Starz has named TriStar programming executive Kathryn Busby as its president of original programming.

Busby, who replaces Christina Davis in the position, will lead the programming and development team as it looks to deliver on its programming mandate to deliver narratives by, about and for women and underrepresented audiences, said the premium service. 

“Kathryn is an incredible well-seasoned executive who has a long-running track record of developing series with unique voices,” said Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch in a statement. “We are excited to welcome her to the Starz team where I know she’ll be instrumental in furthering the company’s commitment to deliver programming for women and underrepresented audiences.”

Also: Starz Launches #TakeTheLead Diversity Initiative

Busby most recently served as EVP for TriStarTelevision where she worked on such projects as The Afterparty starring Tiffany Haddish and Sam Richardson; a Malcolm X series based on the novels X: A Novel and The Awakening of Malcolm X and a series based on Kirsten Chen’s upcoming novel Counterfeit, said Starz.

Prior to that, Busby served as SVP of Development at Sony Pictures Networks. She also held leadership roles at Turner Broadcasting, New Line Cinema, The Carsey-Werner Company and Universal Television.

“I am inspired by Starz’s dedication and commitment to fearless, unapologetic stories and characters, and I am beyond thrilled to work with the extraordinary team there,” Busby said. “The time is now for storytelling that celebrates the full spectrum of humanity, and the place to do it is Starz. This is an amazing opportunity, and I can’t wait to get started.” ■ 

Netflix could more than double its total subscriber additions in the second half of 2021 as its original content slate expands, while Q2 growth, fueled by children’s programming and international series, should be in line with guidance, according to Canaccord Genuity media analysts Maria Ripps and Michael Graham.

In a note to clients issued Wednesday (July 14), the analysts estimated that Netflix would report about 1.1 million customer additions in Q2, slightly above company guidance of about 1 million additions. But Ripps and Graham expect bigger gains in the second half of the year — about 14 million customer additions (more than twice the five million added in the first half of the year) — fueled by the return of several popular series and a slew of new originals.

Netflix is scheduled to report its Q2 results on July 20. 

Ripps and Graham expect Netflix to end 2021 with almost 223 million total paying subscribers, up 19.2 million from the prior year, but still behind the 36 million it added in 2020. In 2022, the analysts predict Netflix will have nearly 250 million global customers, up 26.6 million.

After a sluggish first half in 2021, Canaccord expects Netflix’s second half content lineup to have “significantly more firepower,” with the July return of series Atypical, Virgin River, Never Have I Ever, and one of its most popular shows of 2020, teen drama Outer Banks.    

Reality dating show Sexy Beasts debuts on July 21 and similarly themed reality hit Love Is Blind comes back a week later for a three-episode reunion. On the film side, the third installment of teen drama The Kissing Booth premieres on Aug. 11 followed by He’s All That (featuring the acting debut of Tik Tok star Addison Rae) on Aug. 27, and action comedy Red Notice, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Gal Godot and Ryan Reynolds on Nov. 12. Lin-Manuel Miranda musical Tick, Tick … Boom!, season two of The Witcher, and Don’t Look Up are also slated for fourth quarter release.

New episodes of past hits after a COVID-induced hiatus should goose next year’s subscriber rolls even further, according to the analysts. 

“The content pipeline for 1H22 and beyond is also robust as COVID-driven production delays pushed out new seasons of some of the biggest titles like Stranger Things, The Crown and Ozark into next year, and Netflix continues to invest in unique content both in the U.S. and around the world which is helping to strengthen its competitive positioning and differentiate its library from those of rivals,” Ripps and  Graham wrote. 

Netflix has been shaking up its content mix of late, which is reflected in Canaccord’s own top 10 rankings. Animated children’s fare like The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Dog Gone Trouble and Wish Dragon have dominated Canaccord’s TV Power Rankings, while at the same time strengthening Netflix’s position against rival Disney Plus, the analysts wrote.

Original content is still a core growth engine for Netflix, and despite a lighter than usual slate in the past few months, about 64% of the SVOD service’s top ten shows in Canaccord’s power rankings were originals, compared to 63% in Q1 and 59% in Q4. 

As production for its tentpole titles was on hold, Netflix boosted its commitment to children’s content, licensing The Mitchells vs. The Machines from Sony Pictures, which stayed in the top ten rankings for each day of the quarter after rights were purchased. Kids movies also made up six of the top ten films in Canaccord’s power rankings  during the quarter, including Netflix-produced Dog Gone Trouble and Wish Dragon joining licensed fare like Home, Madagascar 3 and The Secret Life of Pets 2. 

Ripps and Graham expect that trend to continue, adding that Netflix already has a handful of kids series in the pipeline — A Tale Dark & Grimm and Dogs in Space slated for fall 2021 and Super Giant Robot Brothers expected in 2022.

Investments in local language content also are showing results across the board, with the popularity of series like Mexican mystery Who Killed Sara? placing second during the quarter in Canaccord Genuity’s TV Power Rankings and French thriller Lupin, Norwegian fantasy drama Ragnarok and Spanish teen drama Elite spending significant time in the top ten.

Netflix began producing local language series back in 2015 with the Colombian Cartel-themed Narcos, and followed that somewhat surprising hit with shows like Money Heist (Spain), Dark (Germany) and others. Now such shows are regular hits with viewers.

“...This segment of Netflix’s library serves not just as a tool to drive subscriber acquisition and engagement in international markets, but also as a key differentiating factor compared to other streaming services,” Ripps and Graham wrote. 

The analysts noted that Netflix plans to step up its already impressive local language output on several fronts.

In South Korea, where it has about 3.5 million subscribers, Netflix has invested about $700 million in two product facilities and local language content, and plans to spend another $500 million on movies and TV series produced in the country. The SVOD pioneer has spent about $420 million in India on content over the past two years and said that it plans to spend more than that on 41 new shows and movies it will release in 2021. 

Other countries will see similar investment. Netflix is opening a new office in Italy in the second half and plans to double the number of Italian original series next year; in the Nordic region, where it has 4.5 million subscribers, Netflix has already produced more than 70 original series and plans to open an office there in the second half of 2021. 

Netflix already has spent about $175 million producing shows in Colombia over seven years and plans 30 new projects before the end of the year. In Spain, where it has produced more than 50 titles and opened its first European production hub in Madrid in 2019, plans are to double the number of sound stages from five to 10 in addition to building new post-production facilities, a film lab and high-tech editing suites. In Russia, Netflix has announced plans to produce its first Russian original series — Anna K — a retelling of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, while in Mexico it plans a remake of hit comedy movie Nosotros Los Nobles.

HBO Max has teamed with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres to develop original content for the upstart streaming service.

DeGeneres is on tap to create three new straight to series shows, including home improvement series Ellen’s Home Design Challenge, reality series First Dates Hotel and animated series Little Ellen, according to HBO Max parent WarnerMedia.

In addition, DeGeneres will produce a docu-series, Finding Einstein, which is currently in development and will seek out a new generation of Einsteins, according to the company. 

“Ellen is a singular talent, and a powerhouse, creative triple-threat that we are lucky to have now bringing her talents to bear on behalf of HBO Max,” said Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer, HBO Max and president, TNT, TBS, and truTV in a statement. “Ellen’s flair for home design and matchmaking will most certainly inspire and delight - but HBO Max is full service, so as not to leave the kids out she’s bringing them back to the hilarious misadventures of her childhood in an imaginative animated series.”

Despite reporting its greatest quarterly subscriber growth ever in Q1, Netflix could have trouble maintaining that momentum as increasing free cash flow deficits weigh on the SVOD pioneer’s credit profile, ratings agency Fitch said Wednesday.

Netflix added 9.6 million new paying customers in Q1 -- 7.9 million internationally and 1.7 million in the U.S. -- ending the period with 148.8 million global paid subscribers. But domestic additions slowed during the period, from 2.3 million in Q1 2018, and Fitch director Patrice Cucinello wondered if the company can keep it up. That is especially concerning as new entrants -- Disney+ and Apple+ -- get ready to launch price-competitive OTT offerings later in the year.

“While Netflix plays largely in a league of its own, maintaining subscriber growth momentum in the face of competitive product launches remains a concern despite growth uninhibited by the largest price increase in its history,” Cucinello wrote.

Cucinello was mainly concerned about Netflix’s increased content investments which are funded by debt and continue to be a drag on its free cash flow. The SVOD giant raised its free cash flow deficit estimates for the year to $3.5 billion, up from expectations of about $3 billion. Fitch said it was encouraged by Netflix chief financial officer Spencer Neumann’s comments that the company is “committed to improve our cash flow profile meaningfully starting in 2020, and then each year thereafter.”

RELATED: Netflix Might Share More Viewing Data (B&C)

Fitch estimated that cash burn for 2018 was between $3 billion and $4 billion and Netflix spent more than $10 billion on content for the year. The company raised prices for new customers in January by 13% to 18% for its three tiers of service -- its biggest increase yet -- partly to fund bigger programming investments. Cucinello said that increase could be a sign of Netflix’s confidence in its position in the market: the $2 monthly increase for its most popular tier edges the company closer to rival HBO’s $15 monthly price point. 

Netflix said the price rise will be implemented more quickly this time around, by the May billing cycle all of its subscribers will pay the new prices -- again perhaps a testament to its industry dominance, but also a risk, according to Cucinello.

“The effect on Netflix's subscriber growth is uncertain, given the noticeable ramp up in high-quality, innovative original content,” Cucinello wrote. “Netflix's more modest increase in 2017 proved to be relatively uneventful in terms of subscriber growth. However, there is risk that yesterday's announcement increases churn and adversely affects the company's growth profile. Netflix's 2016 price increase resulted in a meaningful deceleration of domestic subscriber growth. Moreover, market dislocations can provide opportunities for competitors to take market share.”

Netflix continues to invest in original programming, but a key licensing deal with Disney expired this year. While Netflix has several other licensing deals in the mix, its library of licensed television shows and movies could shrink further, including from 20th Century Fox, which was purchased by Disney earlier this year.

“Large content providers such as Disney are likely to underprice Netflix as they build scale in their DTC strategies,” Cucinello wrote.

In a video call with clients and investors, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the company has seen content leave the service before and has still managed to thrive by focusing on original programming.

“In the entire history of television, there are lots and lots of hours of programming that people watch fairly interchangeably,” Sarandos said. “But the shows that our members value us for, and the things we pay the most attention to -- if you look at our top 10 most-watched shows on Netflix, they ‘re all Netflix original brands.”

He added that in 2017 Fox let its second-window content library sunset with Netflix, and “you’ve seen how we’ve done since 2017.”

Netflix continues to have a strong slate of originals and returning series coming in the back half of the year like Stranger Things, 13 Reasons Why, Orange is the New Black, The Crown and Money Heist. 

Netflix gave more insight into viewership habits for the quarter, saying more than 52 million households watched its original movie Triple Frontier in the first four weeks. The Highwaymen, an original film starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson, was watched by more than 40 million households in that same time period and documentary FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened was watched by 20 million member households.

After building a deceptively large U.S. audience, Facebook Watch is going global.

The social media giant with the $500 billion market valuation said in a blog post that it will make its Watch platform available worldwide effective Thursday.

“Every month, more than 50 million people in the U.S. come to watch videos for at least a minute in Watch—and total time spent watching videos in Watch has increased by 14X since the start of 2018,” wrote Fidjo Simo, head of video for Facebook, in a blog post.

Last week, research company The Diffusion Group noted that nearly 74% of Facebook’s U.S. audience doesn’t consume the original video platform, and that 50% of the social media’s users haven’t even heard of it.

Only 6% of Facebook’s U.S. users consume video daily on Watch, TDG said, and only 8% access Watch on a weekly basis.

Of course, when you’re dealing with the kind of audience scale Facebook enjoys, the glass could also be interpreted as 6%-8% full for the Watch, which programs a combination of entertainment, news and sports, ranging from Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith, to reality show Ball in the Family, to Major League Baseball games.

Given Facebook’s U.S. user base is pegged at around 214 million, 6% of that audience would be close to 13 million daily users—a seriously good first-year audience performance, any way you slice it.

Simo said Facebook would continue to fine-tune Watch, while taking its existing programming slate international and including subtitles where needed.

He said Facebook will expand its Ad Breaks monetization program, which currently includes mid-roll and pre-roll ad formats, as well as image ads directly below the video. This allows creators to earn a share of ad revenue generated by their videos.

“Taking Watch global also means new opportunities for creators and publishers around the world,” Simo added. “We’re expanding our Ad Breaks program so more partners can make money from their videos, and we’re offering new insights, tools and best practices for Pages in Creator Studio.”

Premium pay TV network Epix named Laura Sher EVP, head of business and legal affairs, original programming. Sher will be responsible for supervising negotiation and execution of all aspects of business agreements related to Epix original scripted and unscripted programming. She will report to Epix president Michael Wright and MGM Chief Legal Officer Lesley Freeman.

Sher brings over 17 years of industry experience to Epix, most recently at Cowen, DeBaets, Abraham & Sheppard LLP (CDAS), where she was a partner in the Entertainment practice. Before joining CDAS, Sher was Head of TV Business Affairs at Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Prior to CAA, she was senior vice president, business and legal affairs, business development at AMC Networks where she headed business and legal affairs for IFCTV, SundanceTV and BBC America.

“Laura is an outstanding executive whose expertise and experience will provide tremendous value as Epix continues to grow its investment in original programming,” Wright said in a statement. “Her insights into the evolving nature of deal-making in the original programming space are vital to our efforts to build strong creative partnerships and continue to expand the Epix footprint.”

Epix said it has hired Nancy Cotton as executive VP, original programming.

Cotton, who had been president of Heyday TV USA, will report to Epix president Michael Wright and will be responsible for development and production of all scripted original series.

“I’ve known and had the pleasure of working with Nancy on many projects over the years, and she is one of the most skilled television executives in the business. Her taste, experience and talent relationships are first rate and a huge addition to our team,” said Wright. “We are fortunate to have Nancy join Epix at a time when the network is rapidly expanding, both its original programming and its distribution platforms, and her ability to attract and nurture great content will be vital to our growth.”

Previously she spent nine years as senior VP, creative affairs at Fox 21 Television Studios. She helped developThe Americans, The Chi, The KillingandQueen of the South. Before that she was head of TV for Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions.

Read more at B&C.

New, original programming from Pop TV gives real-life lovebirds the chance to explore relationships and their downfalls.

Originality in programming pays off with its capacity to transfix viewers and captivate an audience.

After all, how likely are you to be able to turn away from a young man who has just found a used pregnancy test in his spaghetti?

Pop TV has mastered the development of inventive and imaginative writing, editing and costume design in its current programming lineup by developing a series of original storylines that are resonating with today’s viewers. 

And those viewers are paying attention. The network has seen rousing success from its first original scripted show, Schitt’s Creek, a riches-to-ragsfamily comedy saga in its fourth season that has reigned as Pop TV’s most-watched original series. The show has seen double-digits viewer increases in all key demographics between each new season. 

Now, Pop TV is introducing a new original comedy program — Hot Date — a collection of 20-minute sketch comedies played by real-life couple, Em and Murph, and their various alter egos.  

What makes the program unique is, yes, the hidden treat in the Pomodoro sauce. But it’s also the fact that the fictional dating couple Em and Murph are played by the real-life married duo of Emily Axford and Brian Murphy who are bringing to life the sometimes sweet, sometimes nauseating, sometimes sidesplittingly funny world of dating.

After seeing wild success from early Hot Date sketches that aired on CollegeHumor.com, Pop TV is now rolling out a full complement of episodes. The series debuts on Pop TV on Nov. 8.

In nearly every element of the show’s writing, editing, costume design and character development, PopTV has managed to combine a unique take on love and relationships. The program delves into relationship foibles that are both cringingly awkward and thoroughly relatable in today’s world of false Instagram friendships, disingenuous how-to beauty vlogger videos, questionable fashion trends and gotcha pregnancy tests.

Through original plot-centric vignettes and storylines, the funny real-life married couple at the center of Hot Date chronicle relationship dilemmas that may be more than a little familiar.

Take the headshaking story about a date who has so fully embraced an over-the-top contoured makeup trend that she looks less like a Snapchat beauty and “more like a dirty sand skeleton,” said her confused date.

Likewise, Pop TV’s original comedic content has shown appeal to both mid- and large-market cable operators through a lineup of edgy, critically acclaimed programs. The show is part of Pop TV’s slate of 400 hours of original programming — such as Schitt’s Creek and the private eye comedy Swedish Dicks — that bookends popular 90’s nostalgia on Pop TV like Beverly Hills 90201 and ER. Other Pop TV programs feature stars such as Keanu Reeves and Jane Seymour and are available on MVPD’s linear and VOD offerings.

As it prepares to debut, Hot Date and the rest of the Pop TV programming lineup is reminiscent of popular programs like Arrested Development or Schitt’s Creek — a raw and unexpected take on the mundane things that make life hilarious.

High-end original programming dominates PopTV’s current lineup.

“We can’t wait for our audience to watch Murph and Em’s hysterical take on the highs and lows of romance,” said Justin Rosenblatt, executive vice president of Original Programming and Development for Pop TV. 

As the centerpiece of the networks’ novel and creative original programming, millennial viewers of both sexes are paying attention.

“Through plot-centric vignettes and storylines, this funny real-life married couple chronicle relationship dilemmas many of us have faced,” Rosenblatt said. “Whether you’re married, divorced, single or celibate, no age range is off limits as this comedy covers the relatable stages of courtship from teen years and beyond.”  

The benefit of inventive programming, like Pop TV’s Hot Date series, is that it tackles issues relevant to what viewers are facing today. The program tackles that head on in the episodes “Contour Makeup Has Gone Too Far” and “How to Tell if You’re a Basic Bitch."

Mary Donahue has been named senior VP, development and programming at History.

Donahue, who worked at History before becoming senior VP, development and planning at Lifetime, will oversee production for current non-fiction programming, reporting to Eli Lehrer, executive VP at History. She is taking responsibilities previously handled by Russ McCarroll, who left earlier this year.

History and Lifetime are both part of A+E Networks.

History also said that Dolores Gavin, senior executive, development and programming at History, has had her role expanded. She now oversees all non-fiction development at History, while Arturo Interian, senior VP of scripted programming at History, oversees scripted shows including Six, Vikings and the upcoming Knightfall, The Breach: Inside the Impeachment of Bill Clinton and Project Blue Book.

“I had the pleasure of working with Mary at Lifetime where she produced and developed a number of the network’s hit series,” said Lehrer. “She is an award-winning producer with great programming instincts and a proven track record. I am happy to have her return to History as a member of the network’s formidable senior programming team along with Dolores and Arturo.”

Before her previous stint at History, Donahue worked at Discovery, The Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC News, NBC News, USA Today and CNN. Gavin joined History last year.

With Netflix slated to release its second-quarter results on July 17, analysts are already chiming in with their predictions, with two influential stock pickers expecting strong subscriber growth for the SVOD pioneer.

In separate reports this week, UBS Securities media analyst Doug Mitchelson and Morgan Stanley media maven Ben Swinburne wrote they expect Netflix’s domestic subscriber growth to rebound to 600,000 or more additions in Q2, a turnaround from the 162,000 additions in the same period last year.

Related: Netflix Ranks Among Top Four in ‘Must Keep TV’ Rankings

Last year’s Q2 was marred by what Netflix said were unfavorable press reports that focused on an expected price increase. Last year, Netflix “un-grandfathered” early subscribers, which raised charges for many long-time customers by $2 per month.

With that behind it, both Mitchelson and Swinburne expect a return to robust growth rates.

Related: Netflix Forecast to Hit 128M Subs by 2022

In his report, Mitchelson predicted Netflix would add 600,000 domestic and 2.6 million subscribers in the quarter, in line with company guidance. He added that he expected the momentum to continue into the seasonally strong third quarter, with domestic subscriber rolls increasing by 640,000 and international customers rising by 3.5 million.

“It’s still all about the subs,” Mitchelson wrote, adding that he was slightly concerned about a lighter original programming slate in the period – five new titles compared with 10 in the previous year.

Related: Live TV Viewing Falls in First Quarter: Nielsen

Swinburne was equally optimistic about subscriber growth – he estimated U.S. customers would rise by 600,000 and international subs by 2.6 million. He predicted Q3 U.S. additions would be 630,000 in Q3 and 3.25 million internationally.

In his note, Swinburne wrote that Netflix has doubled the book value of its content assets in less than two years to about $11 billion, more than that of traditional programmers like AMC, Viacom, Discovery and Scripps Networks combined. He noted that traditionally film and TV groups (including Time Warner) turn $1 of content book value into between $2 and $4 of revenue, compared to Netflix at $1 of revenue for every $1 of content book value.

“Our current estimates for revenue and content spend imply that the roughly 1:1 ratio for Netflix remains in the long-term, supporting a profitable and high return on net operating assets (RNOA) business,” Swinburne wrote. “However, these admittedly imperfect comps point to the potential for materially higher earnings power than the market appreciates today.”

Seven-year-old premium channel EPIX last year joined rival programmers HBO, Showtime and Starz in the scripted-series arena with the launch of spy drama Berlin Station and political dramedy Graves, starring Nick Nolte. This year, the Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer and Lionsgate-owned EPIX will add a third scripted series to its lineup, a reboot of the 1980s film Get Shorty, starring Chris O’Dowd and Ray Romano. EPIX CEO Mark Greenberg spoke with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about the network’s original programming ambitions as well as some of the challenges facing content providers in a multiplatform distribution environment.

MCN:How do you break through the clutter of content out in the television marketplace?
Mark Greenberg: You know it’s a great question, and I think it’s one that we all have to come to terms with. First, being commercial-free, uncut and unedited, I think it is a real advantage versus those that are commercial networks. They have 42-minute hours interspersed with commercials, where I think our storytelling allows us to do things that they can’t. Second, we’ve got great scripts with great casts and great writers, and then we support all of that with an enormous media campaign. I’m a big believer that cream always rises to the top. Berlin Station was written up by the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times as one of the 10 best series of the year. Graves received a Golden Globe nomination for Nick Nolte, so I think the good programming content will always find its audience.

Our first two series performed, in terms of total viewership, no differently than one of our top movies, like Hunger Games or a Star Trek or Bond movie, so it was really great that our audience is finding and seeing it. We’re equally optimistic about taking an intellectual property like Get Shorty that had a big following as a movie. We’ve made it more current, and with Chris O’Dowd and Ray Romano at the head of the cast, you have people who are extremely well-known and who have done a lot of work in the movie and TV business. You know, I believe if you get the right cast the right crew and the right metrics, you will find success.

MCN:Having said that, what’s on the docket for EPIX over the next six months?
MG: My belief is, you build it one block at a time, and I think we’re going to do this smartly. We could have put 20 shows out there to see what sticks. I love what we’ve done so far ... those three shows are the foundations to what we believe our original series will be. We’ve worked with the NHL on The Road to the Winter Classic … it’s our third season of doing that. I think the fans really like it, and because we’re a premium [channel], we can be a little bit edgier in terms of the content, which I think is good for them and good for our brand. I think from a storytelling standpoint, we will continue to do on our documentaries, which will complement what we do on our series, which complements a great line up of movies. We’ll have as many movies in the ecosystem as almost any network that’s out there today.

MCN:As the industry adjusts to ever-evolving shifts in audience viewing, what’s the biggest challenge for EPIX and TV in 2017?
MG: I’ve been on the record this. I think the programmers and the operators have to find a better place with each other. I think over the last several years, the leverage of who beats up on whom is hurting everyone. When I started in the business in 1981 at HBO, we had a much healthier working relationship, and I think that’s a better place for us to be. The question is how can we all work together to really build a better business model? It isn’t about one over the other; I think it’s how we grow the business in a bigger and better way.

I think that’s going be a really big, big challenge for both sides. As the buying and programming power gets bigger and consolidation within the industry continues, I think we have to keep the consumer in mind at the end of the day. Sometimes we forget to use that word enough. I think if we put [the consumer] at the center of our attention and collaborate together on how to make the product better, we can all really do well together.

MCN:Any plans to offer EPIX directly to consumers as an OTT service?
MG: You know, I think we’re over the top with Dish [Network, via Sling TV]. Someone has to explain to me what over-the-top really means. I think it’s a kind of a silly term — they’re digital distributors; they’re using the Internet to distribute content, as opposed to a coaxial wire or a satellite. It’s just content being delivered by different retailers.

The NHL Network plans to air an original documentary looking at the hockey comedy Slap Shot, which hit theaters almost 40 years ago.

Slap Shot at 40 premiere Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. ET  It will be followed by Slap Shot at 8:30 p.m.

Slap Shot at 40 is the second installment in a planned series of NHL Network Originals. The first, Orchestrating An Upset: The 1996 World Cup of Hockey premiered in September 2016.

The documentary is built around an interview with the film's three stars -- all  former professionals who had played with the team that inspired the film, the Johnstown Jets of the North American Hockey League -- and testimonials to Slap Shot’s enduring popularity.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Cable networks and streaming services are turning up the volume on music, cueing up scripted shows designed to hit the right notes with audiences.

From Million Dollar Quartet, CMT’s historical look at the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, to Roadies, Showtime’s series about a concert setup crew, to BET’s biographical miniseries New Edition Story, cable networks are mixing pop music with drama in an effort to strike a chord with a broader young audience.

“Music is the great unifier,” Cherie Saunders, TV editor for black entertainment-news website EurWeb.com, said. “If you can tap into a fan base and just feed them a constant diet of that genre of music through whatever drama vehicle you’re presenting, I think that combination can generate a hit series.”

The music component also allows programmers to extend the marketing mix for a series beyond television, into digital album and single sales for original music tied to the show — another way to reach younger viewers.

“Music is an element that brings in younger audiences to drama that might otherwise skew typically older,” TV One president Brad Siegel said. “It’s a way to bring 18-34 and 18-49 viewers into drama.”

Scripted series that play off popular music trends aren’t new to television. Sitcoms like The Monkees (1966-68) and The Partridge Family (1970- 74) had a long shelf life in reruns. More recently, Fox’s Glee and ABC’s recently canceled Nashville took music-themed TV into new terrain.

And on the cable side, music-themed biopics like last year’s Whitney, Lifetime’s take on the life of pop diva Whitney Houston, and HBO’s Bessie, which starred Queen Latifah as blues icon Bessie Smith, have generated big ratings and garnered critical acclaim.

But it’s the success of Fox’s hip-hop themed Empire that’s helped the genre hit a high note with viewers. Music serves as a strong backup player to the dramatic series’ soap opera-like storyline.

Empire, which depicts the triumphs and struggles of a family-run music enterprise, was the top freshman show on both broadcast and cable during the 2015-16 television season and remained among the most-watched shows by adults 18-49 during its sophomore campaign.

“The music is important, but I think the other elements of storytelling, production value and amazing characters are just as big a contributor to the show’s success as having music and music performers,” Siegel said of Empire, for which TV One in April secured rare in-season distribution rights.

Last month, the network scored the biggest Memorial Day weekend ratings in its history by running an Empire marathon.

While just about everyone has an emotional relationship with music, not everyone likes the same types of music, Showtime president and CEO David Nevins said.

Ultimately, music serves as a way to draw viewers to the drama, with the characters and the storyline providing the glue that keeps them coming back each week, said Nevins, whose Showtime will launch Roadies on June 26.

Produced by Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) and J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Roadies follows the backstage workers who build and break down the stage for a touring rock band.

STORY MATTERS, TOO

Other distributors have been successful in melding music themes with strong storylines. Amazon scored a hit with its sophomore dramedy series Mozart in the Jungle. The classical music-based series won two 2016 Golden Globe awards for best comedy series and best actor in a comedy or musical series for star Gael Garcia Bernal.

FX’s Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, which follows Denis Leary (also a producer) as an aging rock star trying to resurrect his career with the help of his musically inclined estranged daughter, returns for a second season in July, while HBO’s 1970s rock music-themed series Vinyl — despite so-so reviews and less than stellar audience numbers — returns for a second season in 2017.

Netflix will also revisit the 1970s in The Get Down, a series that will focus on the rise of hiphop music late in that decade.

CMT is hoping viewers will make hits of two music-based scripted series: Million Dollar Quartet and Still the King, which stars countrymusic veteran Billy Ray Cyrus as a one-hit-wonder-turned-Elvis impersonator who hits rock bottom before discovering he has a 15-year-old daughter.

CMT’s first scripted-series foray would naturally be rooted in music, given the channel’s country-music pedigree, CMT executive vice president of development Jayson Dinsmore said. But both shows will offer music that extends beyond the traditional Nashville sound, he said.“We didn’t just put the expected songs in Still the King — you’ll hear everything from the Rolling Stones to Modest Mouse, in addition to current country artists,” he said.

With Million Dollar Quartet, the network will look to extend the show’s brand to the Billboard charts by selling the show’s performances in music stores and on digital platforms, Dinsmore said.

All of the performances from Million Dollar Quartet will be available for purchase on iTunes after each episode airs. CMT is exploring the idea of a music tour involving the series’ stars once filming of the first season has ended.

Indeed, Saunders said Empire and Nashville effectively incorporated popular music both as part of the storyline as well as promotional tool to help expose the series to new audiences by selling songs from the series as part of digital single downloads and full albums.

Empire’s season-one soundtrack, released in March 2015, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart — the first TV soundtrack to launch at the top of the charts since Glee in 2010. By the time Empire launched its second season last October, the album had sold more than 431,000 copies and had been streamed online, either in part or in full, more than 122 million times, according to Nielsen.

SPINOFFS ARE KEY

“We have to look at all kinds of different benchmarks in order to determine what is a successful television series today, and a big part of that is fan engagement,” Dinsmore said. “The more we can offer up experiential things like a tour, the more goodwill we have around the channel.”

BET will also look to generate music sales from New Edition Story, the documentary miniseries based on the 1980s R&B boy band that spawned the careers of Bobby Brown and Bell Biv DeVoe.

BET president of programming Stephen Hill said the industry is just now striking up the band for even more music-based shows to serenade viewers. “There are some stories that can be told,” he said, adding that the network is exploring several music-based series of its own, although he would not disclose specifics.

Added EurWeb.com’s Saunders: “As long as the ratings continue to soar for these types of shows you’ll see more of them. It won’t be too long before we get a polka show or a bluegrass series.”

Discovery Communications' American Heroes Channel is preparing a series on Adolf Hitler for next season.

Hitler is among the programs that are part of AHC's upfront pitch. Discovery on Wednesday (March 30) is holding a press briefing on its upfront plans.

With A+E Networks' H2 channel becoming Viceland, Discovery is pushing the idea that AHC is the only network still carrying programming about history. (Before it started doing more reality-style programming, History was sometimes described as "the Hitler network" for its focus on World War II.).

AHC is in negotiations to acquire some programming that had been running on H2.

Hitler, produced by KM Plus Media and Wildbear Entertainment, will draw on the latest research to tell the story of the dictator's life with new, surprising details, AHC said.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

RELATED:Building Crackle Into ‘More’ Than OTT

JOHN ORLANDO, vice president of development at Crackle, where he reports to general manager Eric Berger, spoke with Next TV contributor Tobi Elkin about developing original content for the Sony Pictures Television-owned streaming service. An edited transcript follows.

Next TV: How would you describe your role? What is the most critical part of your role?

John Orlando: I’m the head of development at Crackle, Sony Pictures Television’s streaming television network, which means I’m the person that is tasked with finding and nurturing our original programming. I try to find the best ideas for our original series and films and, along with the production team and talent, develop them into the best shows they can be. As we build a new network with its own unique voice, the most critical part of my job is finding great ideas and worlds that other people aren’t tapped into.

NTV: What does a potential hit look like to you?

JO: Hits are shows that people love, not like. We hope our new shows premiering this fall, The Art of More and SuperMansion, look like hits because we love these shows and are betting on them. The Art of More, starring Dennis Quaid and Kate Bosworth, exposes the audience to the underbelly of the high-stakes auction world — a unique universe that has never been explored. We populate the world with fantastic, compelling characters that will make you want to stay in this exclusive realm. SuperMansion, executive-produced and voiced by Bryan Cranston, takes a very different approach. It’s a stop-motion animated series, from the best people in that business (Stoopid Buddy Stoodios), that lovingly lampoons the superhero genre in an outrageous fashion. You’ll love these characters as well. You can’t love a show without loving the characters and wanting to spend time with them.

NTV: When so many people are pitching ideas, can you boil down three things that must be there in order for you to even consider a project?

JO: No. 1: There needs to be a unique world, concept, characters, and voice. No. 2: Culturally relevant and current themes, stories, and subtexts. No. 3: Killer story and characters that will move an audience emotionally.

NTV: What makes the difference between something that’s in the consideration pile and something that’s actually greenlighted?

JO: Inspiration and elevation. The difference is between technically proficient ideas, writing, packaging and truly inspired and elevated ideas. We might “like” something that’s competently written and packaged and takes place in a relatively interesting world, but we will never “love” it. Something we love has more inspired, nuanced characters; elevated, thoughtful ideas; and makes you want to be immersed in the project.

Amazon Studios’ coming-of-age comedy series Red Oaks features a star-studded cast, which includes Craig Roberts, Richard Kind, Jennifer Grey and Paul Reiser. Grey, who starred in the hit 1987 film Dirty Dancing, and Reiser, best-known for his role in the 1990s sitcom Mad About You, spoke to Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about their new series, as well as how OTT players such as Amazon are changing the traditional television marketplace. An edited transcript follows.

NTV:Given the multitude of projects being developed for both traditional television and for the digital platform, what drew you to Amazon Studios andRed Oaks?

Jennifer Grey: I was at home raising a family, so in order to take me from being there for pickups and dropoffs, I needed to find good material and good people, and this came along. The writing was spectacular, and David Gordon Green, Greg Jacobs, Joe Gangemi wrote the script, and Stephen Soderbergh is the executive producer, so it featured great filmmakers and great actors.

Paul Reiser: Sometimes you get a great part and not great people, or vice versa, but here you have a great script and the cast is full of interesting people. Once in a while you get a hunch and say to yourself this will be good, and it surpassed our expectations.

NTV:Both of you are veterans of traditional broadcast television, butRed Oakswill be carried on OTT service Amazon Prime Instant Video. What does Amazon bring to the table?

PR: It’s a really cool time for television. As you said there are so many more outlets for shows, and the quality gets to rise. Suddenly, Steven Soderbergh is doing television, and even this isn’t really television — Amazon a year ago was just books and gardening supplies, and now it’s offering comedy. You don’t get any sense that they’re new to this world — it was like working for a great studio that’s been doing this forever, and they are attracting great filmmakers and great projects.

JG: They have great taste and they are moving toward creating their own brand of material and really doing it their own way. I’m always impressed by people who decide to break the rules and say ‘I’m going to try this,’ then get the best of the best and make sure everyone has a really good time.

NTV:BeyondRed Oaks, are you working on any other projects?

PR: I’m going to be in the new Will Smith movie, Concussion, that’s coming out in Christmas. Of course, we’re hoping for Red Oaks season two.

JG: I have a teenager at home so I have my work cut out for me. I’m looking for another job to get me out of the house. (Laughs.)

NTV:At this point in your careers, do you have a preference of working in the movie field or on television?

JG: I’m all about the material. If its good material, I don’t care about the size of the [screen] — I care about the material and who I get to act with.

PR: At this point, it’s hard to know the difference. This felt like a movie — we went away for eight weeks on location so it felt like a movie. Nowadays people watch movies on a phone and TV shows on large screens — the worlds have so melded.

The Big Ten Network is looking forward to football season.

After a few years in which the conference’s best teams were question marks, last season ended with an exclamation point as Ohio State won the first college football playoff to become national champions.

Instead of simply counting the days until kickoff, Big Ten Network — a joint venture between the conference and Fox Networks Group — is launching a new original show Wednesday night (Aug. 19) that takes advantage of its access to the Buckeyes.

Scarlet and Gray Days: Inside Ohio State Training Camp sounds a bit like HBO’s popular Hard Knocks series that brings its camera to an NFL team’s training camp each preseason. The series is narrated by actor J.K. Simmons, who won the 2015 Oscar for his supporting role in Whiplash. Simmons is an Ohio native, a Buckeye fan, and attended Ohio State.

“Over our nearly eight-year history, BTN has consistently demonstrated an ability to tell the story of our conference, schools and athletes via original programming,” BTN president Mark Silverman said. “As a testament to our track record, Ohio State is trusting us to do just that as the Buckeyes embark on yet another potentially historic season.”

The series should offer some drama. Coach Urban Meyer needs to pick a quarterback in campaign before defending its title. And the team will face a challenge from Jim Harbaugh, who left the San Francisco 49ers to coach Ohio State’s archrival, Michigan.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Netflix has come a long way since the 2013 launch of House of Cards, with the over-the-top service set to offer 475 hours of original programming this year, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said.

Speaking during Netflix’s Television Critics Association tour session Monday, Sarandos said the OTT service, which only began offering original programming some 30 months ago, will have as many as 16 scripted shows, 12 documentary shows and 17 kids-targeted series on-air in 2015.

Sarandos talks about the value of original programming at #TCA15 in an original "MCN One Question for..." video.

Netflix’s original programming has been nominated for 34 Emmy awards, he added.

Netflix’s decision to build on its originals slate rather than on acquisitions of established shows (similar to Hulu’s recent acquisition of Seinfeld) provides the company with more flexibility in scheduling and international distribution, he said.

Sarandos would not reveal viewership numbers for any of the company’s original shows, although he said its comedy series Orange Is the New Black – the first to be Emmy nominated in both the comedy and drama categories – is the most watched original on the service.

Netflix is still bullish on its four-film deal with Adam Sandler despite the soft opening of his latest theatrical film, Pixels, Sarandos said, adding that Sandler’s appeal is very strong internationally.

Sarandos also opined on other Netflix original content:

--He said there’s still an opportunity for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to appear in the OTT service’s Fuller House comedy series. The series re-unites most of the cast from the 1980’s Full House series except for the Olsen twins, who have previously said they would not appear in the reboot.

--Netflix will roll out a Marvel-themed series approximately every six months, including new seasons of current shows. The service has already announced a second season of Daredevil and will debut Jessica Jones later this year.

--Sarandos called “unfortunate” and “unfair” the controversy surrounding the filming of the Sandler-produced original movie Ridiculous 6 in which several Native American extras walked off the set due to what they felt as culturally insensitive script writing.  

“I think when people see Ridiculous 6 they’ll see the show speaks for itself in terms of its treatment of American Indians.” he said.

BET Networks has tapped former Fox Searchlight Pictures executive Zola Mashariki to head up its original programming operations.

As executive vice president and head of original programming, Marshariki will oversee the network’s scripted and non-scripted programming development, said BET Networks president of programming Stephen Hill, to whom Mashariki will report.

A 15-year veteran of Fox Searchlight Pictures, Mashariki was most recently senior vice president of production where she oversaw development and production of feature films. During her tenure Mashariki worked on such films as The Last King Of Scotland and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, as well as African-American targeted films such as The Secret Life Of Bees and Notorious.

“We are excited to welcome Zola to the BET Networks family,” said Stephen Hill, President of Programming, BET Networks in a statement. “She has a passion for and knowledge of our audience and a proven track record of creating successful entertainment.”

Premium cable network Starz has promoted senior vice president of originals marketing Alison Hoffman to executive VP of marketing.

In her new role, Hoffman will continue to lead marketing strategy and planning for original productions -- including show positioning, creative and media strategy and digital marketing -- and will also spearhead all consumer and affiliate marketing for the network.

Prior to joining Starz in 2012, Hoffman was vice president of creative and brand strategy at AMC Networks, where she launched several award-winning marketing campaigns for flagship AMC series Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. She also helped reposition the network as it transformed from a movie channel to a general entertainment network.

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht announced the promotion, saying, “Alison has been instrumental in the success of the company’s original programming expansion and building the Starz brand."

Premium network Showtime has renewed the original Alan Ball series Banshee for a fourth season of eight episodes to run in 2016, the network announced.

The Emmy Award-winning drama series -- in 2013 for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role -- is currently airing its third season. The plot centers around the town of Banshee, Pa., where ex-con and master thief Lucas Hood (Antony Starr) has assumed the identity of the local sheriff; Hood continues his criminal pursuits while enforcing his own code of justice.

Cast members and crew returning for Season 4 will be announced as they are confirmed, Showtime said.

Banshee was created by David Schickler and Jonathan Tropper, who is also an executive producer with Alan Ball (True Blood, Six Feet Under), Greg Yaitanes and Peter Macdissi; Robert F. Phillips is producer.

Hallmark Channel will premiere two new originals this weekend (Jan. 24-25), including a new Hall of Fame entry, Away and Back, starring Jason Lee and Minka Kelly.

In Away and Back, which bows at 9 p.m. on Jan. 25, Lee (My Name Is Earl) is a widower who comes up against a no-nonsense ornithologist, played by Kelly (Friday Night Lights, Almost Human), when a flock of swans settles in on his family farm.

On Jan. 24 the network premieres Love by the Book, in which bookstore owner Emma (Canadian actress Leah Renee) is torn between fairytale courtship and genuine commitment when two suitors (Kristopher Turner and Ryan Bittle) enter her life. Love by the Book, which had originally been slated for Jan. 17, airs instead on Saturday at 9 p.m.

British broadcaster ITV called for major U.K. TV platforms like BSkyB and Virgin Media to pay for transmission of free over-the-air content after a recent report said that so-called retransmission consent helped fuel the current “Golden Age of Television” in the United States.

According to the report, Delivering for Television Viewers: Retransmission Consent and the US Market for Video Content, and conducted by NERA Economic Consulting, retrans has “contributed significantly to the overall health of the U.S. broadcasting industry.”

According to the report, commissioned by ITV in partnership with Germany’s VPRT and Free TV Australia, free-to-air broadcasters received about $3.3 billion in retrans payments in 2013, accounting for less than 3% of cable operator revenue – but about 15% of total broadcast revenue – and “having little or no impact on pay TV prices.”

ITV estimates that UK commercial Public Service Broadcasters invest around $4.8 billion on programming – and that it alone spends almost $1.6 billion annually – most of which is pumped back into original content. Under the current regime, no payment is made by the pay TV platforms to PSBs who fund this programming.

In a statement, ITV chief executive Adam Crozier said that introducing retransmission fees would have clear benefits to the UK creative industries and the wider economy by enabling PSBs to continue to invest in original programming.

“The majority of viewing on these pay TV platforms is PSB programming yet ITV, whether as producer or broadcaster investing in creating that content, doesn’t receive any payment – despite the fact that pay TV platforms pay commercial terms for other channels,” Crozier said in a statement. The impact of this wholly outdated regime is that UK Public Service Broadcasters are forced to subsidise major pay TV platforms. In today’s highly competitive media marketplace that is simply wrong – and to the detriment not just of the PSBs, but the consumer and the wider UK creative economy.”

“It is in the interests of all broadcasters that we encourage the regulator and government to look again at this issue for the benefit of the industry and viewers,” he concluded.

In a move that will likely make its MyNetwork TV and The CW affiliates more valuable come retrans renewal time, Sinclair Broadcast Group said it has created its own original content division – called Sinclair Original Programming – that will focus on entertainment content and business-to-consumer content such as infomercials and direct response commercials.

 Initially, shows will be developed for the company’s MyNets and CWs and will air in prime time and afternoon time periods on the weekend. The division will be led by Arthur Hasson, who is being named chief operating officer of Sinclair Original Programming, reporting  to Sinclair CEO David Smith. Hasson will also continue as General Manager of Sinclair’s CBS, CW and MyNet affiliates, in Harrisburg, Pa.

“Combining content ownership with our premier distribution spectrum of over-the-air television and related digital/web platforms is one of the last key components in securing the value of our platform,” Smith said in a statement. “Controlling our content and its development not only reduces our dependency on others, providing a hedge against network disruptions, but allows us greater economic upside potential.”

Smith added that SOP programming will supplement the more than 1,800 hours of local news programming Sinclair produces each week, its planned cable news network, Ring of Honor Wrestling, high school sports and its newly launched American Sports Network, which will produce and air a minimum of 160 NCAA Division I collegiate games per academic year.

“The media landscape is evolving and controlling distribution, as well as the content delivered through that platform, is even more imperative in order to remain competitive,” Smith continued in his statement.

The addition of original content will also boost the value of MyNetworkTV and CW stations, which generally have lower ratings than their Big Four Network (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) counterparts. According to Sinclair’s website, it owns, operates or manages about 40 MyNetwork TV and CW stations across the country. Sinclair has been one of the more aggressive broadcasters in terms of retransmission consent negotiations with distributors.

“Sinclair is a major television broadcaster with multiple distribution platforms and needs for a variety of shows,” Hasson said in a statement. “Our stations have tremendous reach and a wide-range of audience demographics. This venture will provide opportunities for us to meet viewers’ needs and to contribute to the company’s bottom line. By developing original content in connection with talented program producers, we can provide cost effective, flexible projects that can be readily monetized. In addition, we believe there is potential to distribute shows beyond our platforms both domestically and internationally. From the creative side, our large footprint of stations allows us to test concepts and talent efficiently.”

While Hasson will oversee original content development and work directly with production companies and studios, Bill Butler, Vice President of Programming and Promotion, will continue to manage the syndicator and studio relationships, identify programming needs, negotiate content license fees, and oversee promotional budgets and operations.

Hasson has served as General Manager of Sinclair’s CBS and MyNet affiliates in Harrisburg, PA and has oversight for WLYH (CW) in that same market pursuant to a local marketing agreement since 2012. Prior to that and from 2006, he served as Principal/President of MultiPlatform Distribution Company, a producer and distributor of television programming. From 2009 to 2011, he was Co-Creator and Executive Producer of ‘Crowd Sourced Hero’ and ‘Subway® High School Heroes,’ and various other social entertainment programs and competitions. Prior to that, Mr. Hasson was Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of ClubCreate Inc., a music creation software and services company. From 1990 through 2005, he served in various roles at NBC Universal Television Distribution, including EVP - Cable, Canada and Ancillary Sales; EVP – Sales and New Business; and various sales management roles.

Steve Buscemi was in something of a quandary. The lauded star of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire stood in a Brooklyn, N.Y., bar with a few friends and family members, lamenting the state of television production. “It’s so hard to do your own TV show, you’ve gotta pitch it, it takes money — there’s got to be some way to do it quick,” he said.

“What about a Web series?” his father said. “It’s on the Internet — ever hear of the Internet?”

He had — and, conveniently enough, he said, “I have an AOL account.” Buscemi decided right then to do a talk show; at the other end of the bar, an eavesdropping Chris Rock suggested an original concept: “You could do it on a park bench,” he said.

And, ahem, just like that, Park Bench with Steve Buscemi was born, with this episode-one exchange having established its style: Irreverent enough to poke fun at “unscripted” reality fare conceits, and boastfully low-budget enough to take its rightful place among the increasingly popular over-the-top (OTT) Web series that are starting to give cable cohorts a run for their ad business money. They’re also competing for the best stars, concepts and show creators and, in turn, a greater number of viewers.

“Convergence is real and undeniable; audiences are becoming more screen-agnostic, with consumers consuming good content wherever they can,” Gabriel Lewis, AOL’s head of originals & AOL Studios, said. AOL’s slate of 16 originals, announced at the recent NewFronts, favors reality shows that give celebrities a chance to attempt something unique and offb eat. “We’re creating series where, when you watch them, you genuinely get the feel for the talent’s point of view,” Lewis said. “We’re trying to avoid conflict-style and overproduced reality. There won’t be any train-wreck content on our network in originals. We’ll see how that goes for a few years — although we might eventually have to contribute to the decline of Western civilization; but just for now, we’re doing our best not to.”

AOL continues to refine an originals brand alongside the likes of Hulu, Sony Pictures Television’s Crackle, Google/YouTube, video-game systems PlayStation and Xbox and others, in an online neighborhood dominated by Netflix and, to a lesser degree, Amazon. The business models and programming philosophies may be as different as the lengths of programs, but the idea, as always, is to stand out from the crowd. AOL’s tagline is “Authentic Voices, Remarkable Stories.” With relative hits such as #CandidlyNicole starring Nicole Richie, AOL saw five times growth in audience on a year-over-year basis, according to Lewis.

If you believe the numbers, the rising tide is lifting all boats. A nationwide Leichtman Research Group study of 1,211 households in April found that 49% of U.S. homes have at least one television connected to the Web, a climb from 38% in 2012. In that same time, the number of adults who watch video from the Internet via a connected TV at least once per week rose from 13% to 24%. According to PricewaterHouseCoopers research, revenue generated by OTT video streaming services is slated to grow 28.1% annually, with 24/7 access to content being a key to monetization models. Internet TV advertising is predicted to double its piece of the total TV ad revenue pie from 2.2% to 4.5% from 2013-18. The huge Google/YouTube, hyper-aware of the stats, made strong NewFronts pitches, with Nielsen data from November stating that YouTube reached 49% of the 18-34 demo, giving it a longer range than FX (at 45%), TBS’s sitcoms (44%), Comedy Central (41%) and AMC (40%). With greater competition, cable providers, according to the PwC report, will have increasing trouble keeping their subscribers. The doors are wide open for streaming Web nets and shows.

“I think it would be foolish to believe that these kinds of things in some form will not be part of the landscape going forward,” Katz Television Group vice president and director of programming Bill Carroll said. “Timing is everything and this is the time where experimentation and unique approaches — especially if they’re somehow associated with a known person or brand — are looked upon as having potential.”

That has certainly been the case with Netflix, which made TV history last year, becoming the first OTT service to earn Emmy and Golden Globe recognition with drama series House of Cards (including a Best Actress Globe win for co-star Robin Wright). With a subscription-based business model, additional top series (including Orange Is the New Black) and the House of Cards star power of Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey, Netflix is staking its claim as a competitor to premium cablers HBO and Showtime.

“You can create an event with a guy like Kevin Spacey,” Horizon Media senior vice president of research Brad Adgate said. “It’s something where either you take somebody very known or an unknown and roll the dice.”

And there are plenty of gamblers at the table. Amazon tried to even the odds last year, letting viewers play programmers by watching pilots and choosing which series they’d like to see on paid service Amazon Prime. Xbox is hoping video-game popularity will translate as the basis of drama series; Yahoo will trot out both dramas and Katie Couriccreated news shows. And some smaller players are chiming in with a wide array of lifestyle series. There will be plenty of shorter fare — meant to appeal to younger generations weaned on snackable viewing options — and, when budgets and business models permit, longer dramas.

The number of choices is certain to multiply. To get an idea of just how diverse the offerings are, check out the chart of OTT shows that starts on page 10, which offers a snapshot of what’s on and a preview of what’s coming. “It’ll be interesting to see where we all go as producers and as consumers over the next five to 10 years,” Lewis said. “I think we’ll see drastic shifts across the board.”

Viewers' Choice

What’s on the Programming List for Over-the-Top Originals Providers

(All shows currently available for viewing unless otherwise indicated)

Amazon

Series: The After

The Sketch: Look, it’s not like the end of the world or anything. Oh, wait — it is, and eight strangers have to navigate this post-apocalypse now.

The Skinny: Instant weird sci-fi cred, courtesy of creator Chris Carter, who gave us The X-Files.

Series:Alpha House

The Sketch: It’s Party time! And by that we mean Dems and GOPs as four senators share a townhouse and try not to drive each other crazy.

The Skinny: Great political junkie fare, starring John Goodman, and created by “Doonesbury” scribe Garry Trudeau.

Series:Bosch

The Sketch: A homicide detective must deal with two murders, investigating the grisly death of a 13-year-old boy and standing trial for slaying a serial killer.

The Skinny: Based on one of Michael Connelly’s popular crime novels featuring Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch.

Series:Mozart in the Jungle

The Sketch: It’s sex and drugs and Bach and soul as a behind-the-scenes look at a symphonic troupe offers up some orchestral maneuvers in the dark.

The Skinny: When it comes to capturing ego and anger, stars Malcolm McDowell and Gael Garcia Bernal know how to conduct themselves.

ALSO:Transparent (starring Jeffrey Tambor), and kids’ series Annedroids, Creative Galaxy, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, Tumble Leaf and Wishenpoof!

AOL

Series:Kevin Nealon’s Laugh Lessons

The Sketch: Kids and comedians have one thing in common: They say the darnedest things! The former Saturday Night Live regular picks up on his concept birthed on Ellen as comics give life advice to young’ns.

The Skinny: Co-executive produced by Ellen DeGeneres and Nealon; comes with built-in audience.

Series:Making a Scene With James Franco

The Sketch: A doozy from the Oscar-nominated actor, known for making maverick-y choices: He and friends discuss favorite movie scenes and then recreate them, sometimes inserting characters from one movie into another.

The Skinny: To quote Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein, “IT … COULD … WORK!” Or, it could come across as just plain odd. Sorta like the rest of Franco’s career choices.

Series:Park Bench

The Sketch: Steve Buscemi converses with an eclectic list of folks (Fred Armisen, GZA, Debbie Harry, a Buddhist nun) and, in litt le sitcom touches, interacts with family and friends.

The Skinny: Sorta like his character in the film Fargo, the show is kinda funny — you know, just kinda funny.

Series:That’s Racist

The Sketch: Actor-comedian Mike Epps uses humor to explore the backstories of ethnic stereotypes, asking Jamaicans about marijuana, Mexicans about tacos, African-Americans about fried chicken and Jews about horns. Oy!

The Skinny: A perfect melding of host with topic, as Epps, an envelope-pushing standup comic, tries to defuse tension through humor.

ALSO:Connected, Follow Me, In Short, Inspired, My Hero, The Road to Disrupt, So Much More, Win/Win. And renewed series #CandidlyNicole, city.ballet., The Future Starts Here, Hardwired 2.0.

Crackle

(owned by Sony Pictures Television)

Series:Comedians in Cars Gett ing Coffee

The Sketch: Return of two new seasons for Jerry Seinfeld’s celebration of caffeine and gasoline and punchlines. Passengers will include Jon Stewart, Sarah Jessica Parker, Robert Klein and George Wallace.

The Skinny: A subtle dissection of humor and perfect timing. Already a classic model.

Series:Sequestered

The Sketch: A 12-episode series with a “12 angry mien” about it finds a dozen good men and women stuck in a hotel, deliberating a whopper of a case.

The Skinny: The verdict will depend on the writing and the chemistry of the principles.

Series:Sports Jeopardy!

The Sketch: A spinoff from Sony Pictures’ hit game show, with Dan Patrick playing Alex Trebek, and no doubt set to offer a dismissive glare when “Who was Ty Cobb?” turns out to be the incorrect response.

The Skinny: Live sports remains wildly popular, and Jeopardy! is a syndie juggernaut. A good mix.

Series:Tightrope

The Sketch: Bryan Cranston shifts from Heisenberg to Weisenheimer as exec producer of this series that replaces the main character of old detective shows with a modern actor, keeping everything else the same, for comedic effect.

The Skinny: Dragnet’s Joe Friday was already funny; could be like shooting fish in a barrel for Cranston.

ALSO: Returning shows Chosen and Cleaners.

Hulu

Series: Deadbeat

The Sketch: Who you gonna call? A slacker medium who’s down on his luck starts making his living by helping coax restless spirits into the afterlife.

The Skinny: A second season has already been ordered for the popular sixth-sense series.

Series:Doozers

The Sketch: Hulu’s first original for kids, this update of Fraggle Rock comes from The Jim Henson Co., and packs a curriculum’s worth of learning in an updated, animated package.

The Skinny: Several episodes in, it’s already proved popular with kids, and is a throwback thrill for adults.

Series:The Next Step

The Sketch: Shot in reality TV style, this Canadian teen drama series finds top dancers competing to see who will go to Regionals, and the one new dancer who sends the action and relationships spinning.

The Skinny: Could develop the kind of Glee-esque following it earned up North.

Series:The Hotwives of Orlando (premieres July 25)

The Sketch: The Real Housewives franchise provides fertile territory for this scripted parody, with six women whipping up a beotches brew of upper-class trouble. “Family is everything to me,” one of the wives says. “And by ‘family’ I mean shoes.”

The Skinny: Looks a litt le too close to the real thing — which makes it that much funnier.

ALSO: New seasons of The Awesomes, Behind the Mask, East Los High (premieres this summer), Elite New Face, Fresh Meat, Line of Duty, Moody Family (premieres this spring), Moone Boy, Mother Up, The Only Way is Essex, Pramface, Quick Draw (premieres this fall), and Rev (premieres this summer).

Netflix

Series:BoJack Horseman: A Tale of Fear, Loathing and Animals (premieres August 22)

The Sketch: Once upon a time, it was all equine women and song for beloved ‘90s sitcom horse BoJack Horseman; 20 years later, he’s washed up, but has a lot to say, in this animated adult series.

The Skinny: Voices of Aaron Paul, Amy Sedaris and Will Arnett should help elevate this project.

Series:Hemlock Grove (season two premieres July 11)

The Sketch: Everybody seems to have a secret in the title town, and the heir to its biggest riches joins with a newcomer to help make sense of a rash of otherworldly murders and mayhem in this thriller.

The Skinny: New showrunner Charles H. Eglee brings experience from The Walking Dead and Dexter to this supernatural tale.

Series:Orange Is the New Black

The Sketch: Season two of the stars and bars prison dramedy is available for full viewing, as Taylor Schilling’s Piper deals with life on the inside. Guests this season include Lori Pett y and Lorraine Toussaint.

The Skinny: The popular Jenji Kohan series has already been renewed for season three.

Series:Marco Polo (premiering late 2014)

The Sketch: An international cast, exotic martial arts, political mischief, crazy battles and sexual intrigue — those are the James Bondian elements peppering this tale of the famed adventurer who gets caught up in a vicious 13th-century war.

The Skinny: A big-budget project from The Weinstein Co. that should look beautiful and brutal.

ALSO:House of Cards, kid shows King Julien, Puss in Boots and Veggie Tales in the House.

Xbox Entertainment Studios

(Created by Microsoft Studios)

Series:Every Street United (premieres in 2014)

The Sketch: An unscripted series due, conveniently enough, during a World Cup year, with soccer stars Thierry Henry and Edgar Davids bopping across eight countries; their gooooooaaaaaal: find the most gifted, undiscovered street stars of soccer.

The Skinny: The series concludes with an hour-long episode, featuring a street-game finale in Rio de Janeiro, site of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. That oughta score well.

Series:Halo (premieres in 2014)

The Sketch: A live-action series taking place in the Halo game universe is the perfect stop for tech movie wunderkind Steven Spielberg, who serves as executive producer of the series.

The Skinny: An ideal melding of all universes: a live-action Halo distributed on Xbox. Master Chief would no doubt approve. A separate digital feature, coproduced by Ridley Scott, is also due.

Series:Humans (premieres in 2015)

The Sketch: A sci-fi drama series about a family that purchases a very lifelike “synth” robot to help around the house, but faster than you could say, “Open the pod bay doors, HAL,” there’s a load of trouble.

The Skinny: The series will hit prett y close to home, given our love of tech toys.

Series:Signal to Noise

The Sketch: A six-film documentary series explores how technology affects the way we live. The first entry, “Atari: Game Over,” explores the tech world’s legendary Jimmy Hoffaesque tale of a landfill in New Mexico, and millions of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial videogame cartridges that were always thought to be buried there.

The Skinny: British co-producer Simon Chinn has won two Best Documentary Feature Oscars, putt ing this project in good hands.

ALSO:Deadlands, East of Exurbia and Fearless.

Yahoo

Series:Other Space

The Sketch: Paul Feig, co-creator of Freaks & Geeks and director of Bridesmaids, executive produces a comedy about space explorers finding an alternate universe that presumably won’t feature talking apes.

The Skinny: Originally meant for NBC, the net passed when Feig said he didn’t want the series shot like a traditional sitcom. One is advised to trust Feig’s instincts.

Series:Sin City Saints

The Sketch: A drama series about an expansion professional basketball team in Las Vegas.

The Skinny: Making all eight episodes available for binge viewing a la the Netflix model will only improve the Vegas odds on its success.

Series:Now I Get It (premieres summer)

The Sketch: Katie Couric series that helps explain complex news topics through short videos.

The Skinny: Couric has already established Web cred and this is a good way to keep her name in that arena.

Series:World 3.0

The Sketch: Katie Couric talks to tech iconoclasts, focusing specifically on how innovators and entrepreneurs have helped change our daily lives.

The Skinny: Couric’s interviewing skills were always among her greatest assets.

Others

Google/YouTube

Focus is on new and continuing brands and channels on the YouTube platform, ranging from a DreamWorks Animation channel (reaching for family audiences), to the “big think” options of creator Rainn Wilson’s SoulPancake offerings.

PlayStation

Powers, a Sony Pictures Television supernatural drama will be the first original series specifically for PlayStation. It had previously been developed for FX.

PopSugar

Comedy channel Above Average (part of Broadway Video) offers sitcom Seriously Distracted to go along with the likes of Charles, Your Hangover, That Couple You Know and You Bet Your Ass.

The Scene

Condé Nast Entertainment (CNE) network with a variety of lifestyle series, including Big Fat Weekend, Cassandra To the Rescue, I Effed It Up, Epicuriosity and 30 Things; the net features names such as Cassandra Bankson, Andrew Knowlton and Dawn Perry of Bon Appetit, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos and iconic photograph Annie Liebovitz.

Ulive

From Scripps Networks Interactive, featuring new lifestyle shows such as Foods for Dudes, Like a Vegan, How Not to Kill Your Kids and 5 Things with Anne Sage.

Attention cable viewers: Forget what you learned in school. U.S. History class is now in session, through a number of scripted series, miniseries and movies.

From the Revolutionary War to the building of the transcontinental railroad to the Salem witch trials, cable networks are weaving American historical characters and events into clever writing and storylines to draw in viewers who may have nodded off to the U.S. history lessons taught in school.

“If a show like (AMC’s) Turn was around when I was in high school, I would have been a lot more interested in the American Revolution than hearing it from my American history teacher,” Joel Stillerman, executive vice president of production and digital content for AMC, said.

Networks are learning over the past few years that viewers may actually have an appetite for such history lessons if told in a compelling way on screen:

• WGN America’s April 20 premiere of drama series Salem, which chronicles the Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts during the 1600s, drew 1.5 million viewers — the network’s mostwatched telecast in seven years.

• Lifetime’s two-part miniseries Bonnie & Clyde drew nearly 10 million combined viewers for its Dec. 8, 2013, premiere simulcast across Lifetime, A&E and History. The drama about the bank-robbing duo of the 1920s drew the third-biggest opening for a miniseries in cable since 2006.

• National Geographic Channel’s Nov. 10, 2013, movie Killing Kennedy and its Feb. 17 2013 telefilm Killing Lincoln are the channel’s most-watched shows ever, both having generated 3.4 million viewers.

• History’s 2012 effort Hatfields & McCoys remains the most watched miniseries in cable history, averaging more than 13 million viewers over its six episodes.

With more intimate story lines and more complex characters, cable-network programmers said the historical genre is drawing interest from both history buffs wanting to learn more about iconic figures and watershed moments in American history, as well as from a younger generation of viewers curious about a more indepth look at the history of the country.

“When you actually look at these iconic figures for real, they all have such interesting stories,” Stephen David, producer of History’s upcoming American revolution- based drama series Sons of Liberty, said. “Complex characters like George Washington or Paul Revere — who you thought you knew growing up, but then find out what they were really like — are fascinating.”

Also, the distinct recognition that history often repeats itself, given today’s social and political divisions in the country — as well as the numerous military conflicts throughout the world — have made these period genre shows popular with viewers.

“When the future is uncertain it’s a good moment to look to the past,” Dirk Hoogstra, executive vice president and general manager of History and H2, said. “When the nation is as divided as it is right now, it’s another opportunity to look back at how this country was formed — to find out whether it really happened the way we were taught and what are we really built on, what kind of beliefs should we really follow. It sparks a lot of that curiosity.”

Added AMC’s Stillerman: “It’s a little easier to look at the concept of a divided nation through the lens of the construction of the transcontinental railroad (the premise of AMC’s Hell on Wheels) than maybe it is to deal with why we’re divided now on some levels. Turn on some level is a fantastic example of a way to go back and contemporize revolution, which is front-page news these days.”

American historical projects are not just enjoying success on cable. On the big screen, a number of genrethemed movies have garnered both box-office success and critical acclaim. Last year’s 12 Years a Slave, a true story about a free African-American man who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery, won three Academy Awards this year, including best picture.

A year ago Lincoln, which chronicled the final four months of President Lincoln’s life, drew 12 Academy Award nominations, including best picture and an Oscar for Daniel Day-Lewis’s portrayal of the 16th president.

Up until recently, though, the big screen was the only place to view scripted American historical pieces, as both broadcast and cable networks mostly avoided period pieces for fear viewers would not tune in, according to WGN president Matt Cherniss.

“For a long time, there were certain unwritten rules, and one of them was that period shows don’t work on television, and that was something a lot of people seem to abide by,” Cherniss said. Along with Salem, WGN will also offer anther genre series this July dubbed Manhattan, a drama series about the development of the atomic bomb.

“I think the success of the genre over the past few years has broken through that imaginary barrier and you’re seeing a lot of networks look at the genre.”

Indeed, the 2012 success of History’s Hatfields & McCoys opened a lot of network executives’ eyes regarding the viability of historical series. The six-hour series, which starred Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton as members on opposite sides of the legendary 19th-century family feud, surprised the industry with its enormous rating success as the most watched mini-series in cable history.

History’s Hoogstra said the series drew in viewers who had heard about the famous Hatfields-McCoys feud along the West Virginia-Kentucky border but wanted to learn more about how it started — and if it actually ended.

“We can use these projects to ignite interest in the subject of history,” he said. “I love when people watch our shows and they start Googling the subject. I think it ignites this real interest in history and can potentially bring it to a new generation.”

Stephen David — who is also producing The World Wars documentary for History, set to air on Memorial Day weekend — said that historical shows are also attracting younger 18-to-34-year-old viewers who are interested in the back story of some of the historical figures and events they’re currently studying in school.

“What you get in school is a lot of facts thrown at you without a lot of context around it,” David said. “But when you’re involved in a character and then something is thrown out you that involves the character’s stake in the story, it means a lot more.”

Added Hoogstra: “My real goal is to get all viewers, but I love to get younger viewers engaged in these kinds of things. I think really young people don’t think history applies to them, so if you can engage them in an entertaining way, then they might start to think of the subject differently and start to realize that these can be more fascinating and interesting than anything you can make up.”

Indeed, Cherniss said historical pieces can provide writers and producers with a topic that’s familiar to viewers, but can allow for writers to take some creative license with the storylines.

“To a certain extent, time buys you the ability to play with reality and blur the line between fiction and reality,” he said, adding that the character names from Salem represent real-life people from that time, but the series also showcases the magical powers that people of the era believed the so-called witches possessed.

“Salem was a time and place that I had never seen on television — it was a world that people had heard about but never experienced,” he said.

AMC’s Stillerman added, though, that historicallybased shows cannot diverge too far from the facts, otherwise passionate historical buffs will discredit the show and tune out.

“We’re not making these shows primarily for historians, but I personally would not want somebody who’s familiar with the period to say that we got it wrong,” Stillerman said. “There’s a slightly higher burden on us if we’re dealing with characters that are nonfiction to stick with the script, so to speak, but if you’re going back to 1776, you can take a little license.

“The bigger bar for any show is authenticity to the period,” he added. “You want people to think that you took the period seriously and that you never want to make a joke about it and that you did your homework.”

In doing their “homework,” network executives say that they’ve learned more about American history than they ever did in class. Hoogstra said in researching Texas Rising, a new drama series premiering later this year about the settling of Texas and the rise of the legendary law outfit the Texas Rangers, he learned more about the rampage of Mexican dictator President Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna during the 1800s Texas Revolution.

“After the Alamo, Santa Anna marched his troops and called for the surrender of the next fort. When they came out he killed everyone — how did I not get that piece of the story?” Hoogstra said. “The more I learned the more I realize that I don’t know anything about this story. We’ve got a baseball team [named after the Texas Rangers] and all of these things in popular culture, but most people know very little about what happened there.”

Added WGN’s Cherniss: “There’s a lot of interest [in the genre] because these are worlds that you’ve heard of, but in general they are worlds where you don’t know the entire story. That’s why they are such fertile places to tell those stories.”