Television

Crown Media Family Networks, the parent company of cable channels Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama, has named Wonya Lucas as its new president and CEO. Most recently the president and CEO of Public Broadcasting Atlanta, overseeing its NPR and PBS outlets, Lucas’ attention will now be focused on growing Crown Media’s

“Resident Evil” and “Shadowhunters” producer Constantin Film has renewed the contracts of its long-serving CEO Martin Moszkowicz and TV and digital chief Oliver Berben, and promoted Berben to deputy CEO. Moszkowicz has been CEO of Constantin Film since Jan. 1, 2014 and in addition to company management and strategy he is also in charge of

Producer/director Reginald Hudlin, whose credits include the 2016 Oscars, will become the first-ever Black executive producer of the Primetime Emmys, Variety has learned exclusively. Done+Dusted will return to produce the telecast, while Hudlin will serve as an executive producer along side host Jimmy Kimmel and Done+Dusted’s Guy Carrington, David Jammy and Ian Stewart. ABC and

Elisabeth Moss is attached to star in and executive produce a series adaptation of the 2013 Lauren Beukes novel “Shining Girls,” which has been ordered to series at Apple. Moss will star as a Chicago reporter who survived a brutal assault only to find her reality shifting as she hunts down her attacker. Silka Luisa

“Sweet Magnolias” has been renewed for a second season, Netflix announced Thursday. This means that yes, the identity and fate of the passenger in Kyle’s (Logan Allen) car accident that served as the cliffhanger for the first season finale will finally be revealed. The first season of the dramatic small-screen adaptation of Sherryl Woods’ novel

Nina Dobrev and Bruna Papandrea are teaming to adapt the Greer Macallister novel “Woman 99” for television. Dobrev will star in and executive produce the series, with Papandrea also executive producing under her Made Up Stories banner. Made Up Stories’ Steve Hutensky and Casey Haver will also serve as executive producers with Janice Park serving

One of the more confusing aspects of the Emmy Awards is that there are two different TV academies. I won’t bore you with the history behind this — I’ve written way too much about the infighting between the two orgs these many years — but a divorce in the 1970s left the New York-based National

NBCUniversal’s vast television group is bracing for a significant downsizing as part of the pending layoffs that are expected to hit next month. A plan for layoffs and restructuring of operations have been signaled recently by newly appointed NBCU CEO Jeff Shell. Multiple sources said division heads in TV, including NBCU Television and Streaming chairman

HBO is set to adapt Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me” as a special event airing this fall, the premium cabler announced Thursday. Kamilah Forbes is set to direct, with Coates and Susan Kelechi Watson executive producing, and Roger Ross Williams producing. The network will make a charitable donation to Howard University and the

AT&T said sales for the second quarter of 2020 were lower across all of its segments because of the coronavirus pandemic. That included a 22.9% plunge in WarnerMedia revenue, which the telco said was partly due to lower content and ad sales related to COVID-19. WarnerMedia’s Q2 2020 operating revenue was $6.8 billion, down 22.9%

AT&T touted the “successful” launch of HBO Max — with the new service helping to boost overall HBO and HBO Max customers by 1.7 million over the first six months of 2020. As of June 30, 2020, AT&T’s WarnerMedia reported 36.3 million total U.S. subscribers to HBO Max and HBO, up from 34.6 million at

State-controlled China Central Television (CCTV) has halted broadcasting English soccer matches on its main sports channel. The move appears to be a result of growing political tensions between China and the U.K. CCTV canceled its coverage of the game between Liverpool and Chelsea on Wednesday night, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. It will not

Bad Wolf, the producer of “The Night Of” for HBO, “A Discovery of Witches” for Sky, and “His Dark Materials” for BBC and HBO, has optioned rights for the book “Coming Undone” by Terri White, editor-in-chief of Empire magazine, in a deal with Anna Pallai at AMP Literary. The production company, led by former BBC

In the aftermath of its Endemol Shine takeover, newly formed France-based European content powerhouse Banijay has announced that Pilar Blasco, former CEO of Endemol Shine Iberia, has been appointed CEO of its Spain-headquartered unit Banijay Iberia, while Paolo Bassetti remains in place as CEO of Banijay Italy. The merger led by Marco Bassetti — who

Demitra “Mimi” Roche, who appeared on the Oxygen reality show “Bad Girls Club,” has died. She was 34. Roche’s colleague, record producer Vince Valholla, announced her death via Twitter on Wednesday. Valholla is the founder of Valholla Entertainment in Miami, Fla., where Roche had worked as vice president of A&R since 2011. “I’m at a

Members of SAG-AFTRA have ratified a successor deal to the union’s master contract covering work on feature films and primetime television. The performers union announced the approval Wednesday evening following three weeks of voting and spirited campaigns for and against the pact with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The three-year deal is

A judge on Wednesday handed a significant win to AMC Networks in its long-running battle over profits from “The Walking Dead.” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Buckley held that the cable network was entitled to define “modified adjusted gross receipts” under the terms of its contracts with profit participants. Comic creator Robert Kirkman

“Love Island” will could be back for season 2 sooner than expected, but not on an island. Pre-production on the CBS reality show is underway in a Las Vegas hotel, Variety has confirmed with sources close to the production, and the network is hoping to have the season ready to air near the end of summer.

In today’s roundup, Disney Plus has released first footage of “Marvel’s 616” and Tiffany Boone was cast in Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers.” CASTING Tiffany Boone has been cast in the upcoming Hulu adaptation of “Nine Perfect Strangers“ as the character Delilah. Other cast members currently include Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, and Luke Evans. Boone recently

In his role as ABC News’ Chief White House Correspondent, Jonathan Karl has helped tell the story of the Trump administration’s oversight of the United States. Now he and the news outlet are gearing up to tell the story behind the story. ABC News will on Tuesday, July 28, at 9 p.m. unveil a “20/20”

Vince Vaughn is attached to executive produce an animated comedy series in the works at Fox, Variety has learned exclusively. Fox has given Vaughn, Victoria Vaughn, and Peter Billingsly’s Wild West Picture Show production company a blind script deal for an animated series. No writer is currently attached, but Fox Entertainment will produce. Vince, Victoria, and

“Perry Mason” has been picked up for a second season by HBO. News of the renewal was announced by Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming, and comes only five episodes into the series’ debut season. “Perry Mason” centers around the titular low-rent private investigator (played by Matthew Rhys) who is living check-to-check and is

The “Drag Race” parade just. Won’t. Stop! For the third time this year, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” is expanding its brand with a new series, “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Vegas Revue.” VH1 announced on Wednesday that the six-episode docuseries will follow six former “Drag Race” contestants as they prepare to launch the “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!” show in

CW chief Mark Pedowitz began this year planning for the possibility of writers strike disrupting the network’s 2020-21 season launch plans. All of the preparation to order a few extra unscripted series and to make opportunistic off-network acquisitions turned out to be invaluable when the curveball of the coronavirus pandemic hit in mid-March. In the

ABC is developing a drama series with both Eva Longoria and Forest Whitaker attached as executive producers. Titled “Chicano,” the series is inspired by the novel of the same name Richard Vasquez. It tells the multi-generational story of the Sandovals, a Mexican-American family that immigrates to Los Angeles in pursuit of the American Dream. It follows

HBO Max is expanding its slate of international series. The WarnerMedia platform has acquired the U.S. streaming rights to four shows, namely Italy’s critically-acclaimed crimes series “Gomorrah,”  Spanish drama “Veneno,” about a transgender TV personality, and two U.K. unscripted offerings in “Singletown” and “The Great Pottery Throw Down.” Seasons three and four of “Gomorrah,” as

Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds are back at it again. The duo, who of course teamed up for “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” are set to star in an animated series at Quibi with a title that seems tailor-made for Jackson’s famously expletive-laden vocabulary. “Futha Mucka” will see Jackson play Reynold’s primary caregiver. Here’s the rather

Jonathan Majors is on — well, a major roll at the moment.  Majors has appeared in a string of high-profile features in a matter of a few short years. Those include “Da 5 Bloods” from Spike Lee, Sundance hit “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” “Hostiles” with Christian Bale and “White Boy Rick” with

Hulu has optioned the rights to Curtis Sittenfeld’s alternative history book “Rodham,” which takes place in a world in which Hillary Rodham never married Bill Clinton. The series is described as telling the story of an ambitious young woman, developing her extraordinary mind in the latter part of the 20th century, moving from idealism to

The NBA already has Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Now it’s ready to work with Issa Rae. The producer and actor isn’t picking up a ball to play against the Nets, the Jazz or the Golden State Warrrior, but she may have to execute a trickier maneuver: luring fans back to a new NBA cycle