RATINGS
Counting multi-platform viewing, CBS reports its primetime lineup is delivering bigger audiences than it was 15 years ago. Across linear, DVR, VOD and streaming, the net’s 2015-2016 scripted and reality series are averaging 13,207,964 viewers, versus 12,509,306 in the 2000-2001 season.
NBC boasts it is leading the season in the A18-49 demo by 17 percent, the biggest margin for a network at this point in the season in 14 years. CBS has viewer bragging rights, winning the week ending January 10 by the largest margin of any network this season (+3.89 million). And ABC notes it delivered five of the top ten non-sports programs in A18-49 for the week, hitting a four-week high in young adults.
Thursday’s season two premiere of Lip Sync Battle, featuring Channing Tatum and his wife, Jenna Dewan Tatum, was the number one ranked show among A18-49 (3.45), A18-34 (3.43), W18-34 (4.6) and W18-49 (4.34) in all of television in the timeslot, delivering a network record 4.7 million viewers in Live+3.
Sunday’s special El Chapo-themed Aquí y Ahora on Univision averaged 3.0 million total viewers, as well as 1.4 million A18-49 and 580,000 A18-34, outperforming 60 Minutes in the demos.
CNBC boasts a 31% increase among P25-54 viewers in 2015, its most-watched year in the demo since 2001.The news net has delivered eight consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth in P25-54.
Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America posted a 1.0 rating across A25-54 (940,000 IMP), up 29% versus year-ago and ranking #4 in Sunday’s 9p timeslot; among A25-34 the season’s second episode posted a .9 rating (270,000 IMP), up 43% and ranking #6 in the timeslot
With over 23 million total viewers tuned in to prime time the week of January 4, HGTV was a top 5 cable network. The net had its highest-rated week ever among M25-54 viewers in prime time (Monday-Sunday 8p-12a) and the second highest-rated prime time week in HGTV history among P25-54 with .62. HGTV also ranked as the #1 cable network among upscale P25-54 and upscale W25-54 in primetime, and ranked as the #2 cable network among W25-54 prime ratings.
The January 9 premiere of Hallmark Channel’s Love’s Complicated, the latest entry in the net’s “Winterfest” programming event, averaged a 2.0 HH rating and 2.2 million total viewers, the number one rated movie of the week.
PRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Pop and Lionsgate start production this month on workplace comedy series Traci from Nightcap (wt), set behind the scenes at a late night talk show. Ali Wentworth (Head Case) stars and is an exec producer.
A comedy from Live! With Kelly and Michael’s Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos’s (Alpha House) Milojo Productions and Andrew Leeds is in development at ABC, reports Deadline. Show centers on a couple irritated by their three daughters’ romantic partners.
Courteney Cox (Cougar Town) headlines a comedy project for Fox from Robert Padnick (The Office) and ABC Studios. Cox is also attached as an exec producer.
Miniseries American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story, from Stephen David Entertainment and Playboy’s Alta Loma Entertainment, is scheduled to start production this year. Producers will have access to Hefner archives – as well as 60+ years of magazines.
Fox gave a pilot order to a time travel comedy from Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Last Man on Earth). The duo’s Son of Zorn, starring Jason Sudekis, had gotten a series order from Fox.
Televisa USA Development, a subsidiary of Mexican media company Grupo Televisa, has partnered with Santa Fe- and London-based Atalaya Productions to develop Aztecs, an English-language series based on Daniel Peters’ The Luck of Huemac. Michael Chernuchin (Black Sails) has signed on as showrunner.
COMING UP
Hour-long special El Chapo: Caught!, focused on the recent capture of Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman, airs Sunday, January 17 at 8p on American Heroes Channel. “With the world’s most elite tracking forces supporting Mexico on the hunt for El Chapo, what great irony is it that Sean Penn and his quest for an exclusive interview with Guzman lead to his capture?” said Henry Schleiff, group president, ID, AHC and Destination America. “The Penn is not mightier than the sword [ed. note: ha!], which is proven in El Chapo: Caught! because it showcases the incredible work by real professionals – regardless of borders.”
Thirty years after the space shuttle Challenger tragedy, Nat Geo will air a special featuring NASA footage and news reports, as well as audio recordings from inside the cockpit. One-hour Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes premieres Monday, January 25 at 9p.
Season ten of Syfy’s Face Off debuts tonight “with exciting new contestants from all over the world who do some of the best SFX make-up we’ve ever seen on this show,” Heather Olander, SVP, Alternative Programming, tells Cynopsis. Guest judges like Gale Ann Hurd (The Walking Dead), Jason Blum, Lance Henriksen, and more will “throw some exciting curveballs into the mix.”
In case you missed it: EPIX 2 will air documentary Underwater Dreams, the story of the sons of undocumented Mexican immigrants who defeated MIT to win a robotics competition, tonight at 8p, followed by Spare Parts, a feature film based on the story. Shows also ran last night on EPIX following the State of the Union address.
CBS has a deep bench for its live, four-hour Super Bowl pre-game show. Action starts at 2p on Sunday, February 7, with host James Brown, analysts Boomer Esiason, Bill Cowher, Tony Gonzalez and Bart Scott, as well as Ian Eagle, Greg Gumbel, Trent Green and Amy Trask, NFL Insider Jason La Canfora and reporters Tracy Wolfson, Evan Washburn and Allie LaForce, and Contributor Jim Rome.
Far from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, but part of CBS’s pre-game package, CBS This Morning’s Gayle King will interview President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama live from the White House.
Digital streaming news network CBSN is launching a new series of immersive, long-form reports. CBSN Originals “are the next step forward in the evolution of CBSN,” said CBS News president David Rhodes. “Audiences are increasingly coming to CBSN for anchored reporting from the U.S. and around the globe, as well as CBS News content on demand. CBSN Originals will bring a new dimension to the service, with in-depth reporting specifically for digital platforms.”
Start the year off right by inviting your team to our third annual Cynopsis Ratings Boot Camp on Tuesday, February 9 at the Dream Hotel Downtown in New York City. This intensive workshop will provide the critical tools, strategies and insights needed to enhance your skill set in the ever-morphing areas of ratings analysis. Details are here: http://www.cynopsis.com/event/cynopsis-boot-camp/
NEW SERIES
Four-week limited series War & Peace premieres Monday, January 18 at 9p on A&E, History and Lifetime. Cast includes Lily James (Downton Abbey), Jim Broadbent (Iris), Paul Dano (Love and Mercy) and James Norton (Happy Valley).
Bounce TV is expanding into hour-long drama with Saints & Sinners, centered on the pursuit of power at a large southern church. Vanessa Bell Calloway (Shameless), Clifton Powell (Ray) and Gloria Reuben (ER) are among the stars. Launch date: Sunday (of course!), March 6 at 9p.
ADVERTISING AND BRANDS
Ford will be a key sponsor for Fox’s The X-Files, with a Ford Explorer integrated into the show’s two-part premiere, and more Fords driving by in later episodes. The auto company was also a sponsor of the original 1993-2002 series, which had David Duchovny’s Mulder driving a Ford truck. “As part of our overall partnership with Ford, we were able to work out a sponsorship in X-Files as well,” said Toby Byrne, president of ad sales at Fox Networks Group.
Whose ad spending will increase in the next year? According to the Fall 2015 Beta Research Ad Executive Study, “In comparison to 2014, rankings increased for ESPN2, Discovery Channel, NBCSN and NBC on percent planning to increase ad spending in the next 12 months,” said Andrew Klein, president, cable TV division.
Display ad spend will hit $32.17 billion in 2016, up from $26.15 billion, predicts eMarketer. Search advertising will rise, too, to $29.24 billion from $26.53, not enough to keep up with display. It’s a trend that will continue, according to eMarketer’s forecast, with display spend growing to $46.69 billion in 2019, versus $40.6 billion for search.
TALK AT TCA
Although Person of Interest exec producer J.J. Abrams said on Saturday at the TCA winter press tour that his “guess” is that the drama’s upcoming fifth season will be its last, on Tuesday CBS Entertainment president Glenn Geller insisted no decision has been made. The season’s last episode “could function as a season or a series finale,” hedged Geller.
Charlie Rose said he will be the first to speak with Sean Penn about the Oscar winner’s secret interviews with Mexican drug lord “El Chapo.” “I have a thousand questions,” said the CBS This Morning co-anchor. “It’s a remarkable story.” As for when the sit-down will occur, “I’d hope sooner rather than later. I’m prepared to do it whenever I get the green light from him and his lawyers.”
GLOBAL GOINGS-ON
Dinosaur Train is on the move. The CGI animated series is now showing on ZooMoo Network Asia, as the channel expands its programming to preschool audiences.
FremantleMedia International grabbed international distribution rights to Kudo psychological thriller Apple Tree Yard. Four-parter is based on the Louise Doughty best-seller.
UK indie Raconteur Associates, launched at the end of 2015, closed a first look deal with BBC Worldwide. Raconteur’s focus is on high end, non-scripted programming and formats.
Anne, from Moira Walley-Beckett (Breaking Bad) and based on children’s novel Anne of Green Gables, was greenlit by Canada’s CBC. Eight-parter is slated for a 2017 launch.
SYNDICATION
Entertainment Studios is launching daily comedy talker Trending Funny for fall 2016 broadcast syndication and cable. The one-hour show will be hosted by a panel of comedians. What makes it stand out from the pack? “Trending Funny is a very unique show and the perfect mix of pop culture, social media and comedy,” Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of ES, tells Cynopsis.
Source: CYNOPSIS MEDIA
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