In 2020 the television production business faced major obstacles due to the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced production stoppages for most television shows. Only the most creative and innovative producers were able to navigate the challenges of the pandemic to deliver original content to network and viewers. 

One of those companies was ITV America under the leadership of CEO David George. The company -- through its vertical production companies including Leftfield Pictures, Sirens Media and Thinkfactory Media -- was able to deliver more than 400 hours of programming across 53 series in 2020 ranging from Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Queer Eye and Bravo’s Real Housewives of New Jersey to HGTV’s Good Bones and Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen despite the challenges posed by the deadly pandemic. For some shows like CBS' reality series Love Island, ITV America was able to devise a strictly-enforced, safe “bubble” environment to produce new episodes for an industry hungry for new, original programming.  

New shows such as ABC game show The Chase and recent talent deals with such celebrities as Tiger King’s Howard and Carole Baskin has ITV America well positioned for continued success in the future. George’s innovative and successful leadership of ITV America has earned him Broadcasting & Cable’s 2021 Producer of the Year Award, joining producers Craig Piligian (Pilgrim Films & Television); Steven Weinstock and Glenda Hersh (Truly Original); and Dan Cesareo (Big Fish Entertainment) and Arthur Smith (A. Smith & Co.) in receiving the honor.  

Read more about David George's career in a special report in the Feb. 15 Broadcasting+Cable magazine.

They may not roar, but the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has begun selling talking bobbleheads of Carole Baskin and Howard Baskin from the reality hit Tiger King.

The Baskins operate Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit animal sanctuary in Florida.

"We’re always thinking of ideas for unique and fun new bobbleheads,” National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “As soon as we saw Carole and Howard, we knew that talking bobbleheads of the pair would be perfect.”

Both bobbleheads play three sound clips, with Carole’s featuring her catchphrase “Hey, all you cool cats and kittens.”

“I never dreamed I would become a bobblehead, but I laughed out loud when Phil Sklar from Bobblehead Hall of Fame contacted us and I thought ‘sure, let’s have some fun with this in the midst of this difficult time’” said Carole Baskin.  

“What a totally different way to build awareness of the Big Cat Public Safety Act – let’s do it,” was Howard Baskin’s reaction to the proposal.

Each bobblehead will be individual numbered. They are available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store, Each costs $25, plus an $8 shipping charge.

Netflix breakout documentary hit Tiger King continued to roar, with its newly released eighth episode drawing 4.9 million unique U.S. viewers on the day it premiered, according to Nielsen’s SVOD Content Ratings.

The show recorded a first day average minute audience of 4.6 million people.

RELATED: Netflix’s ‘Tiger King’ Surpassed ‘Stranger Things’ with Over 34M Viewers, Nielsen Says

None of Tiger King’s previous episodes reached 4 million viewers on their first day. It took about four days for any of them to reach that level, Nielsen said.

One the first day of release episodes 1-7 of Tiger King had an average minute audience of 280,000 U.S. viewers and reached 741,000 unique U.S. viewers.

By the time the show had been available for 10 days, it was average an average minute audience of nearly 19 million people, nearly matching th most streamed show, Stranger Things 3.

Nielsen said Tiger King was the most streamed show last week, watched for more than 5.3 million minutes. No. 2 was Ozark, followed by All American, The Office, Criminal Minds and Grey’s Anatomy.

For more stories like this, visit our sister website Next TV. 

Netflix breakout documentary hit Tiger King continued to roar, with its newly released eighth episode drawing 4.9 million unique U.S. viewers on the day it premiered, according to Nielsen’s SVOD Content Ratings.

The show recorded a first day average minute audience of 4.6 million people.

Also read: Netflix’s ‘Tiger King’ Surpassed ‘Stranger Things’ with Over 34M Viewers, Nielsen said

None of Tiger King’s previous episodes reached 4 million viewers on their first day. It took about four days for any of them to reach that level, Nielsen said. 

One the first day of release episodes 1-7 of Tiger King had an average minute audience of 280,000 U.S. viewers and reached 741,000 unique U.S. viewers.

Also read: Netflix’s ‘Tiger King’ Emerges as Ferocious Binge Hit Amid Pandemic Viewing Spike

By the time the show had been available for 10 days, it was average an average minute audience of nearly 19 million people, nearly matching th most streamed show, Stranger Things 3. 

Nielsen said Tiger King was the most streamed show last week, watched for more than 5.3 million minutes. No. 2 was Ozark, followed by All American, The Office, Criminal Minds and Grey’s Anatomy. 

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The Netflix documentary series Tiger King generated 34.3 million unique viewers in the U.S. during its first 10 days on the service, from March 20-29, according to Nielsen, making it one of the most popular original shows yet on the No. 1 streaming platform.

The performance even surpassed the first-10-day benchmark set by the second-season premiere of Netflix series Stranger Things, which drew 31.2 million unique viewers, Nielsen said. (It did fall below the most recent season debut of Netflix’s biggest hit: season three of Stranger Things averaged 36.3 million unique viewers last July.)

The Nielsen figures were first reported by Variety.

Related: Netflix’s ‘Tiger King’ Emerges as Ferocious Binge Hit Amid Pandemic Viewing Spike

Focused on the colorful lifestyles and intense rivalries of big-cat breeders, Tiger King has become the most recognizable programming hit amid what has become a high-water mark in terms of streaming video consumption. In short, people are social-distancing, stuck at home, and streaming movies and TV shows is one of the few activities many folks have settled into. Sports stars and celebrities have tweeted their affinity for the seven-part docuseries, and Netflix had it “No. 1 in the U.S. today” for over a week in its recently installed ranking widget.

Visit Next TV to read more stories like this one. 

Until Nielsen released viewership data, however, there was no numerical context as to how much of an audience Tiger King had.

And yes, Netflix is already planning a Tiger King sequel. It will reportedly focus on the missing husband of animal rights activist Carole Baskin, one of the series’ signature players. 

The Netflix documentary series Tiger King generated 34.3 million unique viewers in the U.S. during its first 10 days on the service, from March 20-29, according to Nielsen, making it one of the most popular original shows on the No. 1 streaming platform ever.

The performance even surpassed the first-10-day benchmark set by the second-season premiere of Netflix series Stranger Things, which drew 31.2 million unique viewers, Nielsen said. (It did fall below the most recent season debut of Netflix’s biggest hit—season three of Stranger Things averaged 36.3 million unique viewers last July.)

The Nielsen figures were first reported by Variety.

Also Read: Netflix’s ‘Tiger King’ Emerges as Ferocious Binge Hit Amid Pandemic Viewing Spike

Focused on the colorful lifestyles and intense rivalries of big-cat breeders, Tiger King has become the most recognizable programming hit amid what has become a high-water mark in terms of streaming video consumption. In short, people are social-distancing, stuck at home, and streaming movies and TV shows is one of the few activities many folks have settled into. Sports stars and celebrities have tweeted their affinity for the seven-part docu-series, and Netflix had it “No. 1 in the U.S. today” for over a week in its recently installed ranking widget.

Until Nielsen released viewership data, however, there was no numerical context as to how much of an audience Tiger King had.

And yes, Netflix is already planning a Tiger King sequel. It will reportedly focus on the missing husband of animal rights activist Carole Baskin, one of the series’ signature players. 

Current theatrical movies are available for $20 or less on Google Play, Amazon, Vudu, Apple TV and other transactional locations. AMC is winding down the final season of Better Call Saul, and HBO just finished running its latest batch of Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes.

As Americans stay locked indoors amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been stuff to watch beyond the very active cable news cycle. But the Netflix docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem & Madness has emerged as a leader of the pack.

Netflix hasn’t released viewership metrics for the seven-part show, which focuses on breeders of exotic jungle cats and most prominently features Joe Exotic, an Oklahoma-based gay polygamist, gun-toting aspiring singer and breeder, who has been sent to prison since production ended for attempted murder.

Described by Netflix as “a jaw-dropping true tale of con artists, polygamy, rivalry and revenge,” Tiger King has emerged as a go-to, not-so-guilty binge-watching pleasure for out-of-work major league ballplayers and celebrities alike.

Indeed, Tiger King has ranked for over a week as “No. 1 in the U.S. Today,” in the new ranking feature Netflix just began publishing last month. The series has a 92% average rating among critics, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Tiger King has, to a degree, become the programming face for the overall surge in viewing for streaming content that has emerged as consumers in the U.S. and Europe hunker down at home amid the pandemic.

According to Comscore, for the period of March 1-16, streaming hours via connected TVs in the U.S. were up 24% compared to a year ago, and hours streamed using a streaming box or stick are up 16%. Netflix controlled 37% of that consumption, Comscore said.

Current theatrical movies are available for $20 or less on Google Play, Amazon, Vudu, Apple TV and oother transactional locations. AMC is winding down the final season of Better Call Saul, and HBO just finished running its latest batch of Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes.

As Americans stay locked indoors amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been stuff to watch beyond the very active cable news cycle. But the Netflix docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem & Madness has emerged as an unlikely hit.

Netflix hasn’t released viewership metrics for the seven-part show, which follows the antics of Joe Exotic, an Oklahoma-based gay polygamist, gun-toting aspiring singer and breeder of exotic pets who has been sent to prison since production ended.

Described by Netflix as “a jaw-dropping true tale of con artists, polygamy, rivalry and revenge,” Tiger King has emerged as a go-to, not-so-guilty, bing-watching pleasure for out-of-work major league ballplayers and celebrities alike.

Indeed, Tiger King has ranked for over a week as “No. 1 in the U.S. Today,” in the new ranking feature Netflix just began publishing last month.

And as Variety reported this morning, Tiger King has a 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes—the highest rating for any current Netflix show.

Also read: Streaming on Connected TVs Up 24%, Comscore Finds

Tiger King has, to a degree, become the programming face for the overall surge in viewing for streaming content that has emerged as consumers in the U.S. and Europe hunker down at home amid the pandemic.

According to Comscore, for the period of March 1 through March 16, streaming hours via connected TVs in the U.S. were up 24% compared to a year ago, and hours streamed using a streaming box or stick are up 16%.

Netflix controlled 37% of that consumption, Comscore said. 

Current theatrical movies are available for $20 or less on Google Play, Amazon, Vudu, Apple TV and other transactional locations. AMC is winding down the final season of Better Call Saul, and HBO just finished running its latest batch of Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes.

As Americans stay locked indoors amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been stuff to watch beyond the very active cable news cycle. But the Netflix docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem & Madness has emerged as an unlikely hit.

Netflix hasn’t released viewership metrics for the seven-part show, which follows the antics of Joe Exotic, an Oklahoma-based gay polygamist, gun-toting aspiring singer and breeder of exotic pets who has been sent to prison since production ended. 

Described by Netflix as “a jaw-dropping true tale of con artists, polygamy, rivalry and revenge,” Tiger King has emerged as a go-to, not-so-guilty, bing-watching pleasure for out-of-work major league ballplayers and celebrities alike. 

Indeed, Tiger King has ranked for over a week as  “No. 1 in the U.S. Today,” in the new ranking feature Netflix just began publishing last month. 

And as Variety reported this morning, Tiger King has a 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes—the highest rating for any current Netflix show. 

Also read: Streaming on Connected TVs Up 24%, Comscore Finds

Tiger King has, to a degree, become the programming face for the overall surge in viewing for streaming content that has emerged as consumers in the U.S. and Europe hunker down at home amid the pandemic. 

According to Comscore, for the period of March 1 through March 16, streaming hours via connected TVs in the U.S. were up 24% compared to a year ago, and hours streamed using a streaming box or stick are up 16%.

Netflix controlled 37% of that consumption, Comscore said.