Get complete coverage of #TCA16.

Beverly Hills, Calif. — Showtime has renewed Ray Donovan for a fifth season, the network announced Thursday during the TCA Summer Tour.

Production is slated to begin on the 12-episode season next year. Season four premiered June 26.

The cabler also revealed premiere dates for the sixth season of Homeland (Jan. 15) and the second season of Billions (Feb. 19).

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Get complete coverage of #TCA16.

Beverly Hills, Calif. -- Bryan Fuller, executive producer of the Star Trek: Discovery series headed for CBS All Access, promised a very diverse cast for the hotly anticipated show.

The day had started with CBS entertainment president Glenn Geller relentlessly grilled about his efforts to make the network’s shows more diverse.

At the Star Trek presentation, an ebullient Fuller noted the “wonderful expression of diversity” in the show’s original cast those many decades ago and noted that the Star Trek franchise “is the reason why I became a writer.”

“We are absolutely continuing that tradition,” he said.

Casting has not yet happened, but he said a woman will be cast as the lead, and suggested the character may be racially diverse as well. He's also creating a gay character.

The 13-episode first season of Star Trek: Discovery debuts in January and is the “crown jewel” of the All Access programming slate, Marc DeBevoise, CBS Interactive president/COO, said. That slate includes spinoffs of The Good Wife and Big Brother, and a fourth series to be announced. Last month, CBS Corp. chairman, president and CEO Les Moonves revealed during the company's earnings call that CBS All Access and Showtime's OTT service have a combined 2 million subs.

Since Star Trek: Discovery will be on a digital platform, Fuller acknowledged some freedom from traditional network standards. When asked about sex in the new series, he quipped, “There’s a reason we call [it] STD.”

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Get complete coverage of #TCA16.

Just over a year since his prediction about peak TV leveling off this year, John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks, said the total number of scripted shows continues to rise.

Landgraf said the number of original scripted shows is around 430-450 currently, and likely to hit 500 next year.

“We could well see the growth trend carry on into the 2017-2018 calendar year,” he said. "I stick by my prediction that we'll see peak TV decline within 2-1/2 years. 2019 at the latest."

Landgraf envisions the total eventually leveling off around 400.

The exec noted FX’s strong showing in the Emmy nominations, particularly when factoring in that the network’s programming budget, he said, is a third of HBO’s and a sixth of Netflix’s.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Complete coverage of the #TCA16 Summer Tour

FX’s limited series The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story was the big winner at Saturday’s TCA Awards event, the Television Critics Association announced.

The series won three awards to lead all television shows, including Program of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries, and Specials and the Individual Achievement in Drama award given to Sarah Paulson for her portrayal of prosecutor Marcia Clark, according to the TCA.

FX’s The Americans repeated as the winner in the Outstanding Achievement in Drama category, while ABC’s Black-ish received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and USA's Mr. Robot won the best new program award, according to the TCA.  

CBS’ 1970s comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show was honored with the TCA’s Heritage Award, and legendary actress Lily Tomlin was presented with a Career Achievement Award.

The 32nd Annual TCA Awards presentation, held at the Beverly Hilton, recognized the top programs and actors from the 2015-2016 television season.

“This was truly a landmark season—not just for television, but for women in television,” said Amber Dowling, TCA President. “We had an unprecedented amount of female winners this year, which is a testament to both the talented actresses who were honored tonight, as well as to the growing number of high-quality roles being created for and by women. It’s extremely encouraging to see this growing trend being embraced, accepted, and expanded upon, and I look forward to seeing even more of it in the future.”

2016 TCA Award recipients are as follows:

Individual Achievement in Drama: Sarah Paulson (THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY, FX)

Individual Achievement in Comedy: Rachel Bloom (CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, The CW)

Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE (TBS)

Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: MAKING A MURDERER (Netflix)

Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD (PBS)

Outstanding New Program: MR. ROBOT (USA)

Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY (FX)

Outstanding Achievement in Drama: THE AMERICANS (FX)

Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: BLACK-ISH (ABC)

Career Achievement Award: Lily Tomlin

Heritage Award: THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (CBS)

Program of the Year: THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY (FX)

Read more TCA '16 coverage.

Beverly Hills, Calif. -- NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said during his executive session at TCA summer press tour that a major expansion of the network's OTT offerings is likely a couple of months away.

“I’m not ready to talk about anything definitive, but hopefully in the next couple months we’ll have something to talk about, which could be really exciting," he said. CBS recently announced it has racked up 2 million subscribers to stand-alone services from CBS and Showtime, and ABC last spring dramatically expanded its Watch ABC app's programming.

"We’re in a unique position because our sister company is a cable company and the OTT strategy is a competitive take from what the cable business is," Greenblatt said of Comcast-owned NBCUniversal. "Whatever we do in that space, we want to do something that is not an affront to the cable business or distributors. So we’re trying to craft something that is a good thing for them as well. So we’re not there yet, but hopefully in the very near future we’ll have something to talk about. In the meantime, we’re doing a lot of toe in the water approaches," such as full streaming of Olympic events and targeted SVODs like the comedy-themed Seeso.

Read more atB&C.

Get complete coverage of the 2016 TCA Summer Tour.

Beverly Hills, Calif.—Eight panelists affiliated with shows on El Rey, Starz, TV One and WGN America tore into the multifaceted issues of TV diversity during a vibrant, insight-packed panel at the TCA summer press tour.

El Rey founder and chairman Robert Rodriguez delivered a brief introduction to the session. “Cable has made great strides,” he said. “There’s never been a more important time to build cultural understanding of people and working together.”

Panelists spent ample time talking about the positives — more shows with diverse casts on air, multiplying outlets, more people of color involved behind the scenes — but also brought to light the ongoing struggle to reflect America in full.

“The way the system is set up, in order to get a job or be able to vote on awards, it’s all just old practices that don’t suit us at all,” said Victoria Mahoney, a director with credits on feature films as well as TV series like Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse and OWN’s Queen Sugar.

“The old guard’s got to let go of their grip a little bit because that’s not the way the world looks,” said Jurnee Smollett-Bell, who stars on WGN America’s Underground. “Storytellers have a right to express what’s inside of them … and consumers and viewers have a right to see themselves.”

Mahoney noted that she is among the 4% of overall directors who are women of color, according to recent guild surveys. “I’ve never been in the bottom 4% of anything in my life,” she quipped.

D’Angela Proctor, senior vice president of original programming and production for TV One, said the executive suite is another area with a lot of room for improvement.

“We have to be at the table at every single level” for truly inclusive programming to permeate the TV business, she said.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Read more TCA ’16 summer tour coverage

Beverly Hills, Calif. -- Chris Albrecht, CEO of Starz, drew on his long tenure running cable businesses during a TCA summer press tour executive session that covered topics like Emmy politics, the peak TV era, skinny bundles and the company’s merger with Lionsgate.

The era of 400-plus scripted shows is "wild," Albrecht said. "But I try not to get caught up in what everyone else is doing because that’s not what I’m hired to do. I’m hired to grow the shareholder value of Starz."

RELATED: Chris Albrecht has a plan for positioning Starz for premium success.

Having been one of the main architects of prestige TV during his time at HBO, Albrecht still marvels at the pace of change. "I’ve never experienced anything like it," he said. "I take no credit for it happening. I’m swimming upstream just like everybody else is." Like many other execs at TCA, he poked Netflix, which kicked off the press tour by reminding everyone of its vast war chest. "It’d be nice to have $6 billion to spend," he said.

Read more at B&C.

Starz and actor/producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will develop a superhero vigilante series as part of an extended production deal between the two parties.

Jackson, who serves as executive producer of Starz’s hit series Power, will develop Tomorrow, Today, a drama about a veteran from the south side of Chicago who, after being falsely imprisoned, becomes the personal experiment of a mad prison doctor trying to create the perfect man – and an unstoppable killing machine. The prisoner eventually escapes and uses his newfound powers for good.

Anthony Cipriano (Bates Motel, 12 and Holding) and Dan Kay (I.T.) will executive produce Tomorrow, Today, with Kirkland Morris serving as producer, according to Starz.

The series extends Jackson’s existing overall deal with Starz another year, into September 2018, to develop new projects for the network with G-Unit Film & Television Inc.

“We’re excited to develop this series with Curtis to showcase his producing skills with this unique storyline,” said Carmi Zlotnik, managing director of Starz.

Read more TCA ’16 summer tour coverage

TBS and TNT president Kevin Reilly said Sunday that his reinvention of the top tier entertainment networks remains a work in progress.

Reilly told TV critics at the Television Critics Association summer tour in Los Angeles that he’s still in the midst of redefining how the two networks connect with audiences on a number of levels.

One area Reilly discussed was his push to reduce the number of ads in all TNT dramas shows by approximately 10 minutes per hour. He said the advertising community is embracing the concept and other networks are beginning to similarly experiment.

He added however, that it will take a concerted effort by the industry to effectively turn the tide.  

“If we get the results that we are beginning to see and others begin to see the same thing we cannot go it alone,” Reilly said. “If we’re the only two networks doing it, it’s not going to change the industry and we’re going to have to go back.”

Reilly also said the networks will continue to test distribution windows for its series. TBS for example will air the entire 10-episode season of its new series Search Party over the Thanksgiving holiday (Nov. 21-25) and during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. In addition,  all 10 episodes of the show will be available on demand the night of the premiere to encourage binge viewing.

TBS Greenlights ‘The Guest Book’ Comedy series; ‘Tarantula’ Animated Show

While Reilly admits that not all MVPDs are not enamored with such programming stunts, he said Turner is working with them to see the value of sampling several episodes to build interest in the series.

“What we have to educate is that we will never give away a whole season, but we’re in the five year business,” he said. “To get sampling for its first episode, and we’re trying to create a methodology. But we find right now these audiences end up being recruiting tools.”

Reilly also said he’s continuing to evolve its original programming slate with new and unique shows. While TNT has effectively moved away from drama series with close-ended storylines, he said such shows could make their way back to the lineup over the next two years.

“I do think there is still an audience that likes a good close ended story,” he said. “I think we will be introducing some of those in our next cycle towards the end of 2017, certainly going into 2018.”

Read more TCA ’16 summer tour coverage

Pop network will look to build its scripted portfolio beyond Schitt's Creek with the development of three new series, the network said Sunday during its Television Critics Association summer press tour session.

The network, owned by Lionsgate and CBS, slated a November launch for Nightcap, a comedy parody of a late night talk show starring Ali Wentworth as a lead talent booker who wrangles a-list celebrities each week. Celebrities guest starring in the series include Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kelly Ripa, Debra Messing, Whoopi Goldberg, George Stephanopoulos, Denis Leary, Michael J. Fox, Mario Batali, Wendy Williams, Nate Berkus, Andy Cohen, Mark Cuban, Mark Consuelos, Jim Gaffigan, Janeane Garofalo, Rosie Perez and Joel Schumacher .

In addition, the network will debut The Joey Mac Project, starring New Kids on The Block member Joey McIntyre looking to transition from boy band heartthrob to actor. The eight-episode series is executive produced by McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Jenny McCarthy, Tim Gibbons (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Paul Greenberg (Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris) and Jenny Daly (Storage Hunters).

The two shows join previously announced scripted horror series Wolf Creek, which will premiere on the network Oct. 20.

Pop president Brad Schwartz said its scripted lineup will have broad appeal to viewers looking for pop culture-themed programming. “We have to champion all kinds of fandom,” he said during the tour session in Los Angeles.

Beverly Hills, Calif. -- Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix, waved off the company's recent earnings disappointments and marshalled an array of series news to argue that Netflix has an edge despite the overall glut of programming.

In his remarks Wednesday during the company's portion of the TCA summer press tour, he derided the "mediocre" shows overwhelming viewers. Later, he clarified to reporters that Netflix itself has turned out a few mediocre titles but overall has an edge. "People are watching Netflix, on average, for two hours a day," he said. "There is no other network on television that gets that much viewing."

"When people talk about Peak TV, they talk about it through an old-media lens," he said. "But today, the viewer has total control over what shows they want to watch and how they want to get to them. And in that world, it's almost infinite the possibilities for how people can connect."

Read more at B&C.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Get complete coverage of the TCA16 Winter Press Tour.

Pasadena, Calif. — Showtime will move from its traditional “Noah’s Ark” release schedule, as David Nevins, president and CEO, described pairing up premieres of popular series, in favor of a monthly premiere agenda. That includes House of Lies in April, Penny Dreadful in May and Ray Donovan in June.

The Andrew Dice Clay comedy Dice also debuts in the spring.

“In today’s streaming world, you have to earn your viewers every month,” Nevins said.

Lead-ins in a time shifted world don’t matter a whole lot, he added.

“Some people love Homeland, some are obsessed with The Affair, some love both,” Nevins said. “People tend to set their own schedules.”

Further out, Twin Peaks, the ballyhooed series reboot from David Lynch, is halfway done with shooting and is set to premiere in the first half of 2017. The network also announced it has renewed Shameless for a seventh season.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Keep up with all the happenings from the TCA 2016 Winter Tour at ourTCA16 news site.

Pasadena, Calif. -- Pop has ordered up its second scripted comedy series, Traci From Nightcap (working title), starring Ali Wentworth and co-produced with network co-owner (with CBS) Lionsgate. Wentworth (Starz's Head Case) stars as producer of a late-night comedy series, fictionally titled The Night Cap With Jimmy, and each half-hour episode will feature real-life celebrities and a mixed cast of improvisational actors, the network said.

Pop president Brad Schwartz told Multichannel News recently the network wanted a second comedy to help fill out a night with Schitt's Creek, the comedy starring Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara (among others) that returns this March, though Traci From Nightcap will launch midway through the second season of Schitt's Creek. Lionsgate Television also has a great track record with comedies, including Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Casual and Deadbeat, Schwartz noted. Production is slated to begin this month in New York City.

Pop ordered 10 episodes. Wentworth is an executive producer, along with a pair of EPs from Chelsea Lately, Tom Brunelle and Brad Wollack; and Troy Miller, Lydia Tenaglia, Chris Collins and Craig Shepherd. 

Pop also confirmed that a capella singing docuseries Sing It On will return for an eight-episode second season.

Read more of MCN's interview with Schwartz in the current edition of the magazine at this link (subscription required).

The reinvention of niche cable networks looking to better position themselves in a crowded and competitive marketplace has been commonplace over the past few years.

At last week’s Television Critics Association press tour, three familiar cable-network brands joined the reinvention movement by announcing sweeping changes in their operating strategies to meet the demands of a new television world.

National Geographic Channel promised that its on-air programming will not look the same one year from now as it seeks to take the brand to the next level within the entertainment arena.

Much bigger premium series, specials and documentaries featuring big-name talent will be the new face of Nat Geo, CEO Courteney Monroe said. The goal is to get to the same level as other entertainment-based networks without losing the value and appeal of the overall National Geographic brand.

Top-echelon networks TNT and TBS will go through a “full reinvention” over the next three years, TBS and TNT president and Turner Entertainment chief creative officer Kevin Reilly said at TCA. By adding quality original content, improving the consumer viewing experience, creating a new business paradigm for the networks that will include limiting the ad load in original shows, and investing in overall growth, Reilly said he hopes to change Turner’s struggling ratings fortunes.

ABC Family will go one step further. Starting later this month, it will abandon it’s 15-year moniker for a new one, Freeform. The network hopes the name will better reflect its mandate to reach young millennials with its drama and comedy programming.

The common denominator with all the networks is a decline in primetime ratings in 2015 compared with the previous year, with TNT and ABC Family suffering double-digit dips. The networks find themselves playing the reinvention game amid a shifting television landscape that is chasing viewers not chained to the small tube for their viewing options.

A year into its rebirth as Pop, the channel formerly called TV Guide Network continues to add original programming, its biggest show thus far being comedy Schitt’s Creek, returning March 16 for a second season. Other returners include the rock-cruise show Rock This Boat: New Kids on the Block, the Alan Thicke reality show Unusually Thicke; and the a capella singing competition Sing It On. Easiest Game Show Ever, hosted by Michael Ian Black, launches Jan. 22. Pop claims eight consecutive quarters of year-over-year gains, including a 30% lift in primetime among the core audience of women age 25-54 in fourth-quarter 2015. And it is adding distributors, with new ones this quarter lifting Pop to about 83 million homes from about 74 million now. Pop president Brad Schwartz talked up the fan-culture-based entertainment channel with Multichannel News editor Kent Gibbons and programming editor R. Thomas Umstead in New York, ahead of Pop’s Jan. 12 presence with CBS at the Television Critics Association tour in Pasadena, Calif. (CBS and Lionsgate own Pop.) Here are some edited highlights.

RELATED: MCN Original Video >Watch R. Thomas Umstead's "One Question for ... Pop Network's Brad Schwartz"

MCN:We hear you are adding new distributors.

Brad Schwartz: In the New Year, we’ll be adding over 8 million homes. What I think is really interesting about that is — the story that’s driving the dialogue in our business these days is how many people are losing subs. You read about ESPN losing 4 million subs, and it affects the stock price of 10 companies, and it’s just insane. So for an emerging network like ours to actually be gaining subs, I think it’s actually a story that is unique. We’ll be launching on Cablevision Jan. 16. We’ll be launching on WideOpenWest on Feb. 1 and we’ll be launching on AT&T U-verse on March 1. All top-10 distributors will carry us on digital basic or greater. That’s an exciting place to jump off of as we approach our first year as Pop. [Editor’s note: GCI in Alaska dropped Pop on Jan. 1, but RCN and Grande will add it later this year, the network said.]

MCN:What else is resonating with distributors?

BS: We’re very efficient. That certainly resonates with distributors. When you look at ratings per sub fee on every single distributor … we are either one of the top five or, at worst, top 10 most valuable networks. We think we provide a great product for the sub fee that they are paying.

MCN:Do you think the audience has a good sense by now of what Pop is?

BS: I think we have had a very, very successful first year. Rebrands are difficult, and a lot of times when you rebrand you take a step backwards in order to take steps forward. We’re proud to say in our first quarter we went up. I think we had a respect for how do we retain the audiences we already have while building something new. So it’s been a great year, but I think we still have a long way to go. There are still millions of people out there that have not heard of the channel. But what I know from just the results and statistics and everything, the people that have found the channel are enjoying the channel. Our length of tune is up; our frequency is up; our new viewership is up — all three things that create a Nielsen point.

MCN:Do you gain from cross-promotion by CBS?

BS: I have lots of conversations with the Showtime guys — I’m like, how do you get spots on CBS? Those are huge businesses, and if there’s promo time available, they have huge businesses to take care of. But they have been very, very supportive. We get a lot of support from CBS Digital. Like when we launched Schitt’s Creek last year, CBS has this Times Square billboard over by the Port Authority [Bus Terminal in New York], they gave us inventory on there. They give us a lot of VOD advertising through all of their VOD platforms. I haven’t gotten a spot for us on the network yet — not that I haven’t asked — but they are very supportive.

MCN:You’ve added TNA’sImpact Wrestling. How does that fit in with the rest of Pop?

BS: It’s funny, when that opportunity came by, your first reaction is, “Wrestling?” And then when you really start digging into it, it’s like, OK, we’ve built this very passionate, exciting brand where we like to say it’s all about the fans. That’s the personality. Our personality is not housewives or rich kids; it’s fans. If we’re going to talk passionately about being a network for fans, that champions fans that go to music festivals like Coachella or fans that go to Comic-Con or fans that go to New Kids on the Block cruises, if that’s going to be the personality, then why can’t we also champion these amazing wrestling fans?

Get more news from #TCA16 here.

Pasadena, Calif. -- ABC Family’s name conversion to Freeform won’t hurt the network by losing its name identification with parent Disney/ABC, according to Tom Ascheim, president of the network.

Ascheim, speaking at the network’s Television Critics Association tour press conference, said the Freeform name was chosen after extensive research with its core “becomers” audience which ranges from high school age to late 20’s.

While ABC/Disney name offers distinct brand identity, Ascheim said it was more important to provide a name that its audience can better identify with.

“We believe that we will still enjoy all the great benefits that comes from being with the Disney/ABC company … we will enjoy the great neighborhood that we live in,” he said. “But for our young audience it's important for them to feel like they discovered something on their own. Detatching ourselves from hallowed brands felt like a way to make sure newness and freshness were part of the qualities that make Freeform special.”

Ascheim added that while change it never easy, the network’s appeal to its viewers though original series such as Pretty Little Liars and new shows such as dramas Recovery Road and Shadowhunters will help make the name transition easier.

 “We asked questions about what names feel good – Freeform best responded against all of them,” Ascheim said. “People don’t like change – the question is is it a name you love by itself. We will use the power of what is consistent with ABC Family to make sure that all the love that they have for ABC Family transfers over to Freeform.”

The network Tuesday will celebrate the debut of the Freeform name with a day long virtial social media event that will include a Social DNA Project with Twitter; a live stream of events via Periscope; a Vine booth; a BuzzFeed Facebook Live chat and a custom Pretty Little Liars Facebook icon; Instagram content and talent takeovers; and a Pretty Little Liars Snapchat filter, said network executives.

Get more news from #TCA16 here.

Pasadena, Calif. -- Hallmark Channel will tap actress/singer Mariah Carey and actress Jennifer Love Hewitt to direct and executively produce three original movies each, network officials said Friday during the Television Critics Tour.

The network also said it has greenlit a new original series Darrow & Darrow, starring Kimberly Williams Paisley and executively produced by Boston Legal’s Phoef Sutton.

In addition, actress Kristin Davis will executive produce and star in the Hallmark Channel original movie, Wild At Heart, which will be shot on location in Kenya and will be based on Davis’ own philanthropic efforts to stop poaching and rescue the orphans of slain elephants, said network officials.

Cedar Cove star Andie MacDowell will also star and executive produce The Beach House, an original movie based on Mary Alice Monroe’s beloved novel which explores the fragile yet enduring bond between mothers and daughters, said network officials.

Get more news from #TCA16 here.

Pasadena, Calif – AMC will return its hit zombie series Fear The Walking Dead April 10, the network said Friday during its Television Critics Association press tour event.

The 15-episode series, a prequel to cable’s most watched series The Walking Dead, will debut April 10 with seven episodes, said network officials. The remaining eight episodes will premiere later in 2016.

Fear The Walking Dead was the most watched freshman series of 2015, setting ratings records among total viewers and all key demos in live+3 ratings among first year shows, said network officials.

The network also announced that it will launch a third night of original programming with the April 19 premiere of The Night Manager, a six-part miniseries starring Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman and Hugh Laurie.

AMC will also launch a third season of its Revolutionary War-themed series Turn: Washington's Spies on April 25, said network officials.

Get more #TCA16 news.

Pasadena, Calif. -- WGN America's two new drama series, Outsiders and Underground, will premiere commercial free, the network said Friday at its Television Critics Association press tour event.

Outsiders, which follows a tight knit family defending their land atop a mountain, debuts Jan. 26, while Underground – which tells the story of revolutionaries of the Underground Railroad – bows March 9, according to network officials.

“We will air the series premieres of each show commercial free in order to give viewers a pure and uninterrupted introduction to these two very different words,” said WGN president and general manager Matt Cherniss.

Cherniss added that WGN America will stream the first three episodes of Outsiders and Underground on OTT service Crackle, Facebook as well as WGN America and Sony Youtube channels after their respecitve premieres on the network.

WGN America also announced it will launch on Cablevision on Jan 16, extending its distribution to 80 million homes.

Get more news from #TCA16 here.

Pasadena, Calif. -- Having targeted African-American and female viewers with original content, Starz will reach out to Hispanic viewers with a number of new projects, Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said during the network’s Television Critics Association press tour session Friday.

Albrecht said the network will launch several Hispanic-targeted series based on popular Spanish-language stories in an effort to reach second generation, bi-lingual Hispanic viewers who watch premium channels.

Among the new shows are Maleficio, based on the popular Mexian production El Maleficio, said Albrecht. He added he hoped the shows would be a successful in reaching its target audiences as its most watched series Power has reached out to African-American viewers and Outlander brought in female viewers.

“It’s an audience that’s hard to corral because there are a lot of cultural elements there, but I think if we put things out there that are familiar to them through pre-sold properties,” he said. “It’s an audience that is very pre-engaged in premium television, and if we can lean into them we can show them that Starz has them on our minds.”

Albrecht wouldn’t reveal further details on a potential Starz OTT app launch, saying that its still in the process of evaluating its options. Albrecht mentioned the network’s recent deal with Amazon, which provides Amazon Prime subscribers a Starz VOD library, plus a live feed of Encore and six live Starz multiplex feeds for $8.99 a month, as a move toward putting Starz on alternative platforms.

“To have your own app is to have an opportunity to be distributed by our current distribution partners in different ways should they decide to or through other portals,” he said. It’s early days with that stuff, but the new and the old are willing to exist side by side for a while, and its an exciting project right now and when we decide we have it right I think we’ll look at the opportunities and make some decisions on that.”

Albrecht did say the  network will offer Starz Play subscribers an opportunity to binge-view its upcoming drama series The Girlfriend Experience when it launches on the network April 10.

Get more news from #TCA16 here.

Pasadena, Calif. -- The wait will soon be over for Game of Thrones fans.

HBO announced Thursday that season six of the hit show will premiere on April 24 followed by the season three debut of Silicon Valley and season five bow of Veep.

The cabler has been teasing Game of Thronesfans since last year, releasing a cryptic trailer in December and a poster in November.

Complete coverage of the TCA Winter Press Tour available here.

Pasadena, Calif— Touting  a complete “reinvention” of TBS and TNT, the networks’ president, Kevin Reilly, said the veteran programming outlets will soon reflect a changing TV environment. 

Reilly, speaking Thursday (Jan. 7) at Turner’s Television Critics Association tour event, said the networks – through a four-pronged effort that will include the addition of quality originals, improved consumer experience, a new business paradigm and investments in growth – will radically change the struggling brands.

While Reilly admitted that the networks' ratings are down – mostly, he said, due to inadequate Nielsen measurement – he said the new strategy will bring greater fortunes to Turner.

“We tend to rewrite the rules for what a TV network is in the marketplace,” Reilly said. 

He conceded the transition won’t be easy, particularly in a crowded cable environment, and will take upward of about three years, but the networks are in it for the long run. 

“It will be a hairy couple of years, and we're going to feel it but we’ll fight though it,” he said.

Reilly wants to limit the number of ads in TNT shows in particular, and said the network is in negotiations to add eight to 10 minutes of additional content to one-hour shows this summer. A potential 50% ad load reduction next season for original hour-long shows would create "real change on the business structure," Reilly said.

Part of the transition will be moving on without Rizzoli and Isles. The upcoming seventh season of the female buddy-cop drama will be its last, Reilly said.

"It felt like it was time,” he said.

The 13-episode final season will premiere this summer.

Last month, TNT renewed drama series Major Crimes, The Librarians and Murder in the First, while opting not to renew Legends, Public Morals and Agent X.

Jessika Walsten of B&C contributed to this report.