a madcap adventure story set in a dystopian world ravaged by climate change. The story is set in the near future, when

Fremantle has struck a strategic development deal with AWA Studios, the film and television division of AWA (Artists, Writers & Artisans). The deal will allow Fremantle and AWA Studios to collaborate and co-develop a slate of TV projects based on AWA’s expanding IP library. The graphic fiction publisher and entertainment studio was founded in 2018

African American-founded, faith-based channel Impact Network is making a big push into entertainment and lifestyle content with the ramping up of its Saturday programming slate, the hiring of a new chief creative officer and executive producer of original content, and the launch of a 6,000-foot production facility in Detroit with a music division, Variety has

Jensen Ackles revealed at a “Supernatural” fan event in East Brunswick, N.J., that his co-star Jared Padalecki was involved in a serious car accident that could’ve killed him (via People). Ankles attended Creation Entertainment’s Supernatural Official Conventions on April 24 without his longtime co-star because Padalecki was recovering from a “very bad car accident.” “I

“The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem,” Yes Studios’ award-winning historical series, has been picked up by Netflix for multiple territories, including the U.S., U.K., France and Spain. The multi-language series is represented in international markets by Yes Studios, the Tel Aviv-based producer and distributor behind “Fauda,” “Your Honor,” “Shtisel” and “On the Spectrum.” Set in the

Universal International Studios has promoted Ed Havard to lead its unscripted efforts as senior VP of creative, unscripted programming. Based in London and reporting into head of studio David O’Donoghue, Havard will be responsible for leading the studio’s unscripted strategy in the U.K., and building on strategic partnerships with creators, producers and on-screen talent to

SPOILER ALERT:Do not read if you haven’t watched “Forgiving Jeff,” the Season 3 premiere of “Barry,” now streaming on HBO Max. Nobody is more critical of Gene Cousineau than the actor portraying him. Since 2018, Henry Winkler has been playing the acting coach on Alec Berg and Bill Hader’s HBO crime dramedy “Barry.” And while

Korean TV powerhouse JTBC is upping its game and changing its name in order to stay at the forefront of the worldwide Korean content explosion. While the parent broadcast group will keep the JTBC monicker, its 15-strong cluster of production companies have been renamed Studio LuluLaLa, or SLL, instead of the prosaic JTBC Studios. The

The winners of the 2022 British Academy Television Craft Awards are being presented at an in-person event at London’s The Brewery on Sunday, April 24. Russell T. Davies’ Channel 4 series “It’s a Sin” and Sky Atlantic’s “Landscapers” lead the nominations at these awards with five nods each, followed by Channel 4’s “We Are Lady

It’s hard to imagine the world of entertainment without Jean Smart. With “Hacks” and “Mare of Easttown” bringing her back to the forefront in the recent years, some call it a Jean Smart renaissance — but that’s not really the case. In fact, she’s never not been working — maybe we just haven’t been paying

Ahead of her Hollywood Walk of Fame honor, icon Jean Smart looked back at some of her incredible roles — including the one that put her on the map globally. In 1985, she joined CBS’ “Designing Women” as Charlene Frazier Stillfield, a role she held for five seasons. The sitcom earned 18 Emmy nominations and

Megan Thee Stallion will talk about the 2020 incident in which Tory Lanez allegedly shot her on “CBS Mornings” Monday. The incident, in which Megan has claimed publicly that Lanez shot her in the feet after an argument following a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in July of 2020, has never been fully explained; the

Showtime and Paramount Television Studios have parted ways with showrunner David Hollander, who had a long run with Showtime as the leader of “Ray Donovan.” Hollander most recently was at the helm of Showtime’s upcoming drama “American Gigolo.” Hollander developed Showtime’s TV adaptation of the 1980 Paul Schrader film that launched Richard Gere’s career. In

The general public may not think of “E.T. the Extraterrestrial” as a divorce movie, per se … although Dee Wallace’s reading of the line “He hates Mexico” has always been one of its most resonant. But in speaking about the film for its 40th anniversary at the TCM Classic Film Festival Thursday night, Steven Spielberg

After a topsy-turvy week, the thought occurred to me during AT&T’s investor call on Thursday: What if John Stankey wound up on the winning side of the streaming wars? Netflix took a nosedive on Tuesday with an earnings report that proved that it could not suspend the law of gravity forever. The steady upward climb

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you haven’t watched the season finale of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 13 winner Symone was hailed for her high-fashion runway style that saw her glide to victory and become America’s next drag race superstar. Earlier this evening, she crowned Willow Pill as Season 14’s winner, thereby concluding