Two of the only original offerings on broadcast TV dipped to series low ratings last night. Over on NBC, “World of Dance” tripped over its feet, falling almost 30% from last week to a 0.5 rating amogn adults 18-49 and drawing 3.3 million total viewers. That represents a series low rating for the dance competition
Television
“This has been a hell of a year,” Gary Davey, CEO of Sky Studios, the production arm of Comcast-owned European pay-TV operator Sky, said Wednesday, contemplating the carnage caused by COVID. Davey said it was “the most challenging year” he’d had since 1985, the year he launched Sky Channel. Sky Studios, which was set up
Germany’s ZDF Enterprises, experts in crime and the production and sales outfit behind Nordic Noir original “The Bridge” and Swedish mega-hit crime thriller “Before We Die,” is at it again. This time round, the commercial arm of German public broadcaster ZDF has greenlit “Body of Water,” an eight-part crime drama showrun and written by Brendan
Disney Plus and Disney Channel have swooped for a pair of animated TV movies based on the popular “Miraculous” franchise, produced by L.A.-based banner ZAG and Mediawan-owned “The Little Prince” producer ON Kids & Family. The two film projects, titled “Miraculous World: New York – United HeroeZ” and “Miraculous World: Shanghai – Lady Dragon,” have
Baseball advertising appears to have pivoted from a months-long slump to hitting above average. Fox Corp. has sold more than 90% of its ad inventory in its share of games in Major League Baseball’s pandemic-truncated 2020 season, according to Seth Winter, executive vice president of sports sales for the company, as well as all the
“Trainspotting” creator Irvine Welsh will adapt his novel “Crime” alongside long-standing screenwriting partner Dean Cavanagh (“Wedding Belles”) for BBC and ITV-backed streamer BritBox U.K. The six-episode production is one of four original commissions announced by the platform on Wednesday. Set in Edinburgh and directed by James Strong (“Liar”), “Crime” will star Dougray Scott (“Mission: Impossible
ViacomCBS Networks U.K. has announced several steps that will actively strengthen its diversity and inclusion drive. The company is implementing a ‘no diversity, no commission’ content policy for its suppliers, and will extend the Creative Diversity Network’s Diamond diversity data monitoring across all its pay TV brands, in addition to ViacomCBS-backed public service broadcaster Channel
Daisha Riley, a producer on “Good Morning America,” has died, co-host Michael Strahan announced to viewers on Tuesday morning. She was 35. “One of our stars, Daisha Riley, a young and talented producer, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. She rose through the ranks over the years on our show, working on stories that have made
In today’s TV news roundup, BET will air six episodes of “The Good Fight,” and Netflix announced a premiere date for “Julie and the Phantoms.” FIRST LOOKS Netflix released a trailer for Sam Jay’s comedy special, “3 In The Morning,” shot at The Masquerade in Atlanta and set to launch Aug. 4. In her first
Wendy Williams is returning this fall — and not from her home, but from the purple chair in her Manhattan studio. The queen of daytime gossip announced on Tuesday that her long-running syndicated show will resume production in-studio on Sept. 21. “I can’t wait to get back to all of you and to my amazing
L. Chris Stewart, the trial attorney currently representing the families of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, is teaming with eOne for a documentary series about his pursuit of justice for victims of police brutality. The series, titled “Burden of Justice,” will see Stewart open up his life and his legal practice to show the harsh
As Hollywood takes stock of the best ways to diversify its ranks, Chris Chalk implores the industry not to forget the hair and makeup trailer. The need for more diversity in the hair and makeup department is often discussed when Black women like Gabrielle Union, Yvette Nicole Brown or Nia Long speak out about their
After “Avatar: The Last Airbender’s” resurgence on Netflix, its sequel series, “The Legend of Korra,” is also headed to the streaming platform. “The Legend of Korra” will be made available to stream on Netflix on Aug. 14, Nickelodeon revealed in a tweet on Tuesday. Following an avatar named Korra, the show explores a more modernized
Elisabeth Moss is making a giant leap into developing and producing her own content. “The Handmaid’s Tale” star has inked a joint first-look deal with the show’s platform Hulu and Fox 21 Television Studios. Moss has also launched her own production company called Love & Squalor Pictures, which will focus on creating TV and film
CAA announced Tuesday that Praveen Pandian has been promoted to head up the agency’s TV literary department. “Praveen is an exceptional agent with a tremendous work ethic and great taste,” said Joe Cohen, CAA Board Member and Head of Scripted Television. “He is a shining example of what we stand for at CAA, and I
I’m not sure anyone on Earth could give Naya Rivera the tribute she deserves. In fact, the process of losing her has been such a nightmare, I find myself wondering if Naya was even real or if she was just a dream all along. How could a human being be that talented, that hilarious and
HBO is tapping its ruby slippers and heading to Kansas. The premium cabler has issued a series order for a new comedy titled “Somebody Somewhere,” which is set in Kansas and will star Kansas-born comedian and singer Bridget Everett. Inspired by Everett’s life, the series will center around Sam Miller (played by Everett), a true
Actor and comedian Jay Pharoah had never interacted with the police before April 26, 2020, when he heard a police officer yell for someone to “get on the ground.” “I’ve only been able to see it over the years, but to finally have that happen to me, personally, I understand fully the rage of all
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson loomed large on the broadcast TV landscape on Monday night. The star’s “Titan Games” competition series scored the highest rating across broadcast on the night for NBC. Its 0.7 rating among adults 18-49 was even on last week’s episode and its season 2 premiere back in May. A total of 3.8
The world seems to be quickly coming to understand that navigating life as a Black person in America is an emotional and difficult journey. But what about paving a path in Hollywood? As support for the Black Lives Matter movement emboldens more Black people and people of color in the industry to speak out about
A series titled “Revelations” based on Stephen King’s short story “The Revelations of ’Becka Paulson” is in the works at The CW, Variety has learned. In the potential one-hour drama, after accidentally shooting herself in the brain with a nail gun, a Pollyanna-ish Becca Paulson is recruited by an over-it Jesus to be his “chosen
Raven Capital management, the U.S. private equity firm that last year acquired distributor Open Road, is to finance a slate of TV projects from South East Asia’s Coconuts. The arrangement will kick-off with pilots for seven unscripted TV shows. Raven and Coconuts TV will partner on global licensing and distribution deals for the series. Coconuts
“Mythbusters” and “White Rabbit Project” alums Tory Belleci and Kari Bryon have paid tribute to their former colleague Grant Imahara, who died unexpectedly on July 13. Read their tributes below. Tory Belleci I met Grant Imahara back in 1997 when I stepped through the doors of the ILM model shop. To say I was nervous
As Hollywood commits to featuring more Black actors on camera, another question arises: What is being done about the support staff around them — and particularly in the hair and makeup trailers? When “The Bold Type” star Aisha Dee posted a letter on Instagram on July 15 detailing her experience as a biracial woman in
Italian soccer icon Francesco Totti will be the subject of a six-part Sky Original series with the working title “Speravo De Mori’ Prima – The Series About Francesco Totti.” Produced by Mario Gianani for Wildside, part of the Fremantle group, with Virginia Valsecchi’s Capri Entertainment, The New Life Company and Kwaï, the series is based
For more than 20 years, the business of owning cable TV channels was seemingly too good to be true. Todd Juenger, senior media analyst for Sanford Bernstein, crunched the numbers and found that entertainment giants with big cable TV footprints — think Disney, Fox, ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal, Discovery and AMC Networks — generated astounding 30%-40% returns
Earlier this year, people started noticing something peculiar about MTV’s schedule: The network had quietly morphed into an almost 24/7 offering of just one show. At one point in late June, “Ridiculousness” — a half-hour viral video-clip show hosted by famed skateboarder Rob Dyrdek — aired for 113 hours out of the network’s entire 168-hour
“Trainspotting” writer Irvine Welsh and “American Psycho” author Bret Easton Ellis are in final talks with the U.K.’s Burning Wheel Productions to co-create a dramatized series based on the national tabloid press culture in the U.S. With the working title “American Tabloid,” the series will unspool over decades and follow events from a weekly publication
Time’s Up is urging SAG-AFTRA members to oppose the proposed successor deal on its master contract, provoking an accusation by the union of unwarranted interference. Balloting on the deal, reached last month between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, concludes Wednesday at 5 p.m. PDT. “Creating safe, dignified, and equitable workplaces
In today’s TV news roundup, HBO revealed the trailer for “The Weight of Gold,” a documentary about Olympians’ mental health challenges, and Netflix announced the premiere date for its upcoming animated comedy “Hoops.” GREENLIGHTS Epix announced “By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem,” a four-part docuseries that explores the music scene of