Television

Viacom’s Music Group, which comprises of MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo, has tapped Mala Chapple and Todd Radnitz to join its executive team, Variety has learned. Chapple will assume the position of SVP of content strategy, operations and media partnerships, while Todd Radnitz will be the company’s new SVP of original series. “Mala and Todd are at

Comcast is considering the launch of a news channel that would draw from the resources of NBC News and Sky News. Comcast chairman-CEO Brian Roberts dropped that tidbit during his remarks Thursday morning on the cable giant’s first quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts. NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke also spoke enthusiastically about NBCU’s progress

Désirée Finnegan will be the new chief executive of Screen Ireland, replacing the outgoing James Hickey. Finnegan, who hails from Dublin, joins from Warner Bros. Pictures where she was SVP, theatrical marketing and publicity, and guided strategy for campaigns across the EMEA region. In a 15-year stint at the Hollywood studio she worked on campaigns

April 25, 2019 4:24AM PT Broadcasters in Australia and the Netherlands, and cable network Lifetime in the U.S., have joined forces on “Meghan & Harry: Baby Fever,” a U.K.-produced documentary about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It will chart the royal couple’s relationship the hugely anticipated arrival of

April 25, 2019 4:19AM PT Comcast Corp. said profit for the first quarter of 2019 rose 14% thanks to new subscribers coming to its cable unit for high-speed online service and the addition of its recently acquired Sky PLC European-satellite business. The owner of NBCUniversal and the Comcast cable business said profit came to $3.55

April 25, 2019 2:34AM PT Richard Hammond will take a break from his “Grand Tour” duties to make a series about the world’s biggest structures and machines for Discovery. The former “Top Gear” presenter fronts Amazon’s “Grand Tour” with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, but is going solo for “Richard Hammond’s Big!” Hammond’s Chimp Productions

“This Close” co-creators and stars Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman are the only two writers in the WGA who are deaf but, thanks to a new partnership with Easterseals, hopefully that won’t be the case for much longer. Stern announced that they would be working with the nonprofit to provide support to deaf writers, getting

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the April 24th episode of “Empire.” Jussie Smollett’s character on “Empire” got married in TV’s first-ever black, gay wedding, but the actor’s ongoing assault controversy makes his future on the show uncertain. The episode, entitled “Never Doubt I Love,” was Smollett’s last confirmed appearance in

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Chapter Fifty-Four: Fear The Reaper,” the April 24 episode of “Riverdale.” “Riverdale” has aired late actor Luke Perry’s final scene as Andrews patriarch Fred. In “Chapter Fifty-Four: Fear the Reaper,” the 19th episode of the third season of “Riverdale,” Archie (KJ Apa) was worried about

For all that broadcast TV’s power has attenuated in recent years, what they choose to put on still means something — and, from a certain point of view, something more than the choices made by prestige outlets. After all, the reach of broadcasters is without parallel. They’re simply in that many more homes than prestige

While many broadcast shows have already been picked up for next season, plenty of favorites are still waiting to learn their fates. Given that the broadcasters are currently evaluating this year’s crop of comedy and drama pilots, some current shows will unfortunately have to shuffle off to that great network in the sky, where they

April 24, 2019 4:14PM PT “Avengers: Endgame” star Elizabeth Olsen tells Variety that “WandaVision,” the forthcoming Disney+ series about her superhero character, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, will be set in the 1950s. “There’s quite a few other comic books that we’re pulling from and it’s going to be Wanda and the Vision, and I think at

Susan Zirinsky, president of CBS News, and Kelly Kahl, president of CBS Entertainment, sent emails to staff Tuesday expressing concern over claims made in an essay published in Variety in which CBS veteran Whitney Davis detailed racist discrimination and sexual harassment she witnessed and was subjected to at the network. In response, Zirinsky said Davis’

ITV has greenlit a BBC Studios-produced series about Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne. “Inside the Duchy” (working title) will follow the Prince of Wales over two one-hour episodes to mark his 50th year as the holder of the title of Duke of Cornwall. The producers said the series will give an unprecedented

In today’s roundup, Hulu releases the official trailer for George Clooney’s “Catch-22,” and Disney Channel announces its “Andi Mack” series will end after season 3. DATES Gabriel Iglesias will star as a high school history teacher in the Netflix multicam comedy “Mr. Iglesias,” launching on June 21. The comedian teaches gifted, but misfit students and helps them

“Empire” stars Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard are appealing to Fox for their embattled co-star Jussie Smollett to return for the show’s sixth season. Henson, Howard, and the rest of the drama series’ top cast, penned an April 19 letter to Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier, Disney TV Studios and ABC Entertainment chair Dana

SPOILER ALERT: Do not keep reading unless you’ve seen “Game of Thrones” Season 8 Episode 2, titled “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” Veteran “Game of Thrones” writer Bryan Cogman has confirmed that his potential spinoff series from the HBO epic will not be going ahead. “This is it for me in terms of Westeros,” Cogman told Variety.

April 24, 2019 11:57AM PT Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa have signed a multi-year overall deal at Sony Pictures Television, Variety has confirmed. The new deal means the duo will depart their longtime home at 20th Century Fox Television. In addition to Gordon and Gansa, Sony’s current roster of creators under overall deals includes Norman Lear,

April 24, 2019 11:45AM PT Sony Pictures Television announced Tuesday that “The Mel Robbins Show,” its new one-hour syndicated talk show, has been picked up by Nexstar Media Group. The show will be hosted by author and speaker Mel Robbins. It will debut in syndication on Sept. 16 and clear 90% of U.S. television households.

Ken Kercheval, who played oil tycoon Cliff Barnes, the rival of Larry Hagman’s J.R. Ewing on “Dallas,” has died. He was 83. A spokeswoman at Frist Funeral Home in Kercheval’s hometown of Clinton, Ind., confirmed his death on Wednesday to Variety, but did not provide additional information. Kercheval and Hagman were the only two stars who

The CW has announced a flurry of renewals. Three of the network’s freshman shows, “All American,” “Roswell, New Mexico” and “In The Dark,” will return for second seasons, as well as “The 100,” which gets a seventh outing. This means that all five of The CW’s first-year shows, including the previously-renewed “Legacies” and “Charmed,” have

Showtime has revealed who will be joining “Mozart in the Jungle” star Gael García Bernal in the upcoming Jonas Cuarón pilot “Hombre,” which deals with undocumented immigrants. Marisé Alvarez, Greg Grunberg, Pepi Sonuga, Adriana Santos, and Noah Reyes have all been cast in the pilot, which is set to begin production at the end of

The African American Film Critics Association will host the first-ever AAFCA TV Honors awards show to celebrate outstanding achievement in the field. The inaugural event will take place as a luncheon on Aug. 11 at the California Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey and present awards in seven categories. Winners will be announced on June

April 24, 2019 10:28AM PT Fox News Channel named Jedediah Bila a co-host of its weekend broadcast of “Fox & Friends,” giving the contributor a wider platform on the cable-news network. Starting this Saturday, Bilahwill join co-host Pete Hegseth, along with a rotating third co-host, on the morning program. “Jedediah’s thoughtful analysis and endearing personality

In 2016, the first season of Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story,” about the arrest and trial of O.J. Simpson, swept the Emmys’ limited-series categories, sparking a revival in mainstream interest in both the Simpson case and the true-crime genre. Ever since then, crime stories — American and otherwise — have been multiplying. It’s a boom

Longtime Discovery Inc. programming executive Jane Latman has been promoted to president of HGTV, one of the company’s most prominent and successful cable channels. Latman was most recently general manager of Discovery’s Travel Channel and Destination America outlets in addition to serving as executive VP of development and research for Discovery’s ID. She takes the

Actress Gabrielle Union said she was nearly 17 years past the expiration date of her mass appeal when she got the brand partnership of her dreams. “They tell you that after 26, ‘Honey, hang it up,’” Union said on the latest episode of the Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” The episode was recorded during a keynote

AT&T believes it will hang on to DirecTV’s exclusive rights for the NFL Sunday Ticket, even as the league has said it’s considering ending the satellite operator’s exclusivity to extend the out-of-home games package to streaming platforms. “The exclusivity [of Sunday Ticket] should remain as we go forward on DirecTV,” AT&T CEO and chairman Randall

Furthering its expansion in  North America, Spain’s Mediapro has purchased Canadian services company Tri-Lite TV. Put through by Mediapro Canada, the deal comes days after Mediapro confirmed the acquisition of 10-year rights to the Canadian Premiere League, a new soccer competition to launch April 27 across the country. Mediapro has also announced global revenues for

April 24, 2019 3:49AM PT BBC Studios Distribution has sold the Love Productions format “The Great Bake Off” for production in Thailand. It is the cooking competition show’s first localized version in Asia. “Bake Off Thailand” will be produced by APJ&CO, a local production house known for producing the recent seasons of “The Voice Thailand.” Over eight