FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (THURSDAY 12/23/21)
COOKING CHANNEL: Back in Time for Dinner (Premiere) at 10pm
HULU/ PEACOCK: Dragons: The Nine Realms (Premiere)
NETFLIX: Elite Short Stories: Patrick (Premiere)
PEACOCK: Babble Bop! (Premiere)
PEACOCK: Vigil (Premiere)
FOOD NETWORK: Christmas Cookie Challenge (Premiere) at 9pm
Discovery Inc. is one step closer to closing its deal to acquire WarnerMedia – the European Commission has granted unconditional antitrust clearance of the proposed acquisition. “Approval from the European Commission is a key milestone toward completing our proposed transaction with AT&T,” said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery, and the future CEO of the combined company. Discovery currently anticipates the closing of the WarnerMedia transaction to occur in mid-2022, subject to approval by Discovery stockholders and additional customary closing conditions, including other regulatory approvals.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Nielsen has informed clients that since September 2020 it has undercounted out-of-home audiences for national TV programming. Citing a software issue, the measurement company said it will release corrected estimates starting in mid-January. “As part of routine testing and quality controls, we recently identified an error that caused an understatement of reported out-of-home audiences for our National TV service,” said Nielsen. “While there is no impact to most telecasts, and no impact to local television, we did find some variances for events that tend to yield larger out-of-home audiences, such as live sporting events. The error has been corrected and Nielsen will be reissuing data from January 2021 to present in order to provide the industry with the most complete data.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Value for money and content are the top determining factors for subscribers of streaming services, but the ability of both to drive growth for platforms is waning, according to an analysis by Kantar’s Entertainment on Demand service. Price plays a big role in cancelling for those who were dissatisfied with value for money, but dissatisfaction with value is also driven by content. Other findings include:
· Apple TV+ is more reliant on specific content bringing in new subscribers, accounting for nearly 1 in 3 new subscriptions Q3 ‘21.
· Netflix brings in the most subscribers because of its value and ease of use, but overall content drivers are more important for Netflix than total streaming.
· Free trials remain the most common touchpoint to signing up for a new video streaming subscription, but this touchpoint is losing share.
Nia Long (The Best Man”) has joined ABC limited docuseries “Let the World See,” following Mamie Till-Mobley’s quest for justice after her son Emmett Till’s murder. Long will read excerpts from Till-Mobley’s memoir Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime that Changed America. The series premieres Thursday, January 6 at 10p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Fox has canceled its NYC-set New Year’s Eve special “Fox’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2022” amid the Covid-19 surge. “The recent velocity of the spread of Omicron cases has made it impossible to produce a live special in Times Square that meets our standards,” said a Fox spokesperson. “We will not be moving forward with ‘Fox’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2022’ in New York. The health and safety of our casts and crews has always been, and will continue to be, of the utmost importance.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Covid-19 is also having an impact on CES, scheduled to take place in-person in Las Vegas January 5-8. Amazon, Twitter, Meta and Pinterest are among the companies that have canceled their in-person presence at the tech conference due to health concerns, and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert is no longer scheduled to deliver a keynote address. “Thousands of entrepreneurs, businesses, media and buyers are planning to come to Las Vegas. Top leaders from federal and state and foreign governments are attending,” said CES in a statement. “And, we have received several thousand new registrants since late last week.” Safety measures including vaccine mandates and testing requirements will be implemented for the event, and there will be an online component for those not in attendance.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The National Hockey League confirmed it will sit out the Beijing Olympics amid rising Covid-19 infection rates. The NHL, which has already had to postpone dozens of games, is pausing early for Christmas and plans to fill the Olympic weeks in February with rescheduled games.
(Source: Cynopsis)
A Hollywood red carpet premiere event for Disney+ series “The Book of Boba Fett” will now celebrate the season finale date. Originally slated to take place January 4 at the El Capitan Theatre, the carpet will be rolled out February 8 instead due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Season five of “Snowfall” drops on FX Wednesday, February 23 at 10p. The drama was FX’s most-watched series across linear and streaming in 2021.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Also set to return to FX is “Atlanta” – finally. After a three-year break, the 10-episode third season kicks off Thursday, March 24 at 10p, with a storyline centered on Europe.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Crackle original series “Men of West Hollywood,” following a “polarizing” group of six male socialites, premieres Thursday, January 20.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Carole King & James Taylor: Just Call Out My Name” premieres on CNN Sunday, January 2 at 9p. The special covers the musicians’ 2010 concert tour, and includes songs that they first performed together in 1970 at LA’s The Troubadour.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Reelz’ January lineup begins Friday, January 7 with four back-to-back episodes of the original “Cops” starting at 4p. New “The Friends Speak” episodes launch Saturday, January 8 at 8p, with Kevin McConnell describing being first on the scene of the horrific 2013 drunk driving crash caused by Ethan Couch.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“2021: A Year of Extremes” focuses on the extreme weather events of the past year, and how climate change played a role. The AccuWeather special premieres Thursday, December 30 at 10p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Facebook came out victorious in an investor lawsuit accusing the company of allowing outside companies, including Cambridge Analytica, to obtain personal information from users. A US District Court judge ruled that even if the allegations were true, they wouldn’t support a finding that Facebook engaged in securities fraud.
(Source: Cynopsis)
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