Television

UTA co-president Jay Sures has been reappointed to the University of California Board of Regents for a 12-year term. The term, which is still pending Senate confirmation, will be effective from March 2 and was announced among a larger batch of appointments by Governor Gavin Newsom. Sures was first appointed to the position in Jan.

Netflix said “The Witcher,” the fantasy series starring Henry Cavill, is pacing to be its biggest first-season original TV series ever. “The Witcher,” which debuted Dec. 20 on Netflix, was chosen to be watched by 76 million customer households in the first four weeks of release, according to the company. That would appear to mean

January 21, 2020 1:15PM PT RuPaul and JJ Watt will both make their “Saturday Night Live” hosting debuts in February. NBC announced Tuesday that Watt will host the Feb. 1 installment of the long-running sketch series with musical guest Luke Combs. Watt is currently a defensive end for the Houston Texans and three-time AP Defensive

January 21, 2020 1:00PM PT Gary Dauberman has signed a first-look television deal with Universal Content Productions (UCP), the studio announced Tuesday. Under the deal, Dauberman will write and produce scripted projects across all platforms. He will also launch his own production company, Coin Operated. Dauberman is known for his work on the screenplay for

ViacomCBS’ senior leadership ranks are coming into sharper focus as Chris McCarthy, head of the sprawling Entertainment and Youth wing has solidified his senior leadership team. A number of executives closely associated with McCarthy are gaining additional responsibilities, including programming maven Nina Diaz, MTV chief marketing officer Jacqueline Parkes and PR chief Liza Burnett Fefferman.

January 21, 2020 12:00PM PT Jonathan Del Arco is boldly going into the intersection of entertainment and politics. On Tuesday, the “Star Trek: Picard” actor debuted his new podcast “Hollywood Caucus,” with co-host Tara Karsian. Hailing from Dan Harmon’s Starburns Audio, the podcast will feature interviews with figures from both the entertainment industry and the

HBO Max has ordered an animated comedy series centered on the British royal family. “The Prince” hails from writer and executive producer Gary Janetti. Based on Janetti’s Instagram account, the series takes a look at the royals through the eyes of Prince George, the eldest child of Prince William and Princess Kate. Janetti will voice

WarnerMedia has appointed Cheryl Idell as executive vice president, chief research officer of its entertainment and direct-to-consumer divisions. In her new role, Idell will be responsible for overseeing multiple areas of research across WarnerMedia Entertainment, including viewership, content, and strategic market research, insights and analytics. Her purview will also include all aspects of research for

Madrid-based The Mediapro Studio and Paraiso Pictures announced at Miami’s NATPE Tuesday a co-production agreement for a new series based on the true story of a drug kingpin turned government operative after the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001. “El Medico,” to be shot in English, is executive-produced and directed by Netflix’s “Fauda” Season 1 director

Steven Canals, who co-created the groundbreaking series “Pose” with Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck, has inked an overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. Canals recently made his directorial debut with the eighth episode of “Pose” season 2 titled “Revelations,” and the deal marks his first with any studio. “Pose” is set to return for

Oprah Winfrey explained her decision to step away from “On the Record,” an expose about sexual harassment in the music industry, including women who have accused mogul Russell Simmons of misconduct. The documentary, from filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, will premiere at Sundance on Jan. 25. Winfrey, who served as an executive producer and

You’d think that the steady drumbeat of streaming services being launched might dull the senses, but Wall Street is rather eager to embrace Peacock. NBCUniversal’s new over-the-top entertainment platform sent shares of corporate parent Comcast to an all-time high after its unveiling at the company’s Jan. 16 investor day. The service brought to you by

In a casting coup for Telemundo, NBCUniversal Spanish-language network has enlisted Mexican telenovela superstar Fernando Colunga to star in several original productions. The deal kicks off with Colunga tapped to star in “Malverde: El Santo Patron,” (“Malverde: “The Patron Saint”), Telemundo’s first “Super Series” drama done in a period setting. Telemundo’s “Super Series” have shorter

When it comes to representation onscreen, it isn’t just how many people of color’s stories get told that is important but also how their stories get told. A new report from the nonprofit Color of Change has found that Netflix, NBC and ABC crime dramas were the top offenders for the 2017-18 television season when

Sharyn Alfonsi admits she’s having something of a “crazy season” on “60 Minutes.” Her work this year for the CBS newsmagazine has taken her from an investigation of the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to a profile of beloved comedian Adam Sandler. The Sandler feature, which aired late last year, proved to be a

MIAMI — It’s official. Two of the Argentine industry’s biggest name actors, Natalia Oreiro (“Gilda”) and Ernesto Alterio (“Clandestine Childhood”), are attached to star in “Santa Evita,” produced by Salma Hayek and co-directed by Rodrigo García (“Nine Lives”), who will also produce. Confirmed by Buena Vista Original Productions on the eve of this year’s NATPE

MIAMI — Televisa plans to launch a linear Univision-branded channel across Latin America later this year. Televisa, the Mexican media institution, is a major investor in the U.S. Spanish-language network. The ad-supported Univision channel will be offered as a pay TV entry, not streaming, and will be available at the outset in 17 Latin American

MADRID — Bowing as the demand for premium Spanish-language content still outruns its supply, Chile’s Screen Capital is launching a $20 million venture capital fund targeting principally TV series and movies with part streaming platform distribution. Chile first private investment fund specializing in the audiovisual and entertainment sector, and looking in principle to focus on

Latin TV personality Ana María Polo and Chile’s Forastero, producer of the Golden Globe-nominated film “The Maid,” are teaming to develop and produce a feature based on her renowned Telemundo show “Caso Cerrado.” Polo will play a leading role in the movie. Diego Ayala, co-scribe on Netflix musical bio series “Luis Miguel” and Nicolás López

The Walt Disney Co. has set March 24 as the new launch date for Disney Plus in the U.K. and other key markets across Western Europe. With the roll-out previously set for March 31, the streaming service will now be available a week earlier in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland. Pricing

Work is underway on “Band of Spies,” an international coproduction that will tell the stories of the Israeli Mossad agents responsible for hunting down members of the Palestinian terror group Black September, following the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack. The series comes from Amir Mann, head writer on the second season of YES and Netflix’s

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the third episode of Season 24 of “The Bachelor.” Less than one minute into the newest episode of “The Bachelor,” and there were already tears. Picking up where last week left off, viewers reunited with a crying Hannah Ann Sluss and a defensive Kelsey Weier

January 20, 2020 4:41PM PT “9-1-1 Lone Star” got off to a flaming start for Fox in the TV ratings behind the NFC Championship game. The Rob Lowe-fronted series premiere to a 3.2 rating among adults 18-49 and 11.5 million viewers in the time zone-adjusted ratings, which represents easily the best scripted debut of the

January 20, 2020 3:04PM PT The NFL’s AFC and NFC championship games made for a blockbuster Sunday of football for CBS and Fox, but viewership of the games that determine the contenders for the Super Bowl was down from 2019 levels. CBS’ AFC championship in the 3 p.m. ET afternoon slot delivered 41.1 million viewers

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. This week, “Star Trek: Picard” beams into existence on CBS All Access and “Shrill” returns

Miami’s NATPE market kicks off on Tuesday, but deal announcements are already landing. London-based TCB Media Rights has sold 130 hours of content to Latin America, Cineflix and National Geographic Latin America closed a deal for four titles, and Discovery Latin America picked up popular makeover format “10 Years Younger” from All3Media. TCB’s 130 Hours

ViacomCBS-backed U.K. broadcaster Channel 5 will air a 90-minute documentary on Meghan Markle’s father Thomas Markle. Markle and her husband Prince Harry sparked a global media frenzy earlier this month with their decision not to continue as senior members of the British Royal Family. Buckingham Palace announced that the couple are to lose their royal

BBC director general Tony Hall has been appointed chair of the board of trustees of the National Gallery. The executive, who has served on the Gallery’s board since November, takes over as chair from Sir John Kingman, who has been interim chair since Hannah Rothschild stood down from the role in September. Hall said: “The

Fox Television Stations has ordered the weekly entertainment news magazine “Central Ave,” which hails from prolific film and TV producer Will Packer and Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury. Debmar-Mercury and Will Packer Media will produce two half-hour shows per week of “Central Ave,” which tackles pop culture and other topics from a “socially conscious and diverse lens,” per

MADRID — Gustavo and Tiago Mello’s São Paulo-based Boutique Filmes, producers of early Netflix Original overseas breakout “3%,” is teaming with high-end drama powerhouse The Mediapro Studio (“The New Pope,” “The Head”) to produce “To Kill a Queen.” International sales rights on the series will be handled by The Mediapro Studio Distribution. From an original