The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streaming television, is set to induct its class of 2025 on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at New York’s Ziegfeld Ballroom (141 W. 54th St).

Honorees at the 33rd annual gala include award-winning actress, director, producer, and businesswoman Drew Barrymore, host and executive producer of The Drew Barrymore Show and co-founder of the production company Flower Films.

Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN, is set to receive the Hall of Fame’s Chairman’s Award. Pitaro is responsible for ESPN’s portfolio of sports content, products and experiences across all of Disney’s platforms worldwide.

Sheryl Lee Ralph, actress, producer and advocate, Emmy-Award winner for her role in Warner Bros. Television’s Abbott Elementary, will be honored with the Hall of Fame’s Humanitarian Award in recognition of her career as well as her philanthropic work via the DIVA Foundation.

A special award goes to the daytime drama Days of Our Lives, celebrating its 60th anniversary on air in November. Now streaming exclusively on Peacock, the series is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world. Days of Our Lives will be honored with the Hall of Fame’s Iconic Show Award.

The complete list of honorees includes:

• Drew Barrymore – Award-winning actress, director, producer, and
  businesswoman, host and executive producer of The Drew Barrymore Show and co-founder of the production company Flower Films
• George Cheeks — Co-Chief Executive Officer, Paramount Global; President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS
• Kristin Dolan — CEO, AMC Networks
• Richard A. “Dick” Foreman — President, Richard A. Foreman Associates, Inc. — RAFAMEDIA
• Michael Gelman — Executive Producer, Live with Kelly & Mark, Disney/ABC
• Melani Griffith — Chief Growth Officer, Google Fiber (*Technology Leadership Award Honoree*)
• David Kline — President, Spectrum Reach; EVP, Charter Communications
• Mark Marshall — Chairman, Global Advertising & Partnerships, NBCUniversal
• Jimmy Pitaro — Chairman, ESPN (*Chairman’s Award Honoree*)
• Sheryl Lee Ralph — Award-winning actress and advocate (*Humanitarian Award Honoree*)
• Arthur Smith — Chairman & CEO, A. Smith & Co. Productions; Chairman, Tinopolis USA
• Jon Steinlauf — Chief U.S. Advertising Sales Officer, Warner Bros. Discovery
• Sandra Stern — Vice Chairman, Lionsgate Television Group
• Rob Weisbord — Chief Operating Officer and President of Local Media, Sinclair Inc.
• Days of Our Lives — Daytime drama exclusively streaming on Peacock, produced by Corday Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television
  (*Iconic Show Award Honoree*)

“The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame is proud to recognize this extraordinary group of leaders, innovators, and creative pioneers who have shaped the media landscape in profound ways,” said Charlie Weiss, chairman, Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame. “Each honoree has not only excelled in their field but has also driven meaningful change across the industry. We are thrilled to celebrate their achievements, hear their inspiring journeys, and honor their lasting impact on this special night.”

“This year’s honorees are notable for so many reasons, including the remarkable diversity of experience they bring to our stage and the evolution they have led in media throughout the course of their careers,” added Allison Markert, Vice President, Global Head of Strategy & Operations, B2B. “From entrepreneurs to global leaders to creative visionaries — both behind and in front of the camera — the class of 2025 has it all.”

The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame class of 2025 joins the ranks of over 400 honorees. To view the new class of inductees, visit www.bchalloffame.com.

A portion of the net proceeds from the Hall of Fame gala is donated to The Broadcasters Foundation of America, a charitable organization that provides anonymous financial grants to those of our industry colleagues and their families who are in acute need due to critical illness or accident, advanced age, death of a spouse or other serious misfortune. The Paley Center for Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is also a beneficiary.

The Paley Center leads the discussion about the cultural, creative and social significance of television, radio and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public.

For sponsorship, tables and ticket information, please contact Jessica Wolin at jessica.wolin@futurenet.com or (212) 685-4233.

DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar’s video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus the assumption of debt.

While both DirecTV and Dish have been losing customers to cord-cutting, combined they would have about 20 million subscribers, tops in the shrinking pay TV business. 

AT&T, which spun off DirecTV but retained 70% ownership in the satellite company, said it sold its stake to private-equity company TPG.

“DirecTV operates in a highly competitive video distribution industry,” DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said. “With greater scale, we expect a combined DirecTV and Dish will be better able to work with programmers to realize our vision for the future of TV, which is to aggregate, curate and distribute content tailored to customers’ interests, and to be better positioned to realize operating efficiencies while creating value for customers through additional investment.”

Upon closing, DirecTV will continue to be led by Morrow and Ray Carpenter, DirecTV’s chief financial officer. The combined company will be headquartered in El Segundo, California.

The two companies have discussed various combinations over the years. 

DirecTV said it estimates that the combination of DirecTV and Dish has the potential to generate cost synergies of at least $1 billion per year. These synergies are expected to be achieved by the third anniversary of closing, assuming the closing is in late 2025.

In addition, TPG Angelo Gordon and certain of its co-investors, and DirecTV, provided $2.5 billion of financing to fully refinance Dish DBS’s November 2024 debt maturity fully.

We hold in our hands the very last "Next Text" for Next TV, the weekly back-and-forth TMT-focused ruminations of writers Daniel Frankel and David Bloom. As Next TV, er, "evolves" into a "curated newsletter" sans original words and sentences, our "Next Text" column will migrate to the new Next TMT newsletter starting next week. Shoot an email to frankeldd@gmail if you'd like to be included on our initial blast.  

DAVID BLOOM: Greetings, O most respected and powerful Don Daniele (when north of Rome a couple of hours, do as the Romans do), from our long-running Next Text Adjunct Bureau in the sun-kissed Tuscan hills of Italy. It’s harvest time, so tractors laden with hundreds of pounds of just-collected grapes routinely roll past the bureau to a nearby winery, one of 19 within a few miles.  Yes, the resulting Sangiovese wines are very tasty, and like me, very friendly. 

Speaking of harvesting, Friends of the Next Text at MoffettNathanson gathered up a lengthy, in-depth conversation with one Dr. John Malone, former CEO of TCI and DirecTV and more recently power behind the throne at Warner Bros. Discovery, Liberty Global, and Charter Communications. Asked what he thinks about streaming, the doctor called it "a terrible business.” 

Crucial decisions made years ago make it difficult for struggling media companies to create the customized hybrid packages of on-demand and linear experiences they really want, he said. And sports spending may obliterate what’s left of the mediacos, unless they get a break on net neutrality rules that allow the tech giants free rein on rights deals. The solution/opportunity: international, where hybrid on-demand and linear packages are rolling out in some countries. I’ve watched exactly zero hours of Italian television in my sojourn here, but promise to do so in the course of this weekend’s Next Texting. I’ll let you know if I see anything besides awesome grapes and olives. 

DANIEL FRANKEL: I think the Next TMT audience might soon grow resentful of your best life, David. I myself am intrigued by the prospect of a potential DirecTV/Dish Network tie-up. Kind of a Remains of the Day situation. But adding DirecTV's 11 million remaining accounts to Dish's just over 8 million would make it the top linear pay TV company in America ... delivering all the negotiating scale that comes with it. So this deal does matter. It's not like regulators are going to just let it pass. 

Still, shouldn't the DOJ just let these two kids be happy as they get ready to embrace the video business' sweet hereafter?

BLOOM: Yes, Don Daniele, I shall endeavor to more adequately gate my pridefulness of our overseas reach. I merely hope to enlarge our discussion with an au courant international flavor, because, as you brash and broad-shouldered Americans like to say, that’s where the action is. There’s still  life in Europe’s satcaster business, as attested by the rooftop dishes, cost of wiring 800-year-old neighborhoods, and Comcast-owned Sky’s abiding existence. But Malone is probably right that there’s room for maybe one U.S. satellite TV provider, given the crazy expense of repeatedly hurling tons of technology into low-earth orbit. 

Also read: DirecTV and Dish have spent years trying to merge. It might finally happen

I’m guessing the DirecTV-Dish dialup goes through, no matter who’s president next. Maybe one approval term will require DirecDish to sell wholesale access to third-party providers, who in turn could help pay the prodigious CapEx.

Speaking of delivery platforms, this week saw the arrival of two high-end streaming devices, from Google and Roku. Admittedly, the Roku Ultra is a buffed-up version of what’s been in the market for a while, with faster response time, zones for kids and more sports, 4K, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, etc. Roku is beefing up its top model against the very interesting Google TV Streamer, which checks many of the same feature boxes and some useful Smart Home capabilities, all with Google TV’s interface. What are we to make of both Roku and Google going after the high-end market previously owned by the expensive and excellent Apple TV?

FRANKEL: As I respond to your message sent overnight from overseas, I have realized that this is the last time I'll ever post anything in Future plc's content management system. But I'm going to save the goodbyes for later. I did notice this week that Fubo launched a new multiview feature in beta on Roku devices. The Ultra class devices are the only ones that have the processing power to display four images at once vs. just two.

I think we've reached a point where the limited processing and memory power of the average streaming device and smart TV is becoming a more broadly limiting factor. As I pointed out last week, Synamedia has debuted an HDMI dongle that does the streaming app storage and processing in the cloud. There seems to be pressure from the app development community to put more horsepower in these boxes. Google's decision to go premium ($100 price tag for the new Google TV Streamer) seems to be pointing in that general direction. Separately, as I pondered major life choices last night in what is personally turning out to be a very dynamic moment, I settled into part 1 of Netflix's six-episode documentary on Vince McMahon, Mr. McMahon. I loved the part where he says he doesn't like talking about himself. 

BLOOM: This push for more puck power promises more interesting and immersive TV experiences, finally. Wouldn’t that be pleasant? Roku, as executives showcased at the valedictory Next TV Summit, has already infused its interface with bells and whistles that add value, highlight shows, and drive revenue. It’s time the rest of the sector catches up.

Services company Wurl just issued a study showing connected TV viewing is nearing COVID lockdown levels, i.e., sky high. The study did issue one warning for greedy companies hoping to cash in: every extra minute an ad break lasts carves off 4% of viewers. Keep those ad loads light and lovely, laddies and ladies! So, Dan, as we ready for Next Text’s next chapter, I already can see the future (if not Future).  In London, the 197-year-old Evening Standard daily newspaper laid off 150 people and shifted to weekly publication. Far more notably, they’re considering bringing back their notoriously acerbic art critic, Brian Sewell, who’s been dead since 2015. 

How? Sewell will now be an AI-driven online voice. I fully expect the powers behind Next TV’s demise to create an AI Daniel Frankel, equally acerbic in his assessments of media, tech and entertainment, in whatever counts as Future’s next Next TV. You and I, of course, will slag on the old-fashioned way, elsewhere, maybe Tuscany.

FRANKEL: I discovered the thrill of writing and editing in my 24th year, D Money, listening to Soul Asylum cassette tapes while putting together the sports section of The Daily Sundial in the CSUN Sierra North computer room, then racing off to cover college baseball and volleyball games. Chasing that electric feeling has led me -- and I suspect you, and many others like us -- down a wildly exciting yet exploitive, rewarding yet empty, dynamic yet disappointing career path. I had the pleasure of drinking high-end vodka Saturday night with my Coral Gables-spawned musician friend Kenny Lyon, a former Lemonhead, who still eeks it out rockin' the guitar in Russia a good portion of the year. Our chat focused on how the economic walls for "creative class" folks like us are closing in everywhere we look, partly due to artificial intelligence ... but lots of other factors, too. A lot of it just has to do with folks who peddle our work actually having, at best, apathy for what we do, and at worst,  contempt for it and us. I had a job interview last week for a Montreal-based digital media company (their very green recruiter found me on LinkedIn) . If I passed muster (and I suspect my relatively expensive salary demands did not), they would to pay me under $70,000 a year to whip productivity out of young "staff writers" making $10 a post. Alas, I'm sure they'll find someone willing to do it! Just not me. And as I type my last sentence as a Future M&E group employee -- and maybe my last as a non-independent journalist -- I will say this: In the words of Knocksville's mid-1990s sensation Superdrag, this has been my dream, playing out (this) rockin' routine. 

The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York’s Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below for a gallery of photos from on stage and behind the scenes, featuring honorees such as Dick Vitale, George Stephanopoulos, Debra OConnell, Bill McGorry and more.

The E.W. Scripps Co. said it was shutting down its Scripps News over-the-air channel effective November 15 and eliminating at least 200 jobs.

When the move was announced, Scripps stock jumped and was up 15% in midday trading Friday.

Burdened by debt since its acquisition of Ion Media, Scripps stock is down 72% this year from a 52-week high of $9.25 a share in January.

Kate O’Brian, president of news at Scripps, said she would be leaving the company.

“Over the last two years, Scripps News’ live anchored coverage and documentary programming have grown its linear television audience, but the prospects for the necessary revenue growth haven’t materialized, despite our sales teams’ efforts,” Scripps CEO Adam Symson said in a memo to employees. “Scripps News’ current financial position is what has led me to the decision to scale back our approach to 24-hour news and over-the-air coverage.“

“Amidst an already difficult linear television advertising marketplace, many brands and agencies have decided that advertising around national news is just too risky for them given the polarized nature of this country, no matter the accolades and credentials a news organization like Scripps receives for its objectivity,” Symson said. “I vehemently disagree, but it is hurting Scripps News, along with every other national linear and digital news outlet.” 

Symson said Scripps News will remain on streaming and digital platforms with weekday live coverage from a Washington, D.C.-based core reporting team. He said about 50 Scripps News staff members would remain to report for its local stations.

“I also want to emphasize that the advertising issues Scripps News has faced reflect the national marketplace,“ Symson said. ”Locally, there is advertising support for our local news and our stations’ ability to connect local businesses with our audiences. It remains our responsibility to serve local communities and connect them to the greater world through Scripps News’ national and international reporting.” 

In her memo to staff, O’Brian called the shutdown “a business decision” and not reflection on the quality of its work.

“The tough reality is that despite doing remarkable and award-winning journalism, building our OTA audience steadily since we launched, and doubling our weekly OTA revenue in the last year, the national ad market simply did not sustain over-the-air Scripps News as a viable business,” she said.

“The world needs more objective journalism and dedicated journalists like all of you,” O’Brian added. “Indeed, we still have a most consequential election to cover for our audience that demands fact-based and thoughtful coverage. We owe it to our loyal audiences on every platform to continue  to deliver the highest quality news and information right up to November 15.”

The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend.

The WNBA semifinal playoff round tips off Sunday with ABC’s coverage of the defending champion Las Vegas Aces playing the New York Liberty in a rematch of last year’s finals. On ESPN, the Connecticut Sun face the Minnesota Lynx.

The NFL’s Week 4 kicks off with regional live game coverage on Fox and CBS, followed by NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast featuring the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens. 

In college football, No. 1 Texas hosts Mississippi State on SEC Network, second-ranked Georgia faces fourth-ranked Alabama on ABC, and No. 3 Ohio State battles Michigan State on Peacock. Other top 10-ranked teams in action include No. 6 Ole Miss-Kentucky (ABC), No. 8 Oregon-UCLA (Fox), No. 9 Penn State-Illinois (NBC), and No. 10 Utah-Arizona (Fox).

On the links, NBC and Golf Channel will air final-round coverage of the Presidents Cup tournament, while on the racetrack, USA will air Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Kansas Lottery 300 and Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Hollywood Casino 400 races.

On the soccer field, USA and Peacock will offer live Premier League games throughout the weekend. In NWSL action, CBS on Saturday will televise the NJ/NY Gotham FC-Kansas City matchup, while Ion will air the Houston-Orlando match. 

Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once. 

The virtual MVPD provider first debuted its Multiview feature on premium Apple TV devices back in 2020. According to Digital Trends, which dug into Fubo's announcement today, users of Roku's high-end Ultra devices will be able to put up to four channels at once on their screen at once time.

Users of lower end Roku Express 4K and 4K+, and Roku Streaming Stick 4K and 4K+, will be confined to two simultaneous streams. 

In a business catering to fans of live sports, Fubo's Multiview feature bests a similar offering from rival YouTube TV, which only lets users access select channels. 

“Multiview has been one of our most loved features, and we’re thrilled to expand it to Roku users,” said Isaac Josephson, senior VP of product management, Fubo, in a statement. “With Multiview and a suite of product features that enable content discovery and personalization, Fubo’s goal is to ensure fans never miss a moment of their favorite content.”

The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial arts as it gears up for a major October 19 pay-per-view event from Saudi Arabia. 

The event, featuring former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou against PFL heavyweight titleholder Renan Ferreira, is one of the biggest events for the six-year-old franchise, which pits MMA fighters in a league elimination format — including a regular-season and post-season — to determine its champion, according to PFL founder Donn Davis. 

With fighters from around the world participating in the league, and with distribution deals with ESPN domestically and DAZN globally, Davis said the PFL is growing and within punching range of its nearest and larger competitor, the UFC. 

Davis spoke to Multichannel News senior content producer, programming R. Thomas Umstead about the upcoming PPV event and the PFL’s television future. An edited version of the interview follows. 

MCN: Have fans fully adapted to a league-based MMA format compared to the traditional single-fight matchups? 

Donn Davis: Our metrics show that in our sixth year, we’re generating 40% of UFC viewership despite their brand being much bigger. It shows that PFL has grown very, very quickly among viewers. We also know that half of our fans are new to MMA — they watch soccer, basketball and American football — and they are used to the league format. Every fight matters in the PFL because every fight is an elimination fight, and our viewers are used to that kind of excitement in their sport. 

MCN: How has your distribution deal with ESPN broadened the franchise’s reach beyond traditional MMA fans? 

DD: We’re on ESPN Friday nights in the United States, so 90% percent of our fights are on linear and streaming free distribution, whereas half of the big fights from the UFC are on pay-per-view, so you have to pay more for them. For fans, we want to be easy to see. 

MCN: The PFL also counts pay-per-view as a distribution platform. Is PPV still a viable option for companies like PFL to try to reach viewers and generate revenue?

DD: PFL has two pay-per-view events a year — we call them super-fights. Fights like our October event featuring the return of Francis Ngannou against the PFL champion [Ferreira], the No. 5-ranked heavyweight in the ESPN rankings. That card also has the greatest woman of all time in MMA, Cris Cyborg. These events are a testament to the fighters who want to be here and the innovation and the different approach to the market that we’re taking for our fans. 

MCN: From your perspective, how do you see the television sports marketplace shaping over the next year, and how does the PFL fit into it? 

DD: Most media companies, whether it’s linear, streaming or emerging technologies like mobile, want two things: global reach and growth. MMA is the fastest-growing sport, and, along with soccer, the most global. That’s what distributors are looking for, so I believe the UFC will do extremely well in their media rights negotiations in 2025, and I think  the PFL will do extremely well in our media rights renewal in 2026. We have the best distribution that we can have today, but would we like to get paid more money for that? We’re currently over-delivering to those partners, and we want to stick with our partners after 2026 and get paid a little bit more. 

Hoda Kotb, co-anchor on Today, announced on the NBC morning show September 26 that she will step down early next year. She said she made that decision after turning 60 last month. 

"I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new," an emotional Kotb said. 

Kotb and Savannah Guthrie have been co-anchors since 2018. Guthrie said the Today team doesn’t “want to imagine this place without you.” 

In a memo to colleagues, Kotb said her daughters, who are 7 and 5, and her mother, "need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie."

Kotb joined NBC News as a correspondent for Dateline in 1998 and joined the Today team in 2007, co-hosting the fourth hour alongside Kathie Lee Gifford. In addition to anchoring Today alongside Guthrie, Kotb co-hosts the fourth hour with Jenna Bush Hager.

Kotb temporarily stepped into the Today co-anchor role in November 2017 after Matt Lauer was fired. She took over co-anchor duties permanently at the start of 2018. 

Her staff memo said: “There’s plenty of time to talk about what’s ahead for all of us. But one thing I know for sure right now is this: everything’s going to be just fine. The Peacock’s feathers are never ruffled … no matter who comes or goes. ‘TODAY’ and its amazing people — all of you — never waver. You always weather change with grace.”

On the air, an emotional Guthrie said, “When you look around and see these tears, they are love. You are so loved.”

Kotb was inducted into the B+C Hall of Fame in 2022. 

With women’s sports blowing up in popularity, Horizon Sports & Experiences said it signed Shark Beauty to be title sponsor for the inaugural Shark Beauty Women’s Champions Classic, which will be broadcast by Fox 

The Classic is an early-season showcase featuring some of college basketball’s top teams including WNBA rookie star Caitlin Clark’s alma mater Iowa, the University of Connecticut, Louisville and Tennessee. 

The event — a collaboration of Horizon Sports & Experiences and Fox Sports — is set for December 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

“There has been tremendous excitement around the inaugural Women’s Champions Classic, and we’re thrilled to announce our landmark sponsorship agreement with Shark Beauty,” said David Levy, co-CEO of HS&E. “This represents a significant shift, as brands in this category have historically focused their sponsorship dollars on traditional primetime entertainment television. As the popularity of women’s basketball continues to soar, new avenues for engagement and enhanced return on investment have emerged. Shark Beauty is setting a powerful example by recognizing the importance of investing in women’s sports, a strategy we believe will inspire other brands to follow suit.”

As part of a multiyear sponsorship package, Shark Beauty will receive a variety of broadcast and digital integrations and sponsorship elements, hospitality and fan engagement opportunities and in-arena signage.

“This first-of-its-kind early-season women’s tournament in New York City provides the type of national spotlight that will continue to elevate the women’s game, and we are thrilled to be on the ground floor to help further its momentum as title sponsor,” Shark Beauty VP of global marketing Petra Oman said. “At Shark Beauty, we work tirelessly to reimagine beauty solutions, and it’s just the beginning. As we continue to innovate across new products and categories, this event offers us a unique opportunity to introduce Shark Beauty to a national audience of passionate fans.”

Data and measurement company Inscape and local video advertising provider Locality said they are working together to provide marketers with unified linear TV and streaming measurement for national and local audiences.

The collaboration will enable advertisers to calculate incremental reach and other metrics for brands when planning and evaluating campaigns.

“Combining our access to premium local video at unduplicated scale with Inscape’s comprehensive local-level viewership data uniquely positions Locality to understand how ad campaigns perform across both linear and streaming distribution,” Locality president of streaming Keith Kazerman said. “This partnership enhances our ability to showcase our unique reach to partners and provide insights into how consumers engage with our local streaming and broadcast inventory in their optimal markets.”

Using Inscape’s unified source of data, Locality can perform cross-platform campaign planning at a brand and market level. This allows marketers to optimize budget allocations as consumers continue to lean into the growth of connected TV, the companies said.

“The solution this partnership brings to the $87 billion ad industry is access to unified data across locally targeted linear and streaming driving operational and budgetary efficiencies,” Vizio/Inscape VP of data licensing and strategy Ken Norcross said.

“Our data is a single-source solution that focuses on the content and the commercials and the habits and behaviors within the TV viewing experience, cohesively,” Norcross said. “This partnership with Locality allows us to demonstrate a comprehensive view of how consumers are engaging with TV and to create a better experience overall for advertisers.”

Integral Ad Science said it has expanded its brand safety and suitability capabilities to detect misinformation on YouTube for advertisers.

IAS’s Total Media Quality product assures marketers that their campaigns are running adjacent to brand-safe and suitable content. IAS will now identify misinformation on YouTube, enabling advertisers to verify if the content meets their safety and suitability requirements.

“Brand safety is a top priority for marketers as we approach upcoming marquee global media events. We are empowering marketers with enhanced products like our expanded Total Media Quality for YouTube which now offers IAS’s misinformation reporting,” said Lisa Utzschneider, CEO of IAS. “We’re excited to offer the ability to detect misinformation with our best-in-class measurement solution.”

IAS classifies content according to industry-aligned definitions and provides reporting based on advertisers’ custom brand suitability settings. Advertisers can access video-level insights into content adjacent to their ads. The product examines content in more than 30 languages and compliment’s YouTube’s own brand safety measures, IAS said.

The Media Rating Council accredited IAS’s measuring video viewability on YouTube earlier this year.

Richard Goodall has been named the winner of season 19 of America’s Got Talent. Known as the singing janitor, he took home the $1 million grand prize. 

Goodall sang Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” for his audition and won a Golden Buzzer from judge Heidi Klum. He performed Michael Bolton’s“How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” in the qualifiers round and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” in the semifinals. 

Goodall, who is from Terre Haute, Indiana, went back to the Journey oeuvre for his final performance, singing “Faithfully.”

Members of Journey performed with him in the finale results show at Pasadena Civic Auditorium September 24.

Goodall is a janitor at a middle school, and performs at times for the students. He also sings in church and with a band. 

“Winning AGT is important and means so much to me,” Goodall said. “Simon [Cowell] said two minutes can change your life. It has transformed mine, and I’d like to help others, one song at a time.” 

Cowell, Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara are the AGT judges, and Terry Crews hosts. 

Klum said to Goodall on the show, “I have faithfully been your biggest fan since the very first moment we met." Mandel commented, “I think you just sang yourself $1 million.” Said Cowell, “We all need a hero right now, and you are our hero.” 

The season finale featured the top 10 finalists performing alongside Simone Biles & the Gold Over America Tour, entertainer Michael Bublé, guitarist Neal Schon and members of Journey, DJ and producer Steve Aoki, comedian Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias, the cast of “Magic Mike Live,” singer-songwriter Andra Day and AGT fan favorite Detroit Youth Choir. 

America’s Got Talent was created by Cowell and is co-produced by Fremantle and Syco Entertainment. Cowell, Sam Donnelly and Jason Raff are the executive producers.  

It airs on NBC. 

Adrian Stoica and his dog Hurricane won season 18. 

Agatha All Along, the new Marvel series on Disney Plus, was the top streaming show in TVision’s Power Score ranking of series on connected TV for the week of September 16.

The first two episodes of the show were released on September 18.

Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building (Season 4) dropped to the No. 2 spot.

Rounding out the Top 5 were The Perfect Couple on Netflix, Monsters on Netflix and Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist on Peacock.

Hulu’s Shogun and Max’s Hacks returned to the Top 20, probably boosted by winning numerous Emmy Awards earlier this month.

The Power Score ranking is designed to compare streaming shows on an apples-to-apples basis. In calculating its Power Score, TVision, which measures activity across over 1,000 apps, looks at the amount of time viewers pay attention to the program, the amount of program time available for the season, the program’s reach, as well as the application’s reach.

TVision said it chose that combination of metrics to enable a neutral look at the quality of programming and its unique, inherent ability to draw in viewers — regardless of the scale of the platform or the program’s release schedule.

Cable giants Comcast and Charter Communications on Wednesday announced a new partnership with chipmaker Broadcom to jointly develop a new silicon standard capable of delivering downstream speeds of up to 25 gigabits per second over cable's traditional hybrid fiber-coax wires. 

Outlining their collaboration during the cable industry's big annual tech trade show, SCTE TechExpo in Atlanta, the companies billed the standard as the launch of “DOCSIS 5.0” — a new version of the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification, which the cable industry uses to transmit data. 

It's an attempt to unify the fractured development paths of the current DOCSIS 4.0 iteration, which has two disparate threads — Full Duplex DOCSIS 4.0 and Extended Spectrum DOCSIS 4.0 (ESD). 

Comcast, Charter and Broadcom are looking to develop unified DOCSIS chipsets for network nodes, smart amps, and cable modems, enabling both FDX and ESD versions of the DOCSIS 4.0 specification. 

“Supporting a single technology that can be used by all operators efficiently, over their existing networks, allows the industry to leverage its collective investment, and to increase the benefits of AI at the edge,” Charlie Herrin, president of technology, product and experience for Comcast, said in a statement. 

Added said Rich DiGeronimo, president of product and technology for Charter: “By integrating Broadcom's cutting-edge technology into our network infrastructure and cable modems, our network will leverage artificial intelligence to enhance power, reliability, and cost-effectiveness, ultimately delivering superior services to our customers.”

Anthem Sports & Entertainment said it has agreed to buy Hollywood Suite, which owns and operates four linear TV channels in Canada.

The acquisition would double the number of channels Anthem offers to Canadian viewers.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Hollywood Suite’s linear networks show movies by decade, with an HS70s channel, an HS80s channel, an HS90s channel and an HS00s channel. It also has an on-demand offering.

The networks are available in about 10 million homes via distributors including Rogers Communications, Bell, Telus, Amazon Prime Video, Cogeco, Eastlink and Freedom Mobile.

Hollywood Suite will continue to be managed by its co-founder and president, David Kines.

“Anthem is focused on providing fresh and unique content offerings catering to a wide and diverse network of passionate fanbases, and the acquisition of Hollywood Suite helps us further that strategy in a major way,” Anthem founder and CEO Leonard Asper said. “They have a proven track record of success and have enjoyed incredible growth throughout the years, with a strong commitment to providing true movie lovers with wide-ranging offerings from some of cinema’s most consequential eras. We are proud to have them on board and we look forward to working closely with David and the Hollywood Suite team to help them reach even greater heights.”

Anthem currently distributes the Game TV, Games Plus, Fight Network and AXS TV channels in Canada.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission.

“With a passion and commitment to movies as deep as ours, Anthem is the perfect partner for Hollywood Suite,” Kines said. “Leonard and his team have demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to supporting cinema and independent platforms like us, giving viewers and subscribers the absolute best in film-focused content.”

Looking to address the issue of advertiser suitability for news content, Pixability and Ad Fontes are teaming up to enable marketers to identify and support reputable news sources on YouTube and connected TV.

Pixability uses artificial intelligence to gauge the suitability and performance of contextual targeting. Ad Fontes rates new sources for bias and reliability. 

Working together, they plan to identify trustworthy news sources and screen out particularly sensitive stories, enabling advertisers to run ads safely in news environments.

“At a time when false and misleading information is rampant across all platforms, it’s important we identify and provide support for sources of news that are trustworthy and not expressing extreme bias,” said Vanessa Otero, founder and CEO of Ad Fontes.

“As the largest video platform in the world, YouTube has a vast ocean of content of varying reliability, which presents both huge opportunities and challenges,” Otero said. “We believe our solution, combined with Pixability’s brand suitability technology, will together provide a much-needed way to target high-quality journalism and information on YouTube while in turn steering clear of low-reliability content.”

Pixability recently released data that showed that, on average, 40% of YouTube advertisers ask to avoid news content on YouTube. This leads to a lack of funding for reputable news sources and prevents advertisers from engaging audiences in key areas of interest.

Advertisers in categories including food & beverage, automotive, entertainment and travel have found that news content drives anywhere from 24% to 44% better engagement than the average content category on YouTube, Pixability said.

“We’ve seen a pattern of brands and agencies avoiding news content altogether because of a lack of effective brand suitability solutions in the market tailored for news sites and are proud to be solving for this problem on YouTube specifically,” Pixability CEO David George said.

Fox Entertainment worked with Vizio, using the TV maker’s full suite of ad capabilities to drive awareness and tune-in for new action series Rescue: HI-Surf.

The companies have worked together before, but to promote the lifeguard drama Fox took advantage of messages on the Vizio Home Screen as well as Hero, Discovery and Recommends ads. 

On the home screen, seen by millions before they decide what to watch, Vizio showed a Spotlight unit featuring a custom animation.

Fox also ran 15- and 30-second video promos on Vizio WatchFree Plus and partner AVOD apps.

The campaign urged viewers to watch the premiere of Rescue: HI-Surf on September 22, as well as to tune into the show in its regular Monday evening time slot. Viewers were also told they could watch the next day on demand via Hulu.

Vizio says Fox is the first marketer to use animated messages in the Spotlight unit on the Home Screen. 

“TV audiences are more fragmented than ever, so the Home Screen provides an opportunity to reach people before they start splitting off into streaming environments,” Vizio head of media & entertainment, national advertising sales Sean Booker said. “Fox is a longtime partner, and this expanded campaign brings the full impact of the Smart TV Home Screen to help the company reach audiences with creative executions that drive multiple media objectives.”

Revry, the LGBTQ+ streaming services said that credit card company Discovery has signed up to sponsor the 8th annual QueerX Awards telecast.

The awards show will  premiere on Revry October 11, which is National Coming Out Day.

“Discover believes everyone should feel like they belong and enjoy the freedom to be themselves,” said Darci Cavanaugh, Director of Compliance Operations and the Enterprise Lead for Pride, Discover’s employee resource group for LGBTQ+ employees and allies. “Discover is proud to support Revry and the QueerX awards. We celebrate diverse experiences and perspectives, which make us stronger and better able to help our employees, customers and communities achieve brighter financial futures.”

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The QueerX Awards will be hosted by Percy Rustomji, the known for his role as the host of Revry’s Culture Q, and Daniel Franzese, who appeared in Mean Girls and HBO’s Looking. 

The event will also feature special appearances Carmen Carrera, The Queen of Melrose (Cosmo Lombino), Jake Dupree, Love Bailey, Marval Rex, and Biqtch Puddin’. 

Award categories include Best Queer Dancer of the Year, Best Queer DJ, Best Athlete, Queer Comedian, Best Fashion Brand, Queer Twitch Streamer, Biggest Social Media Presence, Queer Anthem of the Year, Best Drag Artist, Best Podcast, and the QueerX Visibility Awards.

“As we prepare for the 8th annual QueerX Awards, we remain focused on celebrating the creativity, diversity, and joy that define our community. This event is more than just recognition; it’s about amplifying stories that push boundaries and inspire future generations,” said Damian Pelliccione, co-founder and CEO of Revry.

Revry said the 2023 QueerX Awards reached nearly one million U.S. households and ranked among Revry’s top-performing programs in October,

The 2024 QueerX Awards will be streamed globally and exclusively on Revry, which is available on platforms including Samsung TV Plus, Roku, Vizio WatchFree Plus, Plex, Rakuten TV and Xumo.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football telecast helped the sports network barely beat out Fox News Channel for top honors in primetime last week.

ESPN averaged 2.56 million viewers for the week of September 16-22 to top Fox News Channel’s 2.51 million viewers, ending the news network’s three-week winning streak, according to Nielsen numbers supplied by Fox News.

The sports network was bolstered by its September 16 Philadelphia Eagles-Atlanta Falcons Monday Night Football telecast, which drew 13.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.  

MSNBC finished third with 1.4 million viewers, followed by USA Network’s 780,000 viewers and CNN’s 681,000 watchers.

Hallmark Channel was sixth with 635,000 viewers, followed by HGTV (540,000 viewers), Food Network (496,000), TBS (493,000) and INSP (486,000). 

Fox News pushed its total day win streak to 37 weeks, averaging 1.5 million viewers. MSNBC finished second with 952,000 viewers, followed by ESPN (848,000 viewers), CNN (517,000) and Hallmark Channel (349,000), according to Nielsen. 

The second season of Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology series made an impressive debut last week, generating 97.5 million viewing hours and 12.3 million views during the week of September 16-22.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story launched on September 19, and was the most viewed title among Netflix’s English-language series.

Still, it doesn’t quite hold a candle to its predecessor Dahmer, which put up 196.2 million streaming hours in its first weekend on the rankings two years ago.

Also Read: 'Rebel Ridge' Brings Netflix Its Third-Biggest Film Debut This Year -- Netflix Weekly Rankings for September 9-15

Currently, Dahmer is Netflix’s third most popular Netflix title of all time, with 115.6 million views.

Netflix is set to release a documentary featuring new interviews with the Menendez brothers, which could spark additional viewing for the series. 

Critics have been cool to Murphy's latest installment, rating it an aggregated 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

While The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story had a successful opening, it wasn’t Netflix’s most watched title.

That was Uglies, the dystopian film thriller starring Joey King, which earned the top spot among Netflix’s titles with 45.6 million viewing hours and 26.8 million views.

Uglies dethroned the top film from the week prior, Rebel Ridge, which landed at the No. 2 spot with 36.7 million viewing hours and 16.7 million views.

Also significant was the Korean action comedy film Officer Black Belt, which garnered an impressive 28.5 million views and 15.7 million viewing hours.

The film took the top spot among Netflix’s international titles in its second week of distribution, after it saw a 90% increase in viewership.

WMXI, the Fox affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said it named Jace Larson as senior director of news.

Larson had been director of newsgathering at Scripps News. Scripps News and WMXI are owned by E.W. Scripps.

Larson is replacing Dan Boers, who left the station in July.

At Scripps News, Larson oversaw the general assignment reporting team. He previously managed teams within the Scripps local-national operation before it merged with Scripps News.

Earlier in his career, Larson worked as a reporter at stations including KUSA and KMGH in Denver, KPRC Houston and KOKI Tulsa, Oklahoma. He won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for uncovering and dismantling a foreclosure scam in Colorado.

ESPN is set to televise Pickleball Slam 3, which will again feature tennis greats including Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf competing in the new racquet sport for a $1 million purse. 

Also competing are Andy Roddick and Eugenie Bouchard.

The event is being held in Las Vegas at the Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on February 16.

“Pickleball’s surge in participation, sponsorship investments, and media coverage underscores its rising status in the sports and advertising worlds. The Pickleball Slam, featuring great players, dynamic locations, and ESPN coverage, plays a pivotal role in this growth, showcasing the sport’s expanding appeal,” said David Levy, Co-CEO of Horizon Sports & Entertainment.

“Set against the vibrant Las Vegas backdrop, Slam 3 promises an unforgettable experience for sponsors and fans alike, and we can’t wait for everyone to witness the unparalleled excitement and spectacle of this event.”

Agassi and Graf, who won Pickleball Slam 2, will take on Roddick and Bouchard in mixed doubles. Agassi and Roddick, who teamed up on the first Slam, will be competing in the upcoming event.

“I can’t wait to return with Steffi and defend our title in February at Slam 3,” said Agassi in a statement. “It’s an incredible opportunity to play in my hometown of Las Vegas, where the stakes are high, and the energy is electric. In this city, the odds are always in our favor, and I almost feel a little sorry for Andy and Genie.”  

“When Andre and I won the inaugural Pickleball Slam, I ended up doing most of the heavy lifting, so this time I'm excited to team up with Genie,” added Roddick. “For Slam 3, I’m actually more concerned about Steffi—she's a force to be reckoned with! Genie and I are ready to defy the odds. After all, this is Las Vegas, a city that knows a thing or two about unexpected upsets.”

The inaugural Pickleball Slam and Slam 2 both served up big audiences for ESPN.

The first Pickleball Slam in 2023, set a record as the highest-rated pickleball telecast in the network’s history, peaking with nearly 800,000 viewers. In February 2024, Slam 2 peaked with over 990,000 viewers.

“Pickleball has energized sports fans worldwide over the last few years and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring this incredible event to Mandalay Bay in 2025,” said Lance Evans, MGM Resorts International’s senior VP of sports & sponsorships  We look forward to partnering with David Levy and his team as well as these extraordinary sports legends to showcase Las Vegas as the Sports Capital of the World.”

Google has launched its first piece of streaming hardware since its $50 Chromecast With Google TV debuted four years ago, and initial reviews are in for the new premium gadget.

We're still conducting our review, but we aggregated five test drives from notable tech publications to summarize the industry's thoughts on Google’s new TV Streamer.

The first thing most reviewers seemed to notice was the size of the new $100 gadget — as Google did away with the discreet, behind-the-set, dongle configuration for Chromecast in favor of a rubberized set-top.

Also Read: Google TV Streamer Gets Official Price, Release Date

The new device is noticeably larger and intended to sit in front of your TV set.

Still, most reviewers said that it was more like a “smaller ornament” than a large, unsightly piece of tech.

Early reviews also commented positively on the redesign of Google’s remote, which is slightly larger and saw several buttons shifted for ease of use.

It didn’t change much, but users seem to agree that the new shape is more ergonomic.

Also integrated into Google TV Streamer’s remote is the ability to bind shortcuts, which the company suggests connecting to its smart-home features.

Some said that this was a bit redundant, given that smart-home adjustments are accessible from the quick settings sidebar, but most agreed it was a generally useful feature to have.

One reviewer recommends binding the shortcut key as an input switcher.

Regardless of whether you decide to keep it as a shortcut, reviewers largely agreed that the smart home features were nice to have — even if they’re sloppily integrated in some cases.

Through the smart-home tab, you can control your smart lights, climate control and even watch live feeds from your security cameras right on your TV.

But, as one reviewer noted, feeds for some of Google’s latest-generation Nest cameras are heavily compressed when displayed on screen.

The same reviewer noted that he could not interact with or toggle the power for his cameras from the streamer.  He also experienced a “seven-second or so delay” from his Nest camera.

The new Google streaming device also allows users to customize their home further by using AI features (very similar to Google’s Gemini web tool) that can generate custom images to display.

Most users agreed that while this was a fun feature — although it didn’t have the capability to generate moving images — it remained largely unused.

Perhaps most importantly to viewers, though, was the increased quality-of-picture and efficiency of the device.

Every reviewer agreed that, in terms of performance, the Google TV Streamer is far superior to its predecessor.

One speculated that this was due to a MediaTek MT8696 SoC processor inside the box, although Google hasn’t publicly confirmed much about the device’s specs.

According to Google’s estimate, the Streamer allows for 22% faster CPU performance than the legacy Chromecast.

This seems like a consensus shared by most users — not quite as powerful as rivals like the Nvidia Shield, but a worthy successor to the Chromecast.

All agreed that the Streamer was by far Google’s best crack at set-top boxes. Most seemed resolved that, despite some minor nitpicks, it’s a good set-top box for most consumers.

Read the reviews here:

The Verge

AndroidPolice

9to5Google

DigitalTrends

AndroidAuthority

MGM Plus said it ordered a new drama series that reimagines the classic Robin Hood tale.

The show is being produced by Lionsgate Television and created by showrunner Scott Glenn and producer-director Jonathan English.

Production on a 10-episode first season is set to begin in February at PFI Studios in Serbia. The series is expected to premiere later in 2025.

In addition to premiering on MGM Plus in the U.S., Robin Hood will be available to MGM Plus viewers in the U.K., Italy, Germany, Spain, Latin America, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

“We call MGM Plus television for movie lovers and English and Glenn’s Robin Hood is the epitome of our brand promise,” MGM Plus head Michael Wright said. “This is a new imagining of the classic tale of the roguish outlaw hero who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. It’s an exciting, smart, sweeping, romantic adventure that brings historical authenticity, psychological depth, and a heightened focus on the relationship between Rob and Marian to the beloved story.”

The new series is expected to have a modern feel and romantic energy between Robin and Marian. The show will also aim to be historically authentic.

“Robin Hood is a global brand and a story we’ve both been obsessed with since our youth,“ Glenn and English said. “We are truly honored to have partnered with MGM Plus, Lionsgate and Todd to bring this classic story back to life.” 

Glenn and English also serve as writers and executive producers, alongside Todd Lieberman of Hidden Pictures. Carly Kleinbart and Nicole Bryant will oversee the series for Hidden Pictures.

Netflix will continue its partnership with prolific producer/writer Tyler Perry with the October 24 premiere of original drama series Beauty in Black.

The 16-part series, part of the multi-year, first-look production deal reached last year between Netflix and Perry, follows two women on very different life trajectories on a course toward each other, according to the streaming service. Taylor Polidore Williams and Crystle Stewart star as strangers entangled in each other’s lives.

Beauty and Black also stars Amber Reign Smith, Ricco Ross, Debbi Morgan, Richard Lawson, and Steven Norfleet.

The first-half of the 16-episode series will debut October 24, with the second half premiering at a later date. The series follows Perry’s original movie, Mea Culpa, which streamed on Netflix this past February.

Roku on Tuesday released detail of its latest product upgrade to its top-of-the-line "Ultra" streaming gadget. 

The updated device features a new quad-core processor specifically built to enhance the quality of streaming, with capabilities for 4K, HDR10+, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, as well as support for WiFi 6.

Also Read: Viewers Can Now Find Roku Channels Through Google TV's Search Tools

Roku says its new Ultra operates 30% faster than its other players.

The device, the company said, is made even faster by the integration of machine learning, which predicts which app you’ll likely open next and tees it up to launch instantaneously.

Other features include a lost remote mode, wireless headphone capabilities, and customizable quick launch shortcuts.

Speaking of remotes, Roku last spring debuted the second edition of its Voice Remote Pro, which comes bundled with the Roku Ultra.

Alongside the standard features, the Voice Remote Pro has backlit buttons, USB charging, and two new buttons: quick launch and live TV guide.

As part of its broader product upgrade cycle, Roku also highlighted some key changes to its content recommendations and home page.

Roku said in a release that it will be revamping the Roku Mobile App, which previously allowed users to control their TV without the need for a physical remote.

Now, in addition to controlling their video players, the remote app will allow users to discover personalized content recommendations and read IMDb ratings without having to launch a new window.

The app also enable users to favorite their go-to sports teams, even when they’re not at home.

Roku also made slight alterations to its home screen, including the introduction of a “Kids & Family zone.”

But if that isn’t to your preference, the company also introduced the ability to like and dislike content, allowing users some degree of control over what the platform continues to recommend.

Measurement company VideoAmp said it will be incorporating outcome data from a variety of providers into its VALID data and technology platform.

The data will provide advertisers with insights into how well exposure to messages on linear TV, streaming and digital channels creates consumer activity, including sales.

VideoAmp will collect data from a range of industries, including consumer packaged goods, credit cards, auto and pharmaceutical. 

“These new capabilities unlock scaled outcome measurement for our clients, across verticals,” VideoAmp chief product officer Josh Hudgins said. “Through these integrations, VideoAmp is laying the groundwork for standardized outcome reporting across industries and affording our clients the ability to maximize the value of their media.”

Affinity Solutions, Circana, Polk Automotive Solutions from S&P Global Mobility, PlaceIQ and PurpleLab have already agreed to integrate their data into VALID.

In addition to the benefits for advertisers, VideoAmp said integrating outcomes into its platform will enable media companies to unlock attribution insights to tie their premium ad inventory to actual business outcomes for their advertising clients. 

“Advertisers can noticeably improve ROAS by leveraging Circana’s 100% deterministic data in the planning process and by optimizing their media buy toward those programs, dayparts, etc., that most resonate with their customers,” said Amy Marentic, president of global solutions at Circana, which accumulates data from shopper loyalty cards.  

“We are in a new era of TV advertising, one where there is ample opportunity for brands to better measure — and therefore better understand — the value and outcomes of their investments,” PurpleLab VP of advertising partnerships and strategy Ted Sweetser added. “PurpleLab is proud to partner with VideoAmp to help deliver on this promise. The job of the CMO will get a little easier today, as VideoAmp brings a real understanding of ROI to television, a space where half the dollars have gone with a fraction of the measurability.”

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement said it will incorporate The Attention Council as a working group within CIMM.

CIMM’s Attention Working Group will be chaired by Andy Brown. It expects to publish a study on the state of attention management and the use of new metrics across the media and advertising business.

Brown will also join CMM’s Steering Committee.

“There has been exceptional growth in the use and development of attention by the industry — from the proliferation of innovative new approaches to the steady increase in buy-side adoption,” CIMM managing director Jon Watts said. “We are pleased to welcome TAC into CIMM to support this work, cementing metrics like attention, emotion and quality as critical components of our program. As we continue to work closely with other organizations and expand internationally, this collaboration marks the next step in our unified effort to support improvements, best practices and innovations across the industry.” 

The Attention Council was started in 2019 by Adelaide, Amplified Intelligence, Avocet, Lumen and TVision and has focused on the areas of quality, ethics, research, education and currency.

“I am excited by the new integration,“ Brown said. “I have admired the ARF and CIMM’s approach to client engagement and willingness to pursue research initiatives to meet the ever-changing developments in the media and advertising landscape.” 

The Paris Summer Olympics pushed Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit to the top spot on Nielsen’s list of media distributors for August.

Nielsen said that NBCU’s units including NBC, USA Network and Peacock, accumulated 13.4% of TV usage — the biggest share since Nielsen began keeping track in November 2023.

NBCU had 9.5% of TV viewing in July.

USA Network viewership jumped 47%, Peacock showed a 39% gain in streaming and viewing across NBC’s broadcast affiliates rose 62%.

NBCU also got a boost from the Democratic National Convention, which boosted viewing of news network MSNBC by 43% compared to July.

YouTube dropped to the No. 2 spot in the distributor’s rankings in August, but its share increased to 10.6% from 10.4% in July.

Also showing an increase in share during August was The Roku Channel, which had 1.7% of TV usage.

Nielsen noted that with the start of the football season not happening until September and their fall TV premieres still on the way, The Walt Disney Co., Fox and Paramount had August lulls.

Paramount Global on Tuesday began what it called “phase two” of its plan to cut costs by eliminating 15% of its staff in the U.S.

The company is in the process of being acquired by Skydance Media, but the three-man office of the CEO has already initiated its plan to reduce expenses by $500 million. Skydance has plans for additional cost savings.

The first round of staff cuts took place in August. The CEOs, George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins, said that after this round 90% of the planned staff reductions will be complete.

On the company’s second-quarter earnings call, McCarthy said layoffs would focus on two areas: ”First, redundant functions within marketing and communications. Second, streamlining our corporate structure, reducing our head count in finance, legal, technology and other support functions.“ 

The company isn’t breaking out how many people are being impacted by each round of layoffs, but by the end of the year, the company expects to have reduced its U.S. headcount by about 2,000.

“Like the entire media industry, we are working to accelerate streaming profitability while at the same time adjusting to the evolving landscape in our traditional businesses,” the CEOs said in their memo Tuesday. “In order to set Paramount up for continued success, we are taking these actions, and after today, 90% of these reductions will be complete.

“Days like today are never easy. It is difficult to say goodbye to valued colleagues, and to those departing, we are incredibly grateful for your countless contributions,” the CEOs said. 

Comcast on Monday unveiled a virtualized network management system called Janus that aims to maximize its network efficiency and reliability.

According to Comcast, Janus does this by shifting the brunt of the company’s internet routing, switching and transport services to its edge cloud platforms.

“Data usage continues to skyrocket at unprecedented rates, primarily due to the rapid increase in streaming high-quality live sports,” Comcast chief network officer Elad Nafshi said in a memo. “Janus builds upon years of investment and innovation to maximize our network performance and will be a game-changer for our customers, our business, and the environment.”

Also Read: Comcast Advertising Names Scott Weisenthal Head of Global Marketing and Insights

Comcast said the new organization of its networks will allow the company to keep up with the massive data traffic that fluctuates around live sports events.

In addition to enhanced network performance, Janus can self-diagnose functionality issues through a real-time telemetry algorithm and offload processing onto redundant, intact network pathways.

That means that in most cases of weather or accidental damage, Janus is capable of restoring service through backup network connections.

Comcast also said that Janus would help the company achieve its goal of being carbon-neutral by 2035.

Since the initiative’s computing platforms would be switched from traditional network facilities to cloud-based platforms, their environmental impact should be significantly reduced.

Initial trials for Janus are underway at Comcast’s network hub in Atlanta, with wide-scale rollout expected in 2025.

Family Entertainment Television (FETV) said it has made a deal with DirecTV Stream has and has been launched on the service.

DirecTV Stream serves more than 2 million subscribers, explaining carriage of FETV, which is carried on cable, satellite and other virtual platforms.

“DirecTV has been a tremendous partner for us throughout the years, and we are thrilled to bring FETV to DirecTV Stream customers,” Cara Conte, executive VP, affiliate sales of FETV and FMC, said. “This launch furthers our commitment to deliver family-friendly entertainment to millions of viewers across America.”

FETV has been available to DirecTV’s satellite customers since 2017.

The network’s programming lineup currently features shows such as Emergency!, Leave It to Beaver, Perry Mason and Adam-12.  

Chenue Her is headed to KMSP Minneapolis, where he will be a morning anchor. He starts in October and will co-anchor Fox 9 Morning from 4:30-6 a.m. with Hannah Flood. 

Her comes from WOI Des Moines, where he has been a morning anchor. 

"We've been big Chenue fans from afar for years now, ever since he started next door in Iowa,” said Kelly Bishop-Huffman, KMSP VP and news director. “On the air and behind the scenes, he just has this incredible 'X-factor.' We couldn't be happier that he's coming home to the Twin Cities and joining our family as well as being back with his."

Before his time at WOI, Her was a reporter for WXIA Atlanta. He has also been a reporter at WVEC Norfolk and KEZI Eugene (OR). He began his career as an intern at KSTP and WCCO in Minneapolis, and at KCRA Sacramento. 

"Coming home and joining the Fox 9 team is a full circle moment for me,” he said. “As a proud Minnesota native and a Hmong son of east St. Paul, it's the greatest honor of my career to join the most iconic morning newscast in Minnesota made up of journalists I've looked up to. As refugees, my parents have been loyal to Fox 9 Morning News for a long time to keep them informed daily and now Fox 9 becomes a part of their family's story forever."

Kelly O'Connell will join Tom Butler for the 6-7 a.m. hours on Fox 9 Morning.

KMSP, known as Fox 9, is part of Fox Television Stations. 

 Jonathan Katz’s Free TV Networks has named Suzanne Satterfield as general counsel.

The company also said that Joe Cantrell was promoted to chief distribution & development officer and Ahtansios Tsiris was elevated to senior VP, digital, distribution and partnerships.

Satterfield had been with Warner Bros. Discovery where she was VP president and legal counsel for global rights management. Earlier in her career, she represented CNN and Court TV as a litigator at Troutman Sanders. She was also a writer and producer for CNN Headline News.

Cantrell had been executive VP, network operations and development. Earlier in his career, he was with Teton Ridge and Raycom Media.

Tsiris, who reports to Cantrell, has been senior VP, distribution and partnerships. Before that, he was at Screen Media and Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have a seasoned lawyer like Suzanne join our world-class team. In this ever-changing media landscape, she brings a unique blend of legal and media expertise with a focus on managing complex entertainment rights issues,” Katz said. “We’re also thrilled to recognize Joe and Athanasios’ successful accomplishments during our company’s first year and look forward to them continuing to drive growth and innovation for Free TV Networks.”

The 78th Annual Tony Awards returns to Radio City Music Hall in New York, and airs live Sunday, June 8, 2025, on CBS and Paramount Plus. 

The 2024 Tony Awards took place for the first time at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York. The 2023 event happened at the United Palace in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood. 

Radio City Music Hall hosted the Tonys 2017-2019 and again in 2022, among other years prior to 2017. 

Ariana DeBose has been the host for the last three Tonys. 

The Tony Awards have aired on CBS since 1978. They are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing and are produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, and White Cherry Entertainment. 

Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are executive producers and showrunners for White Cherry Entertainment. Weiss will direct. Jack Sussman is also an executive producer.

WLS, the ABC-owned station in Chicago, said it named Nneka Nwosu as VP of marketing for the station.

Nosu has been assistant news director at WLS since 2022, overseeing the I-Team investigative unit. She also collaborated with the ABC Television Network on investigations across the ABC stations and created the streaming series Facing the Facts.

She succeeds David Lee, now VP, brand and marketing at WCBS New York.

"Nneka is an inspirational leader whose creativity and strategic vision make her an ideal choice for this role,” WLS GM John Idler said. “We are excited about her next chapter at our station and look forward to seeing her impact on ABC7’s marketing efforts.”

Nwosu joined WLS from Hearst-owned WCVB Boston, where she was executive producer of Chronicle. Before that she was a reporter for WTNH New Haven, Connecticut.

Sinclair is expected to post higher earnings for the year as political ad spending continues to balloon.

The station group on Thursday disclosed that it now expects political ad spending to be between $442 million and  $469 million for the year, an increase of about $60 million. Sinclair’s initial forecast way back when was for $350 million in political spending, which would have been 20% above 2020’s level.

For Q3, ad revenue is expected to range from $149 million to $145 million, up from the previous estimate of $113 million to $128 million.

Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos, who already had a “buy” rating for Sinclair stock, said in a note Monday he was increasing his estimate for Sinclair’s 2024 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by $17 million as a result of the increase in expected political spending.

“In theory, incremental political dollars ought to be very high margin,” Kurnos said. With Sinclair’s new yield-optimization efforts, core looks to be impacted only by a point or two in 3Q, with growth of 2% to 4% still projected.” 

Sinclair’s announcement also provided positive comments about the company’s round of retransmission consent renewals, which it said should yield 2% compounded annualized growth in net retrans for 2023-25.

That “should point to a successful refinancing in the near-term, lifting one of the biggest overhangs and paving the way for significant debt reduction over the medium term,” Kurnos said.

Sinclair stock traded down almost 1% at $14.51 a share in morning trading Monday.

AMC and FX will get an early start on the Halloween season with the premiere of horror-themed original series during the last week of September.

AMC will bring back its The Walking Dead spinoff series The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol for its sophomore season on September 29. Norman Reedus stars as zombie killer Daryl Dixon, along with Melissa McBride, who portrays Carol Peletier.  The two characters from the original The Walking Dead series rekindle their friendship in France amid the continuing zombie threat, according to AMC.

FX’s Grotesquerie debuts September 25 on FX and stars Niecy Nash as a detective exploring a series of heinous crimes in a small community that she believes is eerily connected to her. Courtney B. Vance, Lesley Manville, Micaela Diamond and Travis Kelce also star in the 10-part Ryan Murphy-produced series.

Here are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting during the week of September 23-29. For some, viewer discretion is advised.

September 24: Evolution of the Black Quarterback (documentary series), Prime Video

September 24: Penelope (drama series), Netflix

September 25: Everybody Still Hates Chris (animation series), Comedy Central

September 25: Mr. McMahon (documentary series), Netflix

September 25: Midnight Family (drama series), Apple TV Plus

September 26: Colin From Accounts (returning series), Paramount Plus

September 26: Killer Heat (movie), Prime Video

September 26: Nobody Wants This (comedy), Netflix

September 27: Apartment 7A (drama movie), Paramount Plus

September 27: Social Studies (documentary series), FX

September 27: Wolfs (movie), Apple TV Plus

Tonight we gather to celebrate a very special event — the 32nd class of the B+C Hall of Fame, recognized for unique contributions to our industry. 

In 1991, at the 60th anniversary of Broadcasting magazine, the Hall of Fame was created to honor 60 significant contributors to TV and electronic media. The original class included industry legends ranging from Guglielmo Marconi to William S. Paley, Lucille Ball, cable pioneers Bill Daniels and Dr. John Malone and C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb, to name but a few.  

In the ensuing years, we’ve inducted Hall of Famers as much for their impact in the community that watches TV as we have for their influence on the medium. This year is no exception, as exemplified by both Service to the Community Award winner Phil Beuth and Humanitarian Award winner Dick Vitale. Phil was the very first person hired by Capital Cities Communications founder Tom Murphy in 1955 and, alongside Dan Burke, he helped direct the growth of ABC from when CapCities acquired it in a landmark 1985 merger until his 1997 retirement. The broadcaster affectionately known as “Dickie V” needs no introduction to sports fans — he’s been ESPN’s lead college basketball analyst since 1979. Just as noteworthy as his Hall of Fame broadcasting career is his effort to fight pediatric cancer as his annual Dick Vitale Gala in Sarasota, Florida, raised some $24 million for research this past May. His efforts are all the more poignant as he battles cancer himself. 

Arthur Wagner, Active International executive chairman of the board and founder, receives the Lifetime Achievement Award for helping establish the barter market in television advertising. Gabelli Funds chief investment officer Mario J. Gabelli, the Chairman’s Award winner, has been an influential investor for more than 50 years. 

Rounding out the notables in this year’s class are Janice Arouh, president, network distribution at Allen Media Group; Bob Bakish, president and CEO at Paramount Global until earlier this year; Valari Dobson Staab, chairman, NBCUniversal Local; Karen Dougherty Buchholz, executive VP of administration at Comcast; Marianne Gambelli, who recently retired as president of advertising sales, marketing & brand partnerships at Fox; Scott Herman, a retired CBS Radio executive who now chairs the Broadcasters Foundation of America; Douglas V. Holloway, who helped build the cable business at USA Networks and NBCUniversal and is now president of Homewood Media; Steve Lanzano, president and CEO of the TVB; B+C Hall of Fame chairman Bill McGorry, a 40-year industry publishing veteran; Debra OConnell, president, news group and networks, Disney Entertainmment Television; and George Stephanopolous, co-anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America and anchor of This Week With George Stephanopolous. 

As always, this year’s gala will support the Broadcasters Foundation, which provides support to men and women in the TV and radio industry who find themselves in acute financial need due to a critical illness, severe accident or other serious misfortune, along with the Paley Center for Media. 

We thank tonight’s co-hosts, Brian Custer of ESPN’s SportsCenter; actor, producer, TV/radio host and New York Times best-selling author Mario Lopez; and ABC News correspondent, 20/20 co-anchor (and B+C Hall of Famer) Deborah Roberts. Thanks also to our in-house editorial and sales staffs at B+C; the marketing and production teams; and Future B2B events leader Cassandra Grant. And, of course, our event producers at Live Star Entertainment, Eric Drath and Danielle Naassana; as well as Alan Winnikoff and Carina Sayles, our PR team; and especially our sales team, led by Dena Malouf, Jessica Wolin and Jo Stanley. Finally, thanks to you, our inductees and company sponsors, alumni and attendees, for your support and generosity. Thank you all! 

The 32nd B+C Hall of Fame Class

• Janice Arouh
• Bob Bakish
• Philip R. Beuth (Service to the Community Award)
• Karen Dougherty Buchholz
• Mario J. Gabelli (Chairman’s Award)
• Marianne Gambelli
• Scott Herman
• Douglas V. Holloway
• Steve Lanzano
• William McGorry
• Debra OConnell
• Valari Dobson Staab
• George Stephanopoulos
• Dick Vitale (Humanitarian Award)
• Arthur Wagner (Lifetime Achievement Award)

Honor Roll of the Fifth Estate

For more information on the B+C Hall of Fame gala, including attendance and sponsorship opportunities, please click here. 

Each Sunday, Daniel Frankel and David Bloom share thoughts, ideas and impulses related to the global technology, media and telecom industries. You can also find this weekly column on LinkedIn. Starting on Oct. 6, it will have a new platform home, Next TMT. Email frankeldd@gmail.com if you'd like to sign up for free to that new newsletter. 

DANIEL FRANKEL: Not sure if you're still in Northern Italy minding the GDP of Tuscany, Piedmont and Veneto, but I finally moved 95% of my social engagement off Twitter/X this week and onto Threads ... and it was every bit the good decision I was told it would be. My first sports-centric perusal on the platform -- a next-morning dive into the New York Jets' dominant win over New England on Thursday Night Football -- was satisfying. Plenty of good content and takes ... sans notes about what a boss Aaron Rodgers is for being a COVID denier. The Amazon Prime Video live stream of the game averaged 13.37 million viewers, the company said. 

Barring a World Series championship from the American East-leading Yankees, the Jets, Giants, Rangers, Islanders, Knicks, Nets and Mets will have exceeded more than 100 combined seasons without bringing a major sports title to the Big Apple, according to a recent Associated Press tally. Responding to Nielsen's 2025 "universe estimates," WPIX-TV research exec Eric Kabakoff posted on LinkedIn Friday morning a useful reminder of the density and impact of the New York DMA. In short, it helps everyone when these teams are winning and drawing an audience. 

DAVID BLOOM: Greetings from our new adjunct bureau on the Italian Riviera. Office hours are from Maybe Later Today to How About Next Week, except when it comes to the Next Text, the holiest writ being writ since at least the Bill of Rights, at least until we see how that whole presidential election thing plays out in the States. Speaking of prudent shifts, congrats on the almost-exit from the soul-destroying sump of an evil genius/ketamine fiend gabillionaire to a quantifiably less terrible platform owned by another gabillionaire with apparently fewer problematic intentions for the Republic. Feels like a win. I’ve been on both platforms (@DavidInLA on Threads; join me!) for a while, but generally have pulled back on social media, joining a significant slice of the populace seeking more meaningful life connections. By all accounts, the same is happening to the dating apps. I regard this as social progress. 

Your New York dude’s homer attitude is completely unsurprising, given what he does and where. It does seem that the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, not to mention the MSL, NWSL, and WNBA have managed just fine in the absence of any display of competence by Kabakoff’s Klatch of Keystone Kops franchises. At least the Knicks and Yankees have lately provided some competitive respite. Perhaps more interesting than the Championship Winter in the No. 1 market is how sports programming will displace more and more entertainment programming on broadcast and even on streaming. NBC’s piece of Comcast’s new $2.5-billion-a-year NBA deal will displace 150 hours of prime-time programming. ABC will see lesser displacement, while Amazon and Netflix aren’t spending more on entertainment programming, so their sports ventures mean fewer shows featuring clueless Americans in Paris or the Middle East. This all adds to the real winter of discontent in Hollywood, with even fewer scripted and unscripted projects being commissioned. Happy Emmys Week to you, Hollywood!

Speaking of our sports obsession, we should note the last Woj Bomb of all, the stunning decision by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski to forgo another $20 million or so in his contract as the Four-Letter Network’s crack NBA scoops machine. What will he do instead of working multiple iPhones 23.5 hours a day for every shred of fast-breaking news that he would then spill on, wait for it, X? That always seemed a bit odd, probably to his ESPN bosses too. The Woj will become general manager of the men’s basketball team of his alma mater, tiny St. Bonaventure University. GM is a new position among many college football programs these days, as they grapple with NIL, TV rights, player salaries, the depredations and opportunities of the transfer portal, and old-school high school recruiting. The University of Alabama’s football team just bent everyone’s brains by giving GM Courtney Morgan an $825,000 a year contract. That’s a lot of money, but that’s also a thankless job, especially at a pressure cooker such as ‘Bama. But lots of luck to Woj. I still think he should join Next Text's fast-growing adjunct bureau in Rapallo, which is far more temperate than the Bonnies’ upstate New York home. But the heart will do as the heart will do.

FRANKEL: I noticed that NBC won the 2023-24 broadcast TV season in total viewers, averaging 4.9 million a night, a performance charged by the 14 million viewers it averaged for the Summer Olympics. NBC also won the demo race, averaging an incredibly tiny 0.72 rating in the 18-49 demo. Two years ago, we made a big deal out of it when NBC won the year with a 1.1 demo rating average. Speaking of ratings, Scripps chimed in with more explosive WNBA audience news -- the league's audience grew 133% this past regular season on Ion. 

Also read: Ratings for WNBA Telecasts on Scripps-Owned Ion Rise 133%

What I found particularly interesting about this is that the male 25-54 Ion WNBA audience grew 181%. In the controversial words of comedian Bill Burr, the dudes are still "carrying most of the couch" when it comes to supporting the league. 

BLOOM: It’s nice to see the interest in newcomers Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese continuing through the season (though Reese’s record-breaking run has ended with an injury). Clark has been putting up lots of records of her own, and her slow-starting franchise might just make the playoffs. I hope it continues to shine a light on the good ball being played everywhere else in the league, too. But in terms of scoring big, the real long-range shooter this week was Ted Sarandos, speaking at a tech conference in New York where he called for more transparency in streaming numbers. That’s especially easy to do when you’re the industry leader, with 94 billion hours viewed in the first half of the year, and your new viewership report about to splash down. But yes, it’d be great to see what all the other players, even Apple’s TV Plus side hustle, are actually getting in terms of viewership, instead of the bank-shot metrics we get from third-party providers. 

I’m also looking forward to seeing how things play out for YouTube’s new connected TV app, which was due for some tech lovin’. Here at the Adjunct Bureau, with its erratic internet connection and dinner-plate-sized TV screen, we haven’t been actually watching much video the past couple of days. But I was interested to read the interface is designed to look more like SVOD apps, with more prominent subscribe buttons, QR codes, and widescreen trailers that YouTube calls “immersive previews.”

Also read: Surging YouTube Set To Overhaul Its Connected TV App

More intriguingly, the app is designed to encourage YouTube creators to organize their shows around episodes and seasons. Given how 10% of view time supposedly already going to YouTube, any bets whether this will further accelerate that?

FRANKEL: I myself raced back home from the bank Saturday morning to watch USC vs. Michigan in their first-ever Big Ten matchup at the Big House ... only to realize I had no way to get CBS. I let DirecTV Stream go. Sling TV doesn't have CBS. And our Paramount Plus subscription lapsed when one of our credit cards was swapped out few months ago amid our frequent fraud-alert experiences. We never gave Par the new credit card number. I resubscribed and fiddled with the app for 15 minutes, well past kickoff ... before realizing that you have to pay extra for the $13-a-month, premium "Par Plus With Showtime" to access the live feed of KCBS-TV. I know Peacock also makes you spring for a similar amount to watch your local NBC station, but I still didn't expect not to get a channel that I could obtain myself over the air. Now, I have an OTA antenna ... but it's been in a storage crate somewhere ever since I folded up my studio office and started renting the place back in June. My son, exasperated with me, ended up signing up for a free Fubo trial while I was out of the room. Another example of the fragmented video market for sports confounding semi-innocent fans! If you like football, you've got to pay at least $100 a month for TV now. You need at least a virtual MVPD that has ESPN and all the broadcast networks, and you probably need Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. As for the game, man, how does SC give up that run? What a game! But  ... so disappointing if you're an SC wonk.  

BLOOM: And here I thought watching American football in the Rapallo Adjunct Bureau was complicated! The nine-hour time zone difference means that even mid-day games in Los Angeles are starting far into the night here. Not to mention that everyone here thinks football really means futbol. I will say that OTA antennas never went away in Italy. They are everywhere, of often rather baroque design, as seen in this photo of homes near the Rapallo Adjunct Bureau that clearly have awesome views of Golfo Tigullio topped with kinda weird TV antennae alongside a couple of satellite dishes. 

At this month's Next TV Summit, I recall a speaker who blithely said frustrated TV viewers can always erect a digital antenna to get free live sports and whatever else is left of broadcast television. True enough for those with a reasonable sight line who locate the antenna in the right place, and don’t need to worry about inclement weather, birds, squirrels, or earthquakes dislodging it. Cable actually did solve some consumer problems; that was its original reason for being, as a community antenna service for remote mountain towns. It’s just all the stuff that’s come after, spawning an overpriced, oversized, abusive beast. Now, we’re busy rebuilding it all. Charter has all those streaming services available on top of its traditional cable package. That, to me, is a temporary but attractive fix that salves the transition for media companies to a streaming future. Perhaps by then the USC defense will have become more consistently reliable at wrapping up a player before a back-breaking, game-winning run. At least No. 7-ranked Mizzou eked out an overtime win over mighty Vanderbilt University, formidable in its academic if not football achievement. 

I would be remiss in not marking the passing of the great songwriter/singer J.D. Souther this past week at 78. He made much of his money and modest fame writing or co-writing huge hits for the Eagles: Best of My Love, Heartache Tonight, New Kid in Town, Victim of Love, How Long. I was enough of a music geek to know who he was back then and owned his two solo albums. Then I had a surprising indirect personal connection through Charlie Bates, an older colleague at Texas's Amarillo Globe-News. Charlie played in a band with J.D. in high school in Amarillo, mostly blues skiffles and similar Texas sounds in the early 1960s. Then the Beatles came along and blew all that up. J.D. left for Los Angeles, where his roommate was one Glenn Frey. That worked out. Souther also wrote or performed with Linda Ronstadt, Dan Fogelberg, Bonnie Raitt and other '80s stalwarts, but my favorite was one of his few hits under his own name, a 1981 duet with buddy James Taylor that has a prescient resonance with today’s vicious online gossip on X and elsewhere. Plus, those harmonies! RIP, J.D. 

The start of the WNBA playoffs and the NFL’s third week of regular-season action lead the list of live TV sports events airing during the first weekend of fall.  

The first round of the WNBA postseason launches Sunday with four games, including Atlanta-New York (ESPN), Indiana-Connecticut (ABC), Phoenix-Minnesota (ESPN) and Seattle-Las Vegas (ESPN). 

The third week of the NFL season will feature live regional games on Fox and CBS on Sunday afternoon, followed by NBC’s Sunday Night Football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Falcons. 

In Saturday college football action, top-ranked Texas plays Louisana-Monroe on ESPN Plus, No. 3 Ohio State meets Marshall on Fox, and No. 5 Ole Miss hosts Georgia Southern on SEC Network. The rest of the top 10 ranked teams in play include No. 6 Tennessee-Oklahoma (ABC), No. 7 Missouri-Vanderbilt (SEC Network), No. 8 Miami-South Florida (ESPN) and No. 10 Penn State-Kent State (BTN).

On the soccer field, USA, Peacock and NBC will offer weekend coverage of live English Premier League games. Ion on Saturday will air the NWSL game between North Carolina and Louisville. 

On the baseball diamond, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. 

In the boxing ring, DAZN on Saturday will distribute the Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua heavyweight title fight.  

Starz will debut its first weekly talk show series, Fat Joe Talks, on October 4, featuring music artist/actor Method Man.

The weekly interview series will star the Grammy Award-nominated hip-hop artist Fat Joe as he interviews celebrities and newsmakers who drive the cultural zeitgeist, Starz said. Other stars expected to appear in the series include Mary J. Blige, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), T.I. and Babyface.

Embassy Row and SpringHill will produce the series for Starz. Fat Joe will serve as executive producer for the series along with LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Philip Byron, Jamal Henderson and Michael Davies. 

Lance Frank has been named head of communications for CBS News, Stations & Media Ventures. He will oversee all internal and external communications for CBS News, CBS Stations, syndication, talent, programming, first-run syndication and division strategy. Frank will report to Wendy McMahon, president and CEO, CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures; and Chris Ender, executive VP, communications, CBS. 

In a memo to staff, McMahon said of Frank, “He is a gifted communicator, a great strategist and a trusted advisor. Just as important, he understands the power of collaboration. In a short period, he’s already energized, encouraged and empowered the cross-division team to work together. He truly sees the value, strength and effectiveness that emerges when people work as one team.”

She added, “Lance is the right leader at the right time to drive outreach for our division.”

Frank joined CBS in 2011. In January, he was named executive VP of communications. 

Since his promotion earlier this year, Ender said, “Lance has hit the ground running with speed and purpose, skillfully communicating new developments in the organization and amplifying our editorial coverage on broadcast, digital and streaming. He is a big thinker, an excellent adviser for senior leaders, and a terrific collaborator with all our CBS comms teams. Positive media relations and talent relations are core to his DNA (as are Saturday afternoons in the fall rooting for his LSU Tigers).”

 Paramount Global said that Erin Calhoun is stepping down from her post as executive VP, head of communications, Paramount Streaming & Showtime, and cross-company publicity, effective the end of the month.

Paramount is in the process of being acquired by Skydance Media and is cutting costs, including personnel.

“During her tenure, Erin successfully built and led a world-class team that effectively showcased the momentum and milestones of our premium content and leading services,” said Paramount Streaming CEO Tom Ryan said in an internal memo. “I’m incredibly grateful for her countless contributions to Paramount but most of all her steadfast collaboration and expert counsel.”

Calhoun was with the company for seven years. Before Paramount, she was VP of corporate communication at NBCUniversal Cable.

"During my time here, I had the honor of leading the communications team first at Showtime and most recently for Paramount Streaming, an experience that has been truly rewarding. I am very proud of this team and all we have accomplished,” Calhoun said in a memo. “I leave here with cherished memories that will stay with me forever. I am so grateful for every moment, for all the fun we have had together and for each and every one of you.”

The NHL's newest franchise has a new direct-to-consumer streaming app.

Billionaire Qualtronics co-founder Ryan Smith and his Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) own the expansion Utah Hockey Club, which will begin play in the upcoming 2024-25 season after relocating and transitioning from its previous iteration as the Phoenix Coyotes. The squad is teaming up with DTC tech shop Kiswe to build UtahHC+, which will run fans $69.99 a season and stream more than 75 of the team's pre- and regular-season games live. 

The platform is launching today with content including studio show Fresh Ice presented by Delta Air Lines.

Also read: ‘We’re Betting on Ourselves‘: Utah Jazz Claim More Than 20,000 Subscribers for New DTC Streaming Channel Jazz+

SEG already teamed with Kiswe last season to launch its NBA franchise, the Utah Jazz, on DTC app Jazz+. Utah sports fans can also pay $174.99 to buy an app, SEG+, that rolls up both Jazz+ and UtahHC+. 

SEG is trying to get fans in the gate now. Subscribers who order UtahHC+ by Sept. 30, for example, will receive two single-goal-view tickets to a regular-season game. 

UtahHC+ is available to customers throughout the state of Utah, as well as Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming, and parts of Nevada. Scripps-owned KUPX-TV will also broadcast games that aren't nationally televised for free. 

For its part, SEG+ will be available to customers in the region where Utah Hockey Club's broadcast territory overlaps with that of the Jazz, who broadcast their games on Sinclair-owned KJZZ-TV. 

Updated: A previous iteration of this story incorrectly described Utah Hockey Club as an expansion team. 

HBO has greenlit Season 4 of its original drama series Industry prior to wrapping up the show's third season on September 29.

Industry follows the lives of a group of young bankers working within the pressure cooker environment of a major finance company, according to the network. Season three of the series is pacing nearly 40% ahead of season two with an average of 1.6 million viewers per episode, said HBO.

Industry stars Myha’la, Marisa Abela, Harry Lawtey, Ken Leung, Conor MacNeill and Sagar Radia. The series is executive produced by Mickey Down, Konrad Kay, Jane Tranter, Kate Crowther, Ryan Rasmussen, Rebecca Ferguson, and Kathleen McCaffrey. 

“For three seasons, Industry has been unflinching in its examination of ambition and class, solidifying itself as a marquee HBO drama,” Francesca Orsi, executive VP, HBO programming and head of HBO drama series and films, said in a statement. “Under Mickey and Konrad’s singular vision, this twisted, thrilling look at London finance has redefined the contemporary workplace show. We’re so excited that viewers and critics have recognized season three as bigger and better than ever, buoyed by sublime performances from our unparalleled cast.”

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers will host its annual TechExpo at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta from September 24-26. This year’s show will feature an expanded exhibit space with more than 300 exhibits, including 68 first-time exhibitors. There will be nine conference tracks along with a roster of keynote addresses and headliner sessions.  

Ahead of the show opening, for an additional registration fee, attendees can join the inaugural SCTE Broadband Fiber Installer (BFI) Boot Camp — an in-person training course for fiber installers slated for September 23.

This year’s TechExpo show — the first since the former Cable-Tec Expo was rebranded — will be Maria Popo’s first as SCTE president and CEO, after taking the helm last December in the wake of Mark Dzuban’s retirement. The organization has lined up a number of new initiatives for the show, and Popo wants to outline how the SCTE is adapting during her opening-day keynote address. “I will be focused on two areas — economic opportunity and workforce development and how those two interconnect,” she said. 

She explained that with most baby boomers expected to retire by 2030, the SCTE plays a vital role in mentoring and training the next generation of technicians to replace them. And with the rollout of 10G services expected to generate more than  600,000 jobs (roughly half for technicians), she will outline the organization’s plan to align its training and standards work more strategically with operators’ needs in a rapidly changing industry.

SCTE currently has 56 chapters across the U.S. where members come together to share information on new technologies and best practices. These chapters are the grass roots of the organization. “It’s where humanity and technology intersect,” Popo said. “It’s very important that we have all these chapters where people are learning about technology, learning about how to network and engaging with each other, having discussions that don't always happen in the workplace.”

SCTE is currently testing digital platforms that will make it easier for those chapters to connect with each other across the country, Popo revealed. She hinted that she will present a completely new plan for training and certification “that could potentially reach outside of the industry. I believe that that will be exciting news, because it will illustrate how SCTE is evolving just as technology evolves.”

AI Makes Its Mark on TechExpo

Overall, Popo said she is most excited about TechExpo’s new AI zone and conference track.

“AI is already in the networks, and you'll see that next week across the three days of the show,” she said. “It’s in the networks’ troubleshooting and diagnostics. It's already impacting the way technicians and engineers work. Throughout the vendor community, AI is implemented in some way, so that is of significant interest.” 

Headlining the AI & Automation track on September 25, Comcast Cable executive VP and chief network officer Elad Nafshi will moderate a panel including Lilac Ilan, global head of business development telco-AI powered operations at Nvidia;  Jennifer Andreoli-Fang, head of fixed networks at Amazon Web Services; and Nirali Patel, group VP of data and AI strategy at Liberty Global. The panelists will explore how AI is shaping the future of broadband, including its role in driving self-optimizing networks, future innovations and business models.

“The Human Factor” is another new conference track this year, featuring a September 23 master class on “Cultivating Your Ideation Toolkit and Innovation Mindset” featuring CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney, director of strategic growth engagement Lisa Schwab, principal strategist Todd Byron and director, innovation services and coaching Michelle Vendelin. 

Other tracks include Wireless & Convergence, Wireline Network Evolution, Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), Technology Policy, Growth & Transformation and Energy Management.

Click here for the full conference schedule. 

Laying a New SCTE Foundation

The group has also relaunched the SCTE Foundation with new branding and a new website, along with a restructured board, new committees and an expanded mission statement that reads: “The SCTE Foundation is dedicated to fostering talent and innovation for the global broadband connectivity industry. Through the provisions of grants, scholarships, resources and programs, we empower aspiring professionals and companies with the skills and tools necessary to succeed in our dynamic field.”

Among the new initiatives, the SCTE Foundation has launched a New Ideas Committee dedicated to evaluating innovative proposals to enhance the organization’s talent training initiatives.

The foundation is also launching the Broadband Labor Academy specifically designed for aspiring fiber splicing technicians. Students can experience hands-on training complemented by SCTE coursework and mentorship from industry experts.

In addition, the foundation is kicking off the Diversity TechConnect Initiative as a pilot program to mentor rising stars from diverse backgrounds. The program is based on The Women’s TechConnect program, which was developed in partnership with The WICT Network to mentor women in the cable telecom sector. 

In Pursuit of Sustainability

With the support of TechExpo24 co-sponsors Cox Communications and Liberty Latin America, organizers have purchased and retired enough renewable energy certificates (RECs) to power the event with 100% renewable energy. New for 2024, water restoration certificates (WRCs) will offset water usage throughout the event. 

With additional support from Cox, TechExpo24 also aims to achieve 100% zero waste to landfill. Attendees will notice an increased number of recycling and compost bins and exhibitor waste will be segregated for recycling. Cox volunteers will be on hand to encourage all attendees to reuse, recycle and use the right bins. 

Introduced in 2014, the SCTE Energy 20/20 Program has helped cable broadband providers achieve their environmental goals by creating standards and sharing successful operational practices. 

On September 25, Derek DiGiacomo, SCTE’s senior director of energy management program and business continuity, and Ryan Capone, Comcast’s VP of network facilities and energy, will update attendees on the latest developments in sustainability.

Erin Moriarty, correspondent on 48 Hours, is on the case when the program investigates the murder of a child in the season 37 premiere on CBS and Paramount Plus Saturday, September 21. “The Unending Search for Sara Anne Wood” looks at the case of 12-year-old Wood, who disappeared on her way home from church in Sauquoit, New York in 1993. Lewis Lent is in prison for the murder, but won’t say where he buried the girl’s body. 

Moriarty first investigated the Sara Anne Wood case back in 1994. It was, at the time, unsolved, and Moriarty interviewed another 12-year-old girl, Becky Savarese. She had been walking in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, some 130 miles east of where Wood was taken, when a man drove up, pulled a gun, and told her to get into his truck. Moriarty said Savarese faked an asthma attack, and got away. She shared license plate numbers from the man’s truck, and Lent was arrested within 24 hours. 

“The child was so calm,” Moriarty told B+C. “I said, weren’t you scared? and she said, No.”

Moriarty described the Wood case as a “cautionary tale,” and one that affected her, the mother of a young child when she first encountered the case, on a personal level. “I realized how easily and quickly a child can be taken,” Moriarty said. “That’s what this show is a reminder of. I think it’s an important story to tell.”

After Lent confessed to killing Wood, he drew a map to where he said he buried her in a remote location in the Adirondack Mountains. Police investigated, but she was never found. 

Asked why Lent isn’t more forthcoming regarding the burial place, Moriarty said, “That’s the only power they have. They have information.”

Law enforcement continues to work with Lent and try to get him to share where the body is buried. “At a time when there are so many questions about police work, it reminds viewers about the really dedicated investigators who took the case so personally,” said Moriarty, “and are determined to bring some kind of resolution to the family.”

That includes Sara Anne’s brother Dusty, who was nearly 17 when his sister was taken. Moriarty noted how a child in that situation not only loses a sibling, but also deals with parents who are fully consumed in the search, and then the loss, of their other child. 

She added that Dusty runs a yearly summer bike ride these days, stopping at schools to pass along tips on children staying safe. He also ended up as a camera operator for his occupation, inspired by Darrell Barton, who filmed the Wood family for 48 Hours over the years. 

“He even adopted his style, the way he would shoot,” said Moriarty.

Moriarty is also behind the podcast "Murder in the Orange Grove: The Troubled Case Against Crosley Green," which CBS Audio launched September 18. She said she’s never seen such interest in true crime before. 

“We are so divided on political issues,” said Moriarty. “[True crime] is one thing we can still discuss, even if we have a disagreement. These are huge cases, but we can talk civilly about them.”

Three decades after first encountering the Sara Anne Wood case, Moriarty hopes the new episode of 48 Hours brings it a little further along. “I’m hoping someone who knows Lewis Lent’s family, or someone watching the hour, knows more information and could advance the story,” she said. “I’m also hoping people take a look at this case and take it as a cautionary tale, and protect their own children. That really matters to Sara Anne Wood’s parents and family–that no other family goes through what they’ve gone through.”

Comcast Advertising said it named Scott Weisenthal head of global marketing and insights, a new position at the unit.

Weisenthal had been senior VP, global marketing, for Major League Baseball. In his new role he will oversee all global marketing and brand strategy for Comcast Advertising, including its Effectv sales and FreeWheel technology businesses.

He will report to James Rooke, president of Comcast Advertising.

“With over two decades of marketing experience, Scott’s proven track record at Fortune 500 companies will be invaluable as we look to further integrate our insights, brand and product marketing efforts across Comcast Advertising,” said Rooke. “Scott’s first-hand understanding of the challenges faced by today’s marketers will better enable us to support our diverse clients and fulfill our mission to grow a healthy premium video ecosystem at the intersection of media, data and tech.”

Before joining the Major League Baseball lineup, Weisenthal was head of the Washington Post Creative Group at the Washington Post and VP, Global Creative & Content Marketing at Marriott International. While at Marriott, he launched Marriott Bonvoy, the hotel chain’s loyalty program. He also held several l roles at NBCUniversal, a Comcast company. 

"Comcast Advertising is at the forefront of innovation and continues to lead the industry by supporting publishers, agencies and marketers in navigating the incredible structural changes within media and technology, both in the U.S. and across the globe,” said Weisenthal. “I look forward to leaning into this industry transformation to create differentiated, and above all, effective opportunities for our customers and business partners.”