Keely's Korner

Word-of-mouth from social media has more power than the example of a trusted friend, according to a new study from Informs Journal Marketing Science. The study, called “Word of Mouth, Observed Adoptions, and Anime-Watching Decisions: The Role of the Personal vs. the Community Network,” looked at the biggest drivers in social learning – and concludes having a handle on the science of it all would pay off. “Advances in technology have enabled firms to directly facilitate and manage social interactions and information sharing among consumers,” said the study. “A good understanding of the differential and unique effects of various social learning devices at different levels of a network is essential for firms to develop successful information provision strategies and efficiently design their websites.”
(Source: Cynopsis)There will be a little less partying around this year’s Emmys. With lawsuits dividing the WGA and the Association of Talent Agents, CAA, WME, UTA, ICM and Paradigm have canceled their Emmy bashes. May upfront events were also affected by the battle. At issue is the agency practice of, and payments for, packaging writers, directors and actors for projects.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Eight LGBTQ YouTube creators filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday, accusing YouTube of “unlawful content regulation, distribution, and monetization practices that stigmatize, restrict, block, demonetize, and financially harm the LGBTQ+ Plaintiffs and the greater LGBTQ+ Community.” The creators contend their content is being labeled shocking or offensive because of their sexual orientation, instead of what’s in the videos.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Chrisley Knows Best stars Todd and Julie Chrisley have been indicted on federal tax-evasion charges. From at least as early as 2007 through approximately 2012, the Chrisleys allegedly conspired to defraud numerous banks by providing them with false information when applying for and receiving millions of dollars in loans, said the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. “The allegations contained in the indictment are based on complete falsehoods,” said the couple’s attorneys, citing emails that were fabricated by a former employee.
(Source: Cynopsis)

AMC Networks is integrating its AMC Studios operation into its Entertainment Networks Group. David Madden, President of Programming for the Entertainment Networks Group and AMC Studios, will step down from that role later this month. “We are already seeing the benefits of our entertainment networks working more closely together – the next logical strategic step is to integrate AMC Studios into this same group, so that the people making our celebrated series are more closely coordinated with the marketing, scheduling and publicity teams who connect our shows to passionate fans,” said Sarah Barnett, President of the Entertainment Networks Group. “We believe this new structure best positions our nimble organization for success in an increasingly competitive environment. I thank David for being a wonderful and consummate executive and for the creative leadership he brought to the team.”
(Source: Cynopsis)

NBC has put in development St. Elmo’s Fire, based on the 1985 Brat Pack movie about friends struggling with adulthood. Josh Berman (Drop Dead Diva) is exec producing through his Osprey Prods. with Chris King; studio is Sony Pictures Television.
(Source: Cynopsis)

HBO ordered skateboarding comedy Betty, inspired by 2018 Sundance feature Skate Kitchen from Crystal Roselle and Lesley Arfin. Moselle and Arfin executive produce with Igor Srubshchik and Jason Weinberg; Michael Sherman and Matthew Perniciaro of Bow & Arrow Entertainment co-EP with RT Features’ Rodrigo Teixeira.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Patricia Heaton (The Middle) is set to produce a project in the works atStoried Media Group based on a series of articles in the Miami Herald that exposed Jeffrey Epstein as a child molester, reports Variety. Heaton is also starring in upcoming CBS comedy Carol’s Second Act.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Comedy Central ordered an unscripted series from stand-up comedian Phoebe Robinson and her production company, Tiny Reparations. Series will feature one-on-one interviews and experiences with pop culture stars, as the stay-at-home workaholic gets out of the house to meet people she’s admired from afar.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Food Network inked a sweet new deal with Giada De Laurentiis. The multi-year agreement consists of projects in primetime, daytime, and cross-platform including new episodes of Giada Entertains, as well as seasonal shows like Giada’s Holiday Handbook and Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge, and additional short-form video content.
(Source: Cynopsis)

NBC is rewarding midseason drama Good Girls with three more episodes for season three. That makes a total of 16 – season one included 10 episodes and season two had 13. While linear Live+SD ratings have been modest, the show, co-licensed with Netflix, got a big bump from digital viewership.
(Source: Cynopsis)

The divorce of Flip or Flop’s Christina and Tarek El Moussa hasn’t hurt HGTV. The net ordered 13 new episodes of real estate show Christina on the Coast, spotlighting Christina Anstead’s custom SoCal-inspired designs, as well as her personal journey with new husband Ant Anstead, their blended family and their first baby together. The series’ first season helped HGTV rank as the #2 cable net in the Thursday 9-9:30p timeslot during its run; new episodes are slated to premiere in early 2020.
(Source: Cynopsis)

NBC has welcomed the 2019-20 classes of its scripted directing initiatives, Female Forward and the Emerging Director Program. The initiatives aim to increase representation of female and ethnically diverse directors by creating a pipeline into scripted television. The new class of Female Forward directors and the NBC series they will helm are Kris Lefcoe (Superstore), Brenna Malloy (Chicago Fire), SJ Main Muñoz (Chicago Med), Kim Nguyen (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Sara Zandieh (Good Girls). The class for this year’s Emerging Director Program are Mahesh Pailoor (The Blacklist) and Dinh Thai (New Amsterdam).
(Source: Cynopsis)

The paranormal investigators that started it all –Ghost Hunters trio Jason Hawes, Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango – are back in a new series, Travel Channel’s Ghost Nation, premiering Friday, October 11 at 9p. Each episode helps people dealing with harrowing hauntings.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Netflix’s The Spy launches Friday, September 6. Limited series starring Sacha Baron Cohen (Who Is America?) is inspired by the story of Mossad agent Eli Cohen.
(Source: Cynopsis)
 
Coming up on Fuse this fall: Soundcheck to Stage With Rich The Kid (Monday, September 2 at 11p), offering fans an inside look at pre-show rituals and intimate backstage moments; season five of Complex x Fuse (Wednesday, October 2 at 11p); The Read with Kid Fury and Crissle West (Friday, October 11p), inspired by the podcast, followed by poetry competition Don’t Be Nice at 11:30p; and unscripted cooking series Made From Scratch (Tuesday, October 15 at 11p).
(Source: Cynopsis)

Comedy Central’s Crank Yankers is back for season five on Wednesday, September 25 at 10:30p, after the season 23 premiere of South Park.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Add Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Lil Nas X and Lizzo to the list of performers taking the stage at the 2019 VMAs, airing live from Newark on Monday, August 26 at 8p.
(Source: Cynopsis)

TV One is airing The African Pride Gospel Superfest on Sunday, August 25 at 7p, followed by an encore presentation at 8p. The 19th annual event will bring together gospel recording artists and celebrities for a celebration of urban gospel.
(Source: Cynopsis)

The Paley Center for Media will present the third program in the James P. Jimirro Media Impact Series, “Media Bias: Fact or Fiction?” on Tuesday, September 17 at 6:30p at the Paley Center’s New York location.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Eruptions and disruptions are the focus of two Smithsonian Channel specials. Volcanoes: Dual Destruction, featuring eyewitness reports and home footage taken on the ground while the tragedies were unfolding, premieres Sunday, September 8 at 9p. One week later, hour-long doc Islands of Fire visits the volcanic islands along the mid-Atlantic ridge, also at 9p.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Gary Owen is back for his fourth Showtime comedy special, Gary Owen: #DoinWhatIDo, premiering Saturday, September 7 at 10:30p. In the hour-long special, Owen recounts stories including his early days as a wrestler and his 20-year friendship with Kevin Hart.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Nat Geo WILD special event Kingdom of the White Wolf debuts Sunday, August 25 at 8p, as explorer Ronan Donovan journeys to the Arctic to showcase wolves in their natural habitat.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Elizabeth Perkins is lined up for Fox’s holiday event series, A Moody Christmas, starring Denis Leary…Tiffany Lonsdale (Ascension) joins the season three cast of Freeform mermaid drama Siren…Kyle Chandler reunites with his Catch-22 co-star George Clooney in Netflix’s untitled post-apocalyptic film, which features Clooney as director, producer and star…Joe Holt (The Punisher) will recur in the third series in AMC’s The Walking Deadfranchise…Katrina Law (The Oath) landed a series regular role in season ten of CBS’s Hawaii Five-0.
(Source: Cynopsis)

HGTV’s Flip or Flop, starring the aforementioned Christina Anstead and Tarek El Moussa, delivered during its second outing on Thursday, August 8. The episode drew a 1.03 Live+3 rating among P25-54, a 49% increase in the demo for the timeslot over the prior six weeks, over 3.5 million total viewers, and a 1.37 Live+3 rating among W25-54, a 54% increase in the demo.
(Source: Cynopsis)

The premiere of Telemundo’s El Final del Paraíso ranked as the #1 primetime drama series in America last night among younger viewers, according to Nielsen, averaging648,000 viewers A18-49, 309,000 among A18-34, and over 1.3 million  total viewers.
(Source: Cynopsis)

The season finale of WE tv’s Life After Lockup delivered nearly 1.3 million total viewers in Live+3 Nielsens on August 9, growing its ratings from premiere to finale up to 21% across key demos and total viewers.
(Source: Cynopsis)