Iconic pro golfer Tiger Woods heads up the lineup for TNT’s The Match charity golf event on Saturday (December 10), which will be played under the lights in primetime.

The network’s seventh iteration of the event from Florida -- which will also be simulcast on TBS, truTV and HLN -- pits pro golfers Woods and Rory McIlroy against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth in a 12-hole exhibition event. The event marks Woods' return to The Match since appearing in 2020 and his first time since he suffered major leg injuries in a car crash in 2021. Woods also appeared in the inaugural The Match event in 2018.

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports US Executive VP and Chief Content Officer Craig Barry said Woods' return to The Match will help draw viewers to the telecast.

"People love to watch him and he hasn't swung the club in a while, so people are looking forward to him playing," he said. 

Also: Turner Sports Head Lenny Daniels Leaves Warner Bros. Discovery

Barry also said The Match's evening start time changes the dynamic of how the event is produced and viewed as the golfers will play under the lights for the first time. "There's a lot of access to the players during the event, so as the players are in the golf cart or when we’re talking to them on-air, we have to make sure that we can see them," he said. "Keeping them in the light is a really important part of the production process."

The Match event takes place during a busy television sports environment that includes the World Cup as well as the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and college basketball games. Nevertheless, Barry is bullish on the appeal of The Match to sports fans.

"There's always concerns about competition, but we feel the move to primetime helps to differentiate it," he said. "Also the [golf] audience is different, so we're confident that we've positioned it from a programming standpoint where this event can stand out."

Proceeds generated from a number of golf challenges the competitors will participate in throughout the event will benefit Hurricane Ian relief efforts, according to the network.

TNT will launch the event with a 30-minute roundtable discussion with Woods, McIlroy, Thomas and Spieth led by The Match host Brian Anderson. The Capital One The Match Pre-Match Show will then lead into the live competition, according to TNT.■

CNN drew the most viewers among the major broadcast and cable news networks for its coverage of Tuesday’s verdict announcement in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.

CNN drew 4.02 million viewers from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. -- the verdict was read around 5 p.m. -- topping ABC’s 4 million viewers and Fox News’ 3.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen Fast National Time Period data for April 20 (the data excludes broadcast network NBC).

Chauvin was found guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for his role in the death of Floyd on May 25, 2020. The killing fueled protests around the world and invoked a national discussion around systemic racism and police violence.

Also Read: Derek Chauvin Guilty Verdict: Networks Break Into Regularly Scheduled Programming

Overall, more than 18.3 million viewers tuned into coverage of the verdict across CNN, Fox News, ABC, MSNBC, CBS and HLN, reported Nielsen. 

In Tuesday primetime, Fox News topped competing cable news networks CNN and MSNBC, averaging 2.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Season three of Very Scary People is on HLN May 2. Donnie Wahlberg of Blue Bloods hosts. There are six two-hour episodes of the show, which “takes a closer look at some of the most frightening killers in recent history,” according to HLN. 

The premiere episode, “The Golden State Killer,” looks at Joseph DeAngelo, who invaded homes and committed 50 rapes and 13 murders, and was on the loose for 44 years. 

Wahlberg was part of New Kids on the Block. His film work includes Zookeeper and The Sixth Sense and his TV resume includes Blue Bloods and Boomtown. He produces and stars in Wahlburgers on A&E. 

Nancy Duffy, CNN senior VP of program development for CNN, is the executive producer of Very Scary People.

The first two seasons are available on HBO Max. 

Turner Sports’ live telecast this past Sunday of a charity golf tournament featuring Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning scored big ratings numbers, continuing a trend of strong ratings performances from the return of live sports events amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The May 24 Capital One The Match: Champions for Charity drew 5.8 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN, according to Nielsen. The event, which generated  $20 million for COVID-19 relief efforts, was the most-watched golf telecast in cable TV history, according to Turner.

The Match event marked one of a few but growing number of live sports events that have taken place since the pandemic forced the shutdown of most events in mid March. Most sports events that have returned have brought a large following of fans to TV screens. 

Fox Sports has averaged nearly 4 million viewers for its first three live NASCAR telecasts, led by its first post-pandemic telecast. The May 17 race at Darlington drew  6.3 million viewers on Fox Broadcasting -- the second best performing race this season on Fox Sports, according to Nielsen.  

RELATED: Fox Sports Revs Up For NASCAR Return 

ESPN has pinned down some impressive numbers for its live UFC telecasts. The sports network averaged more than 1.2 million viewers for the main card of its May 16 UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris telecast after generating a reported 700,000 pay-per-view buys for its May 9 UFC 249 event.

With most live sports sidelined since early March due to the coronavirus outbreak, industry observers say sports fans have been salivating for live sports events, whether or not they were big fans of the sport being televised.

“The audience for televised sports is not going away --if anything it’s getting larger and perhaps more passionate because they miss what they haven’t been able to see during the past few months,” sports analyst Lee Berke said.

As more sports make their way back to television -- pro bowling, auto racing events and a potential boxing match are on deck for June -- Berke said that viewership for live sports events will only increase.

“You can’t go out to games, you can’t go out to shows, you can’t go to the movies, so the audience is starving for live events and content,” he said. “If sports can be brought back safely there’s a ready-made, large audience ready to watch.” 

Struggling Headline News (HLN) is shutting down its live shows based in New York and Los Angeles and will be launching a new program schedule on Oct. 29.

About 15 people are losing their jobs in the process.

While other cable news channels , including HLN’s sister network CNN, have seen higher ratings and increased ad revenues because of political coverage during the Trump administration, HLN has not been able to capitalize with its recent focus on crime programming.

In a note to staff, HLN head Ken Jautz said that the network will be shifting resources from live programming to longform programs and will centralize its news production in Atlanta.

“It’s with deep regret that we will have to end production of Across America with Carol Costello, Michaela and Crime & Justice with Ashleigh Banfield. I know that you will join me in thanking these incredibly talented journalists and their teams for their dedication and hard work,” he said in the memo.

Jautz said that beginning Oct. 29, HLN will air an expanded version of Morning Express With Robin Meade from 6 a.m. to noon, then On the Story from noon to 3 p.m. Documentaries and other taped programming will start at 3 p.m.

Weekend Express With Lynn Smith will continue to air from 7 a.m. to noon.

Here is the full note from Jautz:

I want to share some information about next steps at HLN.

The current cable news landscape is dominated by politics. Our live news shows have not benefitted from this trend given our story mix. However, HLN’s longform programs have been performing very well.

In today’s news environment, every network has to focus on its strengths. To ensure HLN’s growth, we will shift some of our resources from live to longform programming and produce our live shows in as streamlined a manner as possible. The best way to do this is to centralize production of live news programming in Atlanta.

Beginning October 29, our live program schedule will be as follows: 6a-noon ET, an expanded “Morning Express with Robin Meade;” noon-3p “On the Story;” series, documentaries and other taped programming will start at 3p. “Weekend Express with Lynn Smith” hours remain 7a-noon.

As a result, we will no longer have live programs based in NY or LA. It’s with deep regret that we will have to end production of “Across America with Carol Costello,” “Michaela” and “Crime & Justice with Ashleigh Banfield.” I know that you will join me in thanking these incredibly talented journalists and their teams for their dedication and hard work.

We built a top-notch line-up of some of the best anchors and show teams in the industry and we are proud of what we’ve accomplished together these past few years

CNN’s unscripted series The Hunt with John Walsh will move to HLN for its fourth season beginning July 30, network officials said Wednesday (July 19).

The series, hosted by victim’s rights activist John Walsh, provides the public with salient information to facilitate the capture of fugitives profiled in the series. To date, eight cases have been resolved following the airing of those stories on The Hunt, according to CNN.

HLN, which simulcast season three of the series with CNN, will air 16 episodes for The Hunt with John Walsh’s fourth season.

“We are honored to be working with John Walsh and ZPZ to present this important program that continues to serve the public by spotlighting potentially dangerous fugitives and helping to facilitate their capture,” said Ken Jautz, CNN executive vice president in a statement. “The Hunt also complements the network’s primetime lineup of mystery and investigation programming not only engages the viewer but can actually save lives. It’s also a perfect fit for HLN with our emphasis on mysteries and investigations in primetime.”

HLN is turning to the Web to draw younger viewers to its news-and-entertainment-based brand by developing short-form, online series.

Nearly two years after the former Headline News channel rebranded itself from a breaking news outlet to one focused on news generated from social media sites, the network has launched two online series, with plans to develop several more, head of digital product strategy and partnerships Lila King said. It’s an attempt to engage young viewers where they are accessing content, she said.

The network’s first online series, Fluff — a 12-episode series that features YouTube star Andrew Grantham putting a voice to everyday pets discussing everything from politics to food — has already generated 7 million views since launching Nov. 2 on the network’s digital sites on YouTube and Facebook, according to King.

A second, six-episode series, Cooking With Nancy Grace, launched Nov. 9 and features the HLN legal personality cooking simple, no-frills meals for her family. That series has drawn more than 200,000 views in its first two weeks, HLN officials said.

HLN is also in production on a third series, Chef’s Lab, which focuses on chef culture and how the backgrounds of some of the most famous chefs around the world have influenced their cooking styles and dishes.

King said the network hopes that the shortform offerings will serve as a potential incubator for future network series.

“We think of the digital series as a testing ground and lab for what would eventually make sense on television,” she said.

HLN hopes the online offerings will help the network reach younger viewers. To date, the network’s total-day viewer median age is 55, down one year from its 2014 figure. That compares favorably with traditional cable news networks like Fox News Channel (67 years), MSNBC (63 years) and CNN (61 years), the network said.

King also said the network (which disclosed last week that general manager Albie Hecht is leaving; Ken Jautz will run it on an interim basis) is also looking to take advantage of viewer interest in the 2016 presidential campaign through an initiative dubbed the “social horse race” that will look at how the presidential candidates are performing on social platforms. HLN has partnered with social-media research company CrowdTangle to see which candidates are getting social-media traction and how they compare with one another on various topics.

The results will be featured in segments on a number of HLN shows, including its series the Daily Share, according to King.

“So far, what we’re finding is that the [presidential] polls on various topics are different from what is reflected in social conversation,” King said. “That may be because of the age of those on social media compared to those participating in the polls, but it’s interesting to see the disparities so far.”

HLN will air in May a Kim Kardashian-produced documentary focusing on mental illness, the network said Wednesday.

The documentary, #RedFlag debuts May 5 and looks at the debilitating disease’s effect on its victims, families and friends, and suggests ways that social media can serve as a method of outreach, said network officials.

Following the documentary, which will air in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month, HLN’s Dr. Drew will expand on the issues raised in #RedFlag as part of an interactive post-show with a studio audience.

Kardashian will serve as executive producer of #RedFlag along with Gary R. Benz, Michael Branton, and Jean Shi. GRB Entertainment will produce the special for HLN, said network officials.

With one week left to make it official, Fox News Channel will run its skein atop the cable new sector to 13 years among total viewers and adults 25 to 54.

Through Dec. 21, the first 51 weeks of Nielsen’s 2014, Fox News has averaged 1.76 million watchers in primetime, including 302,000 in the aforementioned demo, according to Nielsen data. Compared to 2013, those deliveries were even and up 3%, respectively.

They also dwarfed those of CNN, MSNBC and HLN, beating the three of them combined in primetime audience.  MSNBC was second, averaging 590,000 watchers, down 8% from the comparable period in 2013, CNN third with 515,000 (off 9%) and HLN fourth with 335,000 (-15).

In the so-called news demo, all of the other players took hits: CNN dipped 1% to 181,000 of those watchers, while MSNBC shed 17% to 169,000 and HLN 16% to 117.000.

It was a similar tale in total day, Fox News beat the three others together among total viewers, albeit all of the players lost audience.   FNC averaged 1.05 million in the 24-hour measure, down 4%. CNN was second here with 399,000, 3% less than in 2013. MSNBC and HLN sustained 12%  and 13% erosion to 348,000 and 257,000, respectively.

On the demo watch, all four competitors declined: FNC and CNN were off 4% to 214,000 and 126,000. MSNBC was third here, losing 18% to 108,000, barely ahead of HLN’s 105,000, which declined 6% from the stage of 2013.

A further breakdown shows that FNC had the top 14 shows in audience and nine of the top 10 among the 25-to-54 set.

The O’Reilly Factor extended its run to 15 consecutive years in first place in its 8 p.m. timeslot among viewers and the demo and 13 years in a row atop all of cable news with those measures.

The Kelly File (pictured) was the only primetime show in cable to record gains in both viewers (10%) and the demo (6%), versus 2013.

The top five shows: in total viewers: The O’Reilly Factor--2.67 million; The Kelly File—2.22 million; The Five—2.06 million; Special Report w/ Bret Baier—1.99 million; and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren—1.75 million.

The leaders among adults 25 to 54: The O’Reilly Factor—427,000; The Kelly File—376,000; The Five—325,000; Hannity—312,000; Special Report with Bret Baier—304,000.