Television

Television exec Kate Fenske has been named chief creative executive of Sister, the independent production and development company founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone. Fenske, who was previously president of production for Entertainment 360, will be boarding Sister in the coming months. She will be based in Los Angeles and report to

Carmi Zlotnik has signed an exclusive producer deal at Apple TV Plus, Variety has confirmed. The news comes days after it was announced that he would be stepping down president of programming at Starz. Zlotnik’s deal with Apple will begin next month, as he transitions from his post at the premium cabler. Zlotnik has been

Apple TV Plus is preparing to give a series order to a dramedy starring Rose Byrne, Variety has learned. Titled “Physical,” the series is set in a 1980s Southern California beach community. It follows a woman (Byrne) struggling in her life as a quietly tortured housewife who finds an unconventional path to power through an

Gayle King, Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil have many years of experience behind them, And yet, in the world of morning TV, they are the new kids on the block. In TV-news circles, this story is getting a little worn: CBS News retooled its morning program as King began gaining new traction with important newsmaker

January 29, 2020 1:52PM PT Get ready to see some of the most insanely creative costumes yet, from a banana to a robot, on this season of “The Masked Singer” on Fox. The reality singing competition just teased 13 costumes for Season 3, which premieres Feb. 2 right after the Super Bowl. The new season

Leaders of the Writers Guild of America are asking their 15,000 members to endorse a negotiating proposal that requires studios to bar non-franchised talent agents from representing WGA members. The proposal was included In a message sent Wednesday by WGA West President David A. Goodman and WGA East President Beau Willimon as part of disclosing

There’s no better way to start the romantic month than to binge watch all your favorite romantic films and series coming to Netflix this February. Valentine’s Day is approaching quickly, but Netflix has got it covered when it comes to finding the perfect film or show to get viewers in the mood. Get ready to

January 29, 2020 12:05PM PT Jordan Peele’s upcoming show “Hunters” is among the slew of new movies and TV series that will be added to Amazon Prime Video next month. Peele executive produced “Hunters,” a drama following a group of Nazi hunters in New York City in 1977. The first season, created by David Weil,

Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne’s Animal Pictures banner and “Russian Doll” supervising producer Cirocco Dunlap are teaming up on the animated series “The Hospital,” which Amazon has put into active development. The series will follow Sleech and Klak, two brilliant alien doctors who specialize in rare sci-fi illnesses. When Sleech defies protocol and contracts a

January 29, 2020 12:01PM PT Iron Ocean Productions, the production company of Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple, has inked a two-year first-look deal with Paramount Television Studios. The deal covers scripted television projects. Iron Ocean’s previous shows include the critically-acclaimed drama “The Sinner” for USA Network, in which Biel also starred in the show’s first

Amazon is set to explore the strange phenomenon of Los Angeles hypebeast culture. The streamer has issued a two-season order for “Fairfax,” an animated series which follows four middle school best friends on a never-ending quest for clout on L.A.’s titular Fairfax Avenue: the “pulsing heart of hypebeast culture.” The series hails from creators Matt Hausfater,

The march to the launch of HBO Max in May is driving changes across WarnerMedia. John Stankey, AT&T chief operating officer and WarnerMedia chairman, told investors on Wednesday that cable powerhouses TNT and TBS will lean into more unscripted programming as WarnerMedia steers its investment in high-end scripted programming to the nascent subscription streaming platform.

January 29, 2020 6:58AM PT The BBC is to cut 450 jobs in its news operation as part of a cost-cutting exercise. The BBC, which remains the U.K.’s most widely consumed source of news, said it planned to reorganize its newsroom along a “story-led” model, focusing on news stories more than on programs or platforms.

January 29, 2020 6:00AM PT Most Super Bowl advertisers put a glitzy commercial in the game and hope for the best. Anheuser-Busch wants viewers to have a stake in the pitch that gets presented on Game Day. Bud Light made two different ads starring Post Malone, and is asking fans to help pick which of

Robin Roberts used to play basketball in college. She says she’s still building muscles while working at “Good Morning America.” The ABC morning program is many things all at once. It’s a news program. It’s a pillar of the economics of ABC’s parent Walt Disney. And increasingly these days, it is a broader media entity

January 29, 2020 5:00AM PT BTS took James Corden back into the woods for the live television premiere of the group’s new “Black Swan,” unfolding on a deep-forest set two nights after their Grammys debut, which was also the subject of a short interview on the late-night show. [embedded content] Speaking of their appearance on

January 29, 2020 5:00AM PT Verizon Fios will start to offer Bloomberg Television as of January 29, extending the U.S. reach of the business-focused news network. Fios TV customers can be found in New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and other homes on the east coast,. Bloomberg says its TV network is available in more

January 29, 2020 4:33AM PT NBCUniversal International Studios has inked a multi-year first look deal with audio and short form video start-up StoryHunter. The agreement will see the Studio develop both scripted and unscripted television content from original StoryHunter IP. StoryHunter will also work with International Studios’ production companies including Carnival, Heyday Television, Monkey and Working Title Television on off-television exploitation of their shows including

Smithsonian Channel takes US rights to ‘Tower of London’ docuseries The Smithsonian Channel has acquired North American rights to docuseries “Inside the Tower of London” from All3Media International The hybrid history and behind-the-scenes series is produced by All3Media group’s Lion Television. The 8 x 60-minute “Inside the Tower of London” explores 1,000 years of history as

In physics the God Particle is an elementary particle whose existence physicists use to describes why all particles have mass. In a Wednesday masterclass at the Göteborg Film Festival, Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson’s God Particle is the push into acquiring global rights, the phenomenon whose existence is the driving factor behind many if nt most

GÖTEBORG, Sweden — Established Nordic prodco Sagafilm (“Stella Blómkvist”, “Case”) is producing Icelandic crime series “Sisterhood,” in association with Sky Studios, for commissioners NENT Group’s Nordic streamer Viaplay and Iceland’s OTT service Síminn. The six-part series will premiere simultaneously on Viaplay and Síminn in 2021, with the latter retaining domestic first window rights. NBCUniversal Global

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the “Arrow” series finale. In the aftermath of Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) death, the CW’s “Arrow” ended with a relatively happy ending. The post-“Crisis” world revealed that Oliver’s death had indeed been a spark that saved his city, which was now crime-free. Additionally, nearly

A tearful Shaquille O’Neal spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday about the death of his former teammate, Kobe Bryant. “I think a lot of times we take stuff for granted,” O’Neal said during a special edition of TNT’s “Inside the NBA.” Turning to his co-hosts with tears running down his face, O’Neal added, “Like

January 28, 2020 4:27PM PT Netflix is poised to let go of roughly 15 marketing staffers from its Los Angeles office in the wake of last year’s shift in marketing leadership, Variety has learned. The layoffs represent a small percentage of the greater marketing division, according to a source, and follows the hiring last July of

In today’s TV News Roundup, the CW revealed this year’s musical episode of “Riverdale” will feature numbers from “Hedwig & the Angry Inch,” and Amazon announced the premiere date for “Agatha Christie’s The Pale Horse.” DATES This Season 4 musical episode of “Riverdale” will air on Apr. 8 at 8:00 pm on the CW, and this

January 28, 2020 3:40PM PT SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Lapse in Judgement,” the first season finale of “The L Word: Generation Q.” Rosanny Zayas of “The L Word: Generation Q” is as conflicted about her character’s actions in the first season finale of the Showtime drama as many

Following an uproar over the suspension of Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez regarding her Twitter posts in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death, the outlet has now ruled that she did not violate its social media policy. Not long after news circulated of Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash on Sunday, Sonmez posted on Twitter

The tale of the McDonald’s Monopoly-game heist was one hell of a story. Indeed, it seems to have been too much story for “McMillions,” a documentary series premiering at Sundance ahead of a bow on HBO, to tell — even with the benefit of six episodes. The story we’re told here is less about what

Watch out “Watchmen,” there’s a new word-of-mouth hit on the block at HBO. The premium cabler’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel “The Outsider” is putting up solid viewership numbers through four episodes, and has shown excellent growth from week-to-week. Sunday night’s episode, the fourth so far, garnered almost 1.5 million viewers across all of HBO’s

January 28, 2020 2:36PM PT HBO Max has ordered a comedy pilot for an untitled single-camera series from Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky. All three serve as writers and executive producers on the pilot, with Mike Schur also executive producing. Downs, Aniello, and Statsky all previously worked together on the critically-acclaimed Comedy