Fox Corp. is joining the parade of big U.S. media companies seeking to stream their best-known content abroad. The company’s Fox News Media unit plans to launch Fox News International, a live-streaming outlet that will make programming available from Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network in various countries. The company said the new direct-to-consumer
Television
Even before the final-round voting ballots have been sent out, the 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards have made history. The nominees include the most Black performers ever nominated in a single year (with more than 30% of all male and female performers across drama, comedy and limited series/TV movie being Black). Not only is the
The entrance of a number of newcomers could shake up long-time favorites’ odds to win at this year’s Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies. Here, Variety takes a closer look at six of those important races. Main Title DesignThis is one category in which the nominees get to be wholly creative when it comes to visual styles. They
High-end drama series “Leonardo,” starring Aidan Turner (“Poldark”) as the Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci has wrapped its Italian shoot after becoming one of the first large-scale productions to resume production during the coronavirus crisis. The series is co-produced and distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Television. Producers also include Lux Vide with RAI Fiction and
Following its acquisition of Endemol Shine Group, former ESG chief creative officer Peter Salmon will serve as executive chairman at Banijay U.K. with former territory COO Lucinda Hicks stepping in as CEO. The appointments are valid from September. Salmon will oversee the U.K. portfolio of 25 unscripted and scripted production labels, with a focus on
UPDATED: Academy Award-nominated “Call Me By Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino’s new series “We Are Who We Are” is heading to youth-skewing channel BBC Three in the U.K. The HBO/Sky Italia co-production, which was acquired from distributor Fremantle, tells the story of two American kids who live on a U.S. military base in Italy. Jack
Letterbox Filmproduktion, producer of ZDF-Arte hit “Bad Banks” – and part of the Studio Hamburg Production Group that backed Netflix’s “Unorthodox” – has boarded “Davos,” a high-end drama series from Zurich-based film producer Content Film, producer of “Wonderland.” “Davos,” a period espionage thriller, is being written by Germany’s Julia Penner, head writer on seasons 3,
DC Comics and streaming service DC Universe have been impacted by parent company WarnerMedia’s corporate realignment, with layoffs at both units. But a source tells Variety that through WarnerMedia’s streamlining efforts, the DC brand will actually be expanding, with DC chief creative officer Jim Lee overseeing creative of all DC-related growth in the company. At
The most surefire way to make people interested in a product is to ban it from circulation. ABC found this out the hard way in 2018 when it pulled an episode of “Black-ish” (“Please, Baby, Please”) from its schedule less than a week before it was due to air, which all but guaranteed that it
Amid the greater restructuring happening at AT&T-owned WarnerMedia, Warner Bros. Television Group is realigning its scripted and unscripted TV production operations, merging Warner Bros. Television and Warner Horizon Scripted TV to create a new division. The scripted units will be led by WBTV presidents Susan Rovner and Brett Paul, while Warner Bros. unscripted and alternative
The next season of ABC’s “The Bachelor” will feature the franchise’s first Black star in 25 seasons with leading man Matt James. However, a few seasons before James was selected, the network had been eyeing fan-favorite contestant, Mike Johnson, who appeared on Season 15 of “The Bachelorette” and then on “Bachelor In Paradise.” Johnson was ultimately not
Kelly Clarkson will temporarily take over for Simon Cowell on the “America’s Got Talent” judging panel. The news comes after it was reported over the weekend that Cowell underwent back surgery over the weekend following a bike accident. “My friend, Simon Cowell, is doing better now but was in an accident and won’t be able
In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix revealed the trailer for its drama series “Away,” and OWN announced a post-finale special for “Greenleaf.” RENEWALS Quibi announced that “NighGowns,” the documentary performance series, has been renewed for a second season. The series’ first season follows the personal and artistic lives of Sasha Velour and other drag artists
Amid hundreds of layoffs, WarnerMedia is still preparing for one crucial hire. The media company has yet to name a president to lead its advertising-sales efforts, and has not filled the position since executives abruptly pushed out industry veteran Donna Speciale in July of 2019 after she wrangled millions from sponsors to support WarnerMedia’s most
As film and TV sets start to reopen and production resumes, the key concern is keeping cast and crew safe and coronavirus off the set. Santa Monica-based Quantgene, which normally focuses on blood tests that detect several types of cancer, is helping production companies and studios by offering fast turnaround on tests. While some companies
The “Please, Baby, Please” episode of “Black-ish,” which was controversially shelved before airing by ABC due to its political content back in 2018, will finally make it to air on Hulu. “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris shared the news in a statement Monday. “We were one year post-election and coming to the end of a year
Patrick Star is about to become the star of his own show. A “SpongeBob Squarepants” spinoff series centered around SpongeBob’s pink friend is in the works at Nickelodeon, Variety has confirmed with sources. “The Patrick Star Show” will see Bill Fagerbakke continue to voice the character. The series will be a deep dive on Patrick and his
Rarely has a high-level TV-exec job opening been announced quite so loudly. When NBCUniversal pulled the trigger on a massive reorganization of its television business last week, the company made clear that one key position in the new structure had yet to be filled — a new head of entertainment programming who would oversee creative
On August 23, 1989, teenage Yusuf Hawkins took the train into Bensonhurst, Brooklyn with a few of his friends to look at a car for sale. What they didn’t know, being young Black boys from East New York, was that tension was running high in that other pocket of town. A predominantly Italian American neighborhood
Welcome back to Tune In: our weekly newsletter offering a guide to the best of the week’s TV. Each week, Variety’s TV team combs through the week’s schedule, selecting our picks of what to watch and when/how to watch them. As many across the country continue to practice self-isolation due to coronavirus, why not while away
NBCUniversal broadcasts some of the best-known and longest-running programs in late-night TV. Now the company hopes to add two new shows to its wee-hours roster. The company behind “The Tonight Show,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Late Night” and “A Little Late” will launch two weekly programs on its Peacock streaming-video outlet, one led by “Late Night”
MacGruber is officially back in action. Peacock has issued an eight-episode order for a “MacGruber” series which will see Will Forte reprise the role he created while on “Saturday Night Live.” News of the pick up was announced at the NBCUniversal streamer’s TCA press day, and comes around eight months after the show was first
Carla Hall, a longtime Food Network contributor who has also logged stints on ABC’s “The Chew” and Bravo’s “Top Chef,” has struck a new talent pact with the Discovery-owned media property. Hall’s new deal means she will work exclusively with Food Network across its linear and digital outlets, and will take part in “Halloween Baking
The Sunday night TV ratings race wasn’t exactly as close as the PGA Championship finale, which easily out-drove the competition. CBS’ coverage of the golf major’s final day averaged a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49. Around 5.6 million total viewers tuned in to watch 23-year-old Collin Morikawa emerge victorious, two strokes ahead of former world
FX has finally settled on a premiere date for season 4 of “Fargo.” Season 4 was originally scheduled to debut in April, but was delayed for five months “due to the postponement of production related to the coronavirus.” It will now premiere with back-to-back episodes on Sunday, Sept. 27, with the remaining nine episodes airing
In today’s Global Bulletin, Poland makes its Oscars pick, VIS gets a new VP, Transilvania closes its ceremonies, the Barbican plans to reopen its doors, BlackBox Multimedia supports suicide prevention NPO Calm, and Studio 100 readies “SeaBelievers” for Mipcom. OSCARS Poland has submitted Malgorzata Szumowska’s “Never Gonna Snow Again” as the country’s 2021 Oscar submission,
UPDATED: Dominic Buchanan, one of the producers on BAFTA-winning series “The End of the F***ing World,” has questioned the rules preventing him from accessing a BAFTA mask trophy, despite his company’s credit on the show’s award last month. The show, a co-production between Netflix and U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 that was first pitched by Buchanan
London and New York-headquartered superindie production group Argonon has expanded its U.S. operations with the launch of Argonon USA, gearing up Los Angeles-based West Coast facilities, and making several key appointments. Lindsay Schwartz joins as chief creative officer for Argonon Group-backed Leopard USA. She was previously with Story Street, part of The Content Group at
“America’s Got Talent” creator and music industry mogul Simon Cowell has thanked the medical staff at the Los Angeles facility he is being treated at after breaking his back falling off a new bicycle on Saturday. “Some good advice… If you buy an electric trail bike, read the manual before you ride it for the
“Wonder Woman 1984” star Connie Nielsen and “Doctor Who’s” Christopher Eccleston are set to star in psychological drama “Close to Me,” the first English-language drama to originate from Nordic Entertainment Group’s (NENT) fledgling U.K. operation. NENT Studios U.K. is adapting British author Amanda Reynolds’ novel “Close to Me” in an eponymous six-part series that will