Television

“New Amsterdam” aired its season 2 finale on Tuesday night to strong numbers, while the finale of “NCIS” ticked down but still won the night. The NBC medical procedural’s final episode of the season, which introduced a new character played by Daniel Dae Kim, delivered a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49 and 5.9 million viewers,

Here’s a first look at Irish “Poldark” star Aidan Turner as legendary artist Leonardo da Vinci in upcoming international co-production “Leonardo,” set to be released next year. The first glimpse of Turner as da Vinci shows him learning his craft as a young apprentice and then reaching for greatness with his commission to paint The

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has indefinitely suspended the lucrative and hugely popular Indian Premier League cricket tournament, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The BCCI governing board, led by president and former India cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly, held a conference call Tuesday. On Wednesday, IPL COO Hemang Amin informed all

Australia’s federal government on Wednesday unveiled a package of financial relief measures intended to help the film and television industries weather the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The measures have a cash value of $57.7 million (A$91 million). Free-to-air TV and radio channels are to receive $26 million (A$41 million) of benefits as the government

“Game of Thrones” and “His Dark Materials” actor Lucian Msamati is to narrate wildlife documentary film “Okavango – A Flood of Life” from “River Monsters” producer Icon Films, which has partnered with international producer-distributor Fremantle on global sales. Originally filmed in full 8K, the documentary special explores Africa’s greatest oasis, the Okavango Delta, and is

Toward the end of the first season of “#blackAF,” a new series on Netflix, Kenya Barris (as played by Kenya Barris) realizes he may have gone too far. He’s on a vacation with his family in Fiji that he’s done his best to spoil by throwing a tantrum over his wife’s attempt to start a

Entertainment conglomerate Endeavor’s mixed martial arts business took a hit last week with the cancellation of the UFC 249 pay-per-view and all other upcoming fight cards due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, UFC president Dana White says that the company has found a way to move forward with its live promotions. “We built the

The Directors Guild of America-Producers Pension and Health Plans have approved allowing emergency loans to members from the supplemental benefit plan for the next three months starting on May 1 through July 31. The Board of Trustees announced Tuesday that it had voted unanimously to approve the initiative to assist participants experiencing financial hardship during

A+E Networks’ canine competition show “Top Dog” has been optioned for both the U.K. and Irish markets by Scottish production company Two Rivers Media. Created by MGM’s Big Fish Entertainment and broadcast as “America’s Top Dog” on A+E Networks’ A&E channel Stateside, the format sees teams of dogs and their owners tested on their speed,

“The Innocence Files” is Netflix’s latest true crime offering and, according to executive producers — and documentary powerhouses — Liz Garbus, Alex Gibney and Roger Ross Williams, it could change how Americans view a wildly unequal criminal justice system. The nine-episode series premieres on April 15 and focuses on the work of the Innocence Project,

In today’s TV News Roundup, Netflix unveiled a trailer for The Eddy,” and Starz released a trailer for its new crime drama “Hightown.” DATES Lifetime will air its “I Was Lorena Bobbitt” on May 25 at 8 p.m, the cabler announced. Part of the network’s “Ripped from the Headlines” series of programming, the new original

A little-known Washington state group raised eyebrows earlier this month when it filed a lawsuit calling for a judge to keep Fox News from airing false information about the coronavirus pandemic. Now it has raised some hackles, too: Fox News has moved to dismiss the legal proceeding. The Fox News Media motion, filed Tuesday, asks

Newly launched Capacitor Studios is fast-tracking development of a television/streaming series with Cosmic Kids, the YouTube channel whose yoga and meditation exercises have become exceedingly popular with parents of small children during the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Variety has learned that the new project, a mix of live action and animation, will “take kids on exciting yoga

Comcast and NBCUniversal are pushing Peacock out of the nest starting Wednesday, April 15, promising to unfurl a rich plume of 15,000-plus hours of streaming content, first for the cable giant’s own TV and internet customers. Peacock is then slated to be available across the U.S. on July 15 — while NBCU is mulling the

The Tour de France, the world’s most famous bike race, will be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new dates for the event are now Aug. 29-Sept. 20, according to the French news outlets Franceinfo and BFM. It’s the latest in a string of high-profile sports event that been rescheduled, such as the French

When “Tooning Out the News” was prepping to make its originally scheduled March 16 debut on CBS All Access, the creative team was already striving to make a show that was nearly impossible. But then coronavirus hit, pushing pause on production and shifting post processes into artisans’ homes, and things got even more complicated. “Tooning

The U.K. economy could shrink by a record 35% by June as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the country’s official independent fiscal watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The OBR said a three-month lockdown followed by three months of partial restrictions would cause an economic decline of 35.1% in the quarter

From Phyllis Schlafly to Gloria Steinem to Shirley Chisholm and Betty Friedan, the women depicted in FX on Hulu’s “Mrs. America” are prolific leaders with quite a large footprint in history and the media. Although each episode of the nine-part limited series about the Equal Rights Amendment and those who fought for and against it

The Latest “Bachelor” spinoff “Listen to Your Heart” got off to a relatively slow start on Monday night, up against stiff competition like “The Voice” on NBC and “9-1-1” and a “Tiger King” special on Fox. “Listen to Your Heart” debuted to a 0.7 rating among adults 18-49 and just under 3 million total viewers.

BBC Studios has appointed former Awesomeness co-head Rebecca Glashow to lead the company’s activities in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Based in New York, Glashow will begin her new role as president of BBC Studios Americas on June 1, reporting directly into Paul Dempsey, president of global distribution at BBC Studios.  She replaces former

“Killing Eve” kicked off season 3 in typically deadly fashion, with a suitably tragic character death. Ratings-wise, the episode was watched by 1.1 million total viewers across both AMC and BBC America, which is down only a fraction on the season 2 premiere’s tally of 1.2 million, still the series high to date. However, that

Sudhanshu Vats, group CEO and managing director of Viacom 18, is stepping down after eight years in the role. Viacom 18 is a joint venture of Network 18, the media group controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and U.S. media conglomerate Viacom. Rahul Joshi, managing director of the Network 18 group, will take charge. Under Vats’

U.K. broadcaster ITV has commissioned a documentary exploring how Queen Elizabeth II’s experiences during World War II shaped her monarchy. Produced by the BBC Studios Documentary Unit, the one-hour documentary, entitled “Our Queen At War,” tells the story of how the war transformed a teenage princess into the country’s longest-reigning monarch. The Queen recently remarked

HBO Europe has asked five Spanish directors to reflect on coronavirus-induced confinement in a specially commissioned, fast-turnaround short film anthology series entitled “At Home.” The five individual episodes will be filmed in the homes of the directors, who will collaborate with those they are isolating with. They have been provided with some basic equipment to

HBO Asia has unveiled details of its light-hearted Chinese-language drama series “Workers.” The show is the latest in a growing roster of local productions in Asia, by pay-TV groups and digital platforms. Based on a novel of the same title, the show follows a group of construction workers who daydream about being wealthy. They resort to

Film and TV production company See-Saw Films, whose slate includes Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” and Apple TV Plus’s series “Slow Horses,” has announced the appointment of producer Joanna Laurie to the company’s U.K. office. Based in London and effective immediately, Laurie will act as producer or executive producer on select film and

Country singer Miranda Lambert and Joe Exotic from Netflix’s “Tiger King” seem to have crossed paths a few years ago. Lambert posted a photo of herself with Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado-Passage as “a little Monday memory” on Twitter. Maldonado-Passage, the subject of the hit Netflix docu-series, was convicted to 22 years in prison over animal

Citing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Directors Guild of America-Producer Pension and Health Plans have approved three months of premium-free coverage to Health Plan participants. The plans said Monday that the move is aimed to address the coronavirus outbreak impacting DGA participants losing eligibility on July 1, 2020. As a result, the Board

Quibi is not moving ahead with a planned series dramatizing the rise of Snapchat and its founder, Evan Spiegel, Variety has learned exclusively. The project was announced at the SXSW film festival last year by Quibi founder and board chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg. It was to be based on the feature script “Frat Boy Genius” by Elissa

Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Walt Disney Co. has entered into a new 364-day credit agreement with Citibank for up to $5 billion, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The proceeds may be used for “general corporate purposes,” said the company in the filing. It follows — and