The Big Four broadcast networks have reportedly settled with Locast for a fraction of the $32 million a court awarded them, which could remove one of the objections to the nomination of Gigi Sohn to fill the vacant seat on the Federal Communications Commission.

Bloomberg Law was reporting that according to the settlement, Locast would only have to pay ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC $700,000 for illegally streaming their content. Those networks also agreed to absolve any individuals, which would include former Locast board member Sohn, of liability for payment.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) had expressed concerns that Sohn‘s connection to Locast and any potential financial liability would be an ongoing conflict of interest since she would be regulating the broadcasters that carry that network programming.

Also: NAB Raises Red Flag Over Gigi Sohn’s Locast Directorship

But Sohn has already promised to recuse herself from any matter dealing with Locast parent Sports Fan Coalition NY, Inc. unless an agency designee affirmatively decides that the government's interest in her participation outweighs concerns about impartiality, and authorizes her to do so.

Locast had to shutter after a court concluded its model of streaming TV station signals without permission or payment was not covered under a non-commercial carveout from copyright protections, a suit brought by the networks.

As head of Public Knowledge, Sohn was an advocate for fair-use carveouts from copyright laws. Locast cited a noncommercial carveout in saying it was legally streaming TV station signals without having to get permission or payment, though the court ultimately disagreed.

While the networks pushed back hard, some stations didn't mind the extra over-the-top exposure for their local ads, particularly as networks started to stream some of their high-value content directly to consumers via their move into their own OTT services.

As to when Sohn might get a shot at the commission seat, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee that must approve Sohn's nomination before it can go to the Senate floor, has signaled that by the end of this week she wants to firm up a date for a vote.

A Washington insider said the buzz was that a Sohn vote could come next week (Wednesday or Thursday, perhaps). A Cantwell spokesperson had no comment on that timetable.

But there still remains the specter of a hold from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who has pledged to block the nomination, period, over what he has said are multiple issues, including copyright. ■

Derek Chauvin was found guilty Tuesday of murdering George Floyd on three separate counts (second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter).

The major broadcast networks all broke into regularly scheduled programming to cover Judge Peter Cahill's reading of the verdict, which started at 5:05 p.m. ET.

In Los Angeles, KABC, KCBS, KNBC and Fox affiliate KTTV all went live to the Hennepin County courtroom and continued to cover the reaction to the verdict, including statements from the prosecutor on the case and George Floyd's family. Regularly scheduled programming on those nets typically include a mix of daytime talk, court and game shows.

Floyd died May 25, 2020 after Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck for more than 9 minutes. The incident was recorded by Darnella Frazier, who continued to film despite threats from the officers present.

Cable news networks also covered the historic verdict, which marked the first time in Minnesota a white police officer was convicted of killing a Black man.

HBO topped all cable and streaming services in garnering the most 2020 NAMIC Vision Awards nominations, the diversity organization announced Thursday.

The premium network garnered 17 nominations for NAMIC Vision Awards -- which honors programming that reflects the lives, spirit and contributions of people of color that mirrors the diverse composition of the viewing audience. -- to lead all nominees.

NBC finished second with 10 nominations, followed by BET with eight nods.

NBC’s comedy Sunnyside was the most nominated show with four, according to NAMIC. The broadcast networks fared well in generating NAMIC Vision Awards nominations, garnering at least one nomination in the major comedy and drama series categories and sweeping the Best Performance for a Drama category, according to NAMIC. 

The Vision Awards winner will be announced in late April. Below are the 2020 NAMIC Vision Awards nominees:

Animation

DuckTales – Disney Channel

Elena of Avalor – Disney Junior

Fancy Nancy – Disney Junior

Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures – Disney Junior

The Casagrandes – Nickelodeon

Awards & Honors

2019 BET Awards – BET Networks

2019 Black Girls Rock! – BET Networks

Kids’ Choice Sports 2019 – Nickelodeon

2019 Soul Train Awards – BET Networks

Best Performance – Comedy

Kal Penn: Sunnyside – NBC

Kiran Deol: Sunnyside – NBC

Lin-Manuel Miranda: DuckTales – Disney Channel

Moses Storm: Sunnyside – NBC

Robin Thede: A Black Lady Sketch Show – HBO

Best Performance – Drama

Brian Tee: Chicago Med – NBC

Hill Harper: The Good Doctor – ABC

LaRoyce Hawkins: Chicago P.D. – NBC

Marlyne Barrett: Chicago Med – NBC

Shemar Moore: S.W.A.T. – CBS | Sony Pictures Television

Children’s

America’s Most Musical Family – Nickelodeon

Sesame Street 50th Anniversary Special – HBO

Comedy

A Black Lady Sketch Show – HBO

Ballers – HBO

Los Espookys – HBO

Sunnyside – NBC

Will & Grace – NBC

Digital Media – Short Form

Robin Roberts Presents Thriver Thursday: Dr. Okanlami – Rock’n Robin Productions | ABC

Robin Roberts Presents Thriver Thursday: Yusuf Dahl – Rock’n Robin Productions | ABC

Voices of the Civil Rights Movement – America’s First Daily Black Newspaper – Comcast

Voices of the Civil Rights Movement – Confronting America’s Broken Promise – Comcast

Voices of the Civil Rights Movement – Our Accountability: Learning to Lead From Dr. King– Comcast

Documentary

Finding Justice – BET Networks

Martin: The Legacy of a King – BET Networks

The Apollo - HBO

True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality – HBO

What’s My Name | Muhammad Ali – HBO

Drama

My Brilliant Friend – HBO

S.W.A.T – CBS | Sony Pictures Television

Godfather of Harlem - EPIX

The Twilight Zone – CBS All Access

The Good Fight – CBS All Access

Foreign Language

Caravanas – Discovery Networks Latin America

Our Boys – HBO

Lifestyle

Christmas Cookie Challenge – Food Network

CNN’s Turning Points with Dr. Sanjay Gupta – CNN Special Projects

Delicious Miss Brown – Food Network

Man Fire Food – Cooking Channel

No Passport Required – PBS

News/Informational

American Injustice: A BET Town Hall – BET Networks

Life Inside: Angola – Dateline NBC

MSNBC’s Justice for All Town Hall – NBC News Group

VICE News Tonight: Blackface Hunters – HBO

Young, Gifted and Broke: Our Student Debt Crisis – A BET Town Hall – BET Networks

Original Movie or Special

Collisions – Fuse

I am Somebody’s Child: The Regina Louise Story – Lifetime

Native Son – HBO

O.G. – HBO

Reality

Made from Scratch – Fuse

Sunday Best – BET Networks

T-Pain’s School of Business – Fuse

Untold Stories of Hip Hop – WE tv

World of Dance – NBC

Reality – Social Issues

Rough Places Made Smooth – CBS Sports

Truth About Murder with Sunny Hostin – Investigation Discovery

VICE News Tonight: Lifesize Mourning – HBO

VICE News Tonight: Trans Activist Miss Major Revisits the Stonewall Riots – HBO

Unapologetic – ESPN

Sports

Althea & Arthur – CBS Sports Network

Definition of a Hero – ESPN

Israel Adesanya – ESPN

Special Olympics 50 Game Changers: Inclusion in UAE – ESPN

The Shop: Uninterrupted – HBO

Variety/Talk Show

Amanda Seales: I Be Knowin’ – HBO

Desus & Mero – SHOWTIME

First Take HBCU Special – ESPN

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All in the Family and The Jeffersons – ABC

The Wonderful World of Disney presents The Little Mermaid Live! – ABC

As streaming becomes more and more the viewing norm, the content of the Netflixes, Amazons and Hulus of the world, bold and binge-friendly, is increasingly affecting the programming viewers see on cable and broadcast. Producers and networks alike know they have to create edgier, more serialized content to keep viewers attached to traditional TV and keep those legacy platforms relevant.

It’s an expensive proposition, but many feel it’s necessary for old-school TV to hold its own amidst the newer competition. Chris Long, executive producer on the new Fox drama Deputy, said what’s on Netflix and the other streamers pushes Deputy, a western procedural cop show starring Stephen Dorff, to go the extra mile.

“It’s a really competitive landscape and we want to differentiate our show,” he said, talking about unique shooting methods that give Deputy a cinematic look. “It does not look like CBS or NBC, because we want to compete with shows on Netflix or Hulu or other platforms. It absolutely affects how we shoot it.”

With multiple television giants poised to launch streaming products, including NBCUniversal’s Peacock and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, traditional TV programmers are borrowing from their digital frenemies in other ways. They’re rethinking the number of episodes a series should have per season, and even at times episode length. Everyone, it seems, is aiming for more gripping content.

“When other platforms are creating shows that people want to watch that are really smart, well-written and well-executed, I think it ups everyone’s game,” CBS Entertainment senior executive VP, programming Thom Sherman said at the TCA Press Tour in August. “We encourage our writers to take risks and be sophisticated and have the subtle nuances you see on streaming and cable.”

Prize Possessions

Broadcast is an afterthought at major awards ceremonies, and any cable network not named HBO has to hustle to stay relevant to judges. At the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards in September, top drama was between Game of Thrones and Succession on HBO, Better Call Saul on AMC, Bodyguard and Ozark on Netflix, This Is Us on NBC, Pose on FX and Killing Eve on AMC/BBC America. Game of Thrones won.

Top comedy was between HBO’s Barry and Veep, Amazon’s Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Netflix’s Russian Doll, Pop TV’s Schitt’s Creek and NBC’s The Good Place. Fleabag got the trophy.

When the Golden Globe Awards were given out earlier this month, best drama was between HBO’s Big Little Lies and Succession, Netflix’s The Crown, AMC/BBC America’s Killing Eve and Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, with Succession winning.

Best comedy was between Netflix’s The Kominsky Method and The Politician, Amazon’s Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and HBO’s Barry. Fleabag won.

Viewers watched an average of four hours and six minutes of streaming programming on Netflix and Hulu last year, according to NPD Group, up 7% from the previous year. Broadcast and cable are emulating aspects of streaming to better connect with viewers. Dramas, for one, are less procedural than they used to be, and more likely to set story arcs across a season, not an individual episode. “They might be a little more open to more serialized storytelling than 10 years ago, when it was strictly episodic,” Michelle King, executive producer of Evil on CBS, said in August.

Procedurals always played much better in syndication than serialized shows. But as the aftermarket for broadcast shows evolves, the serialized stuff does just fine on the streaming platforms where they often end up after their broadcast premieres. “Serialized programs have as much of an opportunity to pick up an audience as procedurals,” media consultant Bill Carroll said. “And audiences seem to be more attuned to watching serialized shows.”

While broadcast and basic cable must still answer to advertisers who may be unhappy about risqué content, it’s clear they are game to push the envelope. Marc Cherry, who made his name with Desperate Housewives and now produces Why Women Kill for CBS All Access, sees a “tremendous” change to the television landscape.

“There are storylines we were not allowed to do on Desperate Housewives in 2004 that you see now on broadcast TV,” he said. “We’re inching toward more provocative stuff. It’s happening.”

Carroll sees it in the 10 p.m. hour in particular. “They can’t be as edgy as HBO and Showtime and Netflix, but broadcast is as close to the edge as it can reasonably get away with,” he said.

The series may not have the antiheroes that define streaming and cable hits, but Linda Ong, chief culture officer at Civic Entertainment Group, is increasingly seeing the emotional depth that defines peak TV on broadcast. She singled out This Is Us and New Amsterdam for drama that goes deeper and darker than what broadcast is known for. “The higher-end dramas are seemingly of the same world as the prestige dramas,” she said.

Chris Long mentioned “enormous leeway” from Deputy’s producers, eOne and Fox, when it came to requesting expensive things, such as a Russian Arm mobile crane setup to shoot a car crash, that make for a better-looking show. “It’s just, step up your game — better dialogue, better action sequences,” he said. “The fact is, [streamers] spend money on their programs to a level where it’s very competitive.”

Short and Sweet

The Netflix effect is also evident in the number of episodes some series are doing on broadcast. Streamers saw they could land A-list talent with 10-episode seasons, or shorter, and other platforms are borrowing from that playbook. NBC’s celebrated comedy The Good Place had 13 episodes per season, while season four has 14. Season one of Ripley on Showtime, based on the Patricia Highsmith novels, will have eight episodes. Season two of HBO drama Big Little Lies, which began last summer, had just seven. Fox series The Moodys, which aired in December, had six.

“Actors are interested in shorter orders,” King said. “The broadcast networks have to be open to that.”

Shorter seasons make it easier to reach high quality levels from start to finish. Liz Tigelaar, executive producer/showrunner of Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere, which premieres March 18, got her start on such broadcast series as Once and Again and American Dreams. Producing eight episodes across two years, as opposed to 22 in 10 months, makes for better product, she said. So does writing all the episodes before production begins.

“The lead time really helps you craft a better series,” Tigelaar said. “From a creative standpoint, you’re not in the rat-race assembly line of production.”

While much of traditional TV remains allegiant to traditional episode lengths to keep the programming schedule intact, there are exceptions. The season four premiere of This Is Us ran for an hour and eight minutes. The Murphy Brown premiere on CBS last year went for an hour and five minutes.

Broadcast doesn’t have much of an issue disrupting the schedule when live events go long, Linda Ong noted. “There’s much more permission in the industry to be experimental with things like this,” she said.

Stacked Up

Broadcast and cable networks are also working to allow more binge viewing of their programs. Last summer, The CW revealed it had secured in-season streaming rights to all new series going forward, the announcement coming when its deal with Netflix ended. The CW can stack each episode of a new series on its digital platform, meaning a viewer who comes to the show late can catch up in short order.

“That allows us to control our branding and bring our fans back to us,” The CW chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz said.

When FX shows premiere in the coming weeks, the norm will be for two episodes to run on premiere night, a happy medium between bingeing and the traditional weekly release. Comedy Breeders airs two of its 10 episodes March 2, as does Better Things March 5.

“We’re going into, let’s drop two, let’s drop three,” FX Networks and FX Productions chairman John Landgraf said.

When The Moodys aired on Fox in December, its six episodes ran across three nights.

Broadcast and cable are also acknowledging the significant role the streamers play in how back episodes are watched. Promos for NBC drama Good Girls, which debuts season three Feb. 16, encourage viewers to watch seasons one and two on Netflix.

“You can’t count on everyone watching live,” said Dan Fogelman, creator/executive producer of This Is Us, which streams on Hulu after premieres. “That’s the challenge for all people doing our job — how are people consuming media?”

Modern viewers also like controlling the flow of episodes with their remote. On streaming, they don’t need the reminders and exposition that eat up storytelling time in a show on a traditional platform. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy has built a new generation of fans among teens, thanks to having 15 seasons on Netflix. “The show is experienced differently when you watch a whole bunch of them,” said Krista Vernoff, Grey’s showrunner and executive producer.

Among FX’s other premieres coming up, a couple are premiering on Hulu, part of a new hub known as FX on Hulu. Alex Garland’s limited series Devs begins March 5 on FX on Hulu, and ’70s women’s rights drama Mrs. America begins on the streaming hub April 15. FX has not announced if the shows will also appear on linear TV.

Fargo premieres on FX April 19, and pops up on Hulu the next day. Creator/executive producer Noah Hawley spoke about delivering two versions of an episode to the network — with commercial breaks and without. “I can’t say I would miss having to put commercials in,” he said. “But those are the things I think about in approaching the medium in 2020.”

It’s upfront week, when the Big 5 broadcast networks and a few bold cable outlets take over New York’s most splendid stages to show off their new programs. The upfront presentations are often derided as too expensive and too inefficient, but none of the major broadcasters seems to want to break from tradition and step off the stage.

Related: Abruzzese’s Guide to the Upfronts [subscription required]

Here’s what to expect this week.

MONDAY (May 15)
NBC takes over the Radio City Music Hall stage Monday morning. It holds a joint upfront for its NBCUniversal networks, including Syfy, Telemundo and USA Network. NBC itself has a fair amount to brag about, including Sunday Night and Thursday Night Football, unscripted stalwarts such as The Voice and the rarest of creatures on TV these days: the hit network show in This Is Us. Telemundo’s evening party entertainment is Enrique Iglesias.

Later on Monday, Fox sets up at the Beacon Theatre. Fox has a lot to prove, without the ratings-hogging unscripted franchise on which broadcast nets rely so heavily, and with an unproven track record of turning old shows and movies into new series.

One old show that will play a key role once again for Fox: The X-Files, which has 10 episodes in the works for 2017-2018.

TUESDAY (May 16)
ABC takes the stage Tuesday at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center. Entertainment president Channing Dungey essentially inherited ABC’s shows from her predecessor last year, but the current batch is all her own.

ABC’s reboot of American Idol is major news. The show averaged 11.5 million viewers in its final season on Fox — a far cry from Idol’s heyday, but a pretty robust number in this day and age.

Rookies American Housewife and Designated Survivor earned renewals, while veterans Modern Family, Black-ish and Once Upon a Time are also returning.

ESPN also takes its turn Tuesday, presenting from the Minskoff Theatre, as does Spanish-language media conglom Univision, at the Lyric Theatre, with Shakira set to perform.

WEDNESDAY (May 17)
CBS is hungry for a breakout comedy, and is hopeful that Big Bang Theory offshoot Young Sheldon, about 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper growing up in Texas, can bust out.

Other pilots include Instinct, which stars Alan Cumming and is based on a soon-to-be-published James Patterson novel.

CBS will talk up its stable schedule. The network announced early renewals for 18 series, including five rookie shows.

Wednesday also sees Turner, parent of Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, TNT, truTV and other cable networks, take over The Theater at Madison Square Garden for its presentation.

Related: Turner’s Levy Thinks Audience Buying Will Grow in Upfront [subscription required]

THURSDAY (May 18)
The CW takes its turn Thursday at New York City Center. Some CW shows win over the critics, but grabbing big bunches of Nielsens is a different story. “There’s a lot of critical acclaim,” says one industry watcher. “There’s not a lot of ratings.”

Perhaps Dynasty, The CW’s reimagining of the ’80s primetime soap, will change that.

After a weekend of high-profile, television-themed news coming out of the Comic-Con International convention in San Diego, the Television Critics Association picks up the baton beginning today in Beverly Hills, Calif., with two weeks worth of big television news and developments.

Comic-Con over the years has seen its influence within the television industry expand significantly. Once considered a must-attend show for networks with comic book or sci-fi themed shows, this past convention saw numerous cable and broadcast networks offer the nearly 150,000 attendees a look at their upcoming programming.

Several networks used last weekend’s Comic-Con event to announce the final seasons for marquee TV shows, including MTV’s Teen Wolf, CW’s Vampire Diaries and A&E’s Bates Motel -- all to heartbroken fans -- and as a launch pad for exciting new show trailers.

The TCA Summer Tour provides the networks with the opportunity to engage with both the industry and viewers about their big programming plans as more than 200 TV journalists and bloggers assemble at the Beverly Hilton.

With more than 400 scripted series and more than twice as many reality shows airing on broadcast, cable and online, network executives say getting the message out about a new show or discussing a character or plot change in a veteran series has become more difficult amid the noisy din of on-air commercials and social media chatter.

The summer boob-tube news tour continues in earnest today at TCA with a full day of Netflix presentations, and PBS and the cable and broadcast networks on deck.

Cable news networks and broadcast news operations were covering the FBI's announcement that it was recommending to the Justice Department that no indictment was appropriate in the investigation of the handling of Hillary Clinton's e-mails as Secretary of State and that "no reasonable prosecutor" would bring charges in such a situation.

Broadcast network news operations broke into regular programming Tuesday to air FBI director James Comey's announcement that the law enforcement agency is recommending that no charges be brought against the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

Comey said the FBI's investigation concluded there were careless procedures at State and emphasized he was not suggesting such conduct should be free of consequences, simply that they should not include a criminal indictment. But he also said even though the information in the emails may not have been marked "classified," Clinton and others should have known the emails were.

Comey described Clinton as "extremely careless" with the security of that email information.

While he said the FBI found no evidence that Clinton's servers had been hacked, he finessed that immediately, saying that given the skill of such hackers, they likely would leave no evidence if they had hacked Clinton's private servers.

TV pundits were viewing the announcement as a double-edged sword for the candidate. They led with the recomendation against indictment, but CNN's Wolf Blitzer, for example, called Comey's characterization of Clinton's handling of the info "damning" and a "severe slap."  Additionally, Clinton reportedly met with FBI investigators over the weekend, so the speed with which Comey made the recommendation surprised some commentators.

Clinton's likely GOP presidential rival, Donald Trump, tweeted following the Comey announcement: "The system is rigged. General Petraeus got in trouble for far less. Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment," followed by "FBI director said Crooked Hillary compromised our national security. No charges. Wow! #RiggedSystem."

One Republican strategist--commening for CNN--said rather than focusing on a "rigged system," Trump should hammer Clinton over how she had characterized her handling of the e-mails versus how Comey characterized it.

Clinton reportedly had a meeting over the weekend with FBI investigators, so the speed with which Comey made the recommendation surprised some commentators.

A full 74% of NBC viewers watch primetime in real time, according to a new survey from TiVo, just ahead of the 72% who do so at CBS. ABC weighed in at 71% and Fox at 68%, while The CW, with its young-skewing audience, had just 57% of prime programming watched live.

In terms of all-day viewing, NBC and CBS tied at 82%.

Among the top 10 cable networks, ESPN was, not surprisingly, the most live viewed in prime at 93%, ahead of TBS at 90%, CNN at 89%, History at 88% and Food Network, Fox News, HGTV and USA at 87%.

Related: Early Upfront Prices At Double-Digit Levels

CW had the top three time-shifted shows on broadcast: The Flash at 63.1% time-shifted, Arrow at 58.8% and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow at 57%. Then it was NBC’s The Blacklist and ABC’s Modern Family both at 54.3%.

Read more at B&C.