FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (MONDAY 4/29/24)
ACORN TV: The Brokenwood Mysteries (Premiere) at 8pm
ABC: The Interrogation Tapes: A Special Edition of 20/20 (Finale) at 10pm
ID: Lethally Blonde (Finale) at 10pm
Bob Bakish, CEO of Paramount Global, is expected to step down as early as today. The company is in exclusive acquisition talks with Skydance Media, a merger Bakish has opposed, according to CNBC. Should those talks fail, the company is still expected to change hands, with Sony Pictures and Apollo Global Management ready to swoop in with an offer next week. Bakish, who has served as CEO since 2016 and worked at Paramount/Viacom since 1997, has reportedly lost the support of the company’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, as Paramount Global shares the industry-wide struggle with its streaming business and seen its stock sink.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Saturday Night Live” star Colin Jost hosted the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington April 27 to mainly positive reviews. Jost, known for hosting SNL’s “Weekend Update” fake news segment, offered a stream of jokes about President Joe Biden’s age, opponent Donald Trump’s sleepiness and media bias on the left and right, but ended on a positive note. Jost closed with an anecdote about his 95-year-old grandfather, a veteran Staten Island fireman who voted for Democrat in the 2020 election in a heavily Republican town. “He voted for decency and decency is why we’re all here tonight,” Jost said.
(Source: Cynopsis)
G/O Media sold satirical newspaper and website The Onion to Global Tetrahedron, a group led by former Twilio co-founder and CEO Jeff Lawson and ex-NBC News reporter Ben Collins, for an undisclosed sum. G/O Media has owned the publication since 2019. Global Tetrahedron is the name of a fictional company in a 1999 book by Onion staffers – “Our Dumb Century.” Collins will be CEO of the paper, and the new owners have vowed to keep The Onion staff intact as well as its headquarters in Chicago.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CNN anchor Poppy Harlow has left the network, two years after she was picked to co-anchor a morning show that former chief Chris Licht had hoped would compete with NBC’s “Today” and Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends,” but instead cratered in the ratings. According to reports, in a memo to her CNN colleagues, Harlow said the network “has been wonderful and have given me the space to make this decision.” The decision to leave was Harlow’s, as CNN had reportedly been working on creating a new role for the veteran journalist.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS has canceled “NCIS” spinoff “NCIS: Hawai’i” after three seasons.The season finale, which was slated for May 6, will now be the series finale. “NCIS: Hawai’i was the fourth in the franchise and is the third to end – “NCIS: New Orleans” was canceled in May 2021 after seven seasons years and “NCIS: Los Angeles” got the axe in May 2023 after 14 seasons.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Coca-Cola, Tiffany & Co., Samsung and Walmart are the top brands in music artist endorsements, according to SponsorUnited’s “Brands & Top Music Artists 2023-24” report. Coca-Cola led with 10 deals, focusing on concert tour sponsorships and collaborations with emerging talent at Coke Studios. Tiffany & Co., was a close second with nine deals, naming high-profile brand ambassadors such as Pharrell and K-Pop stars Zico and Snowman. Both Samsung and Walmart had eight deals each. Artists in the Pop, R&B and Latin genres represented 79% of the total growth in music endorsements. Taylor Swift gained nearly 46 million followers in the last year, and the success of her “Eras Tour” and new album helped her to leverage strategic partnerships with major brands like Disney Plus, Marriott Bonvoy and Capital One.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Black Public Media awarded a total of $610,000 to film and immersive projects and creatives at its seventh PitchBLACK Forum at the PitchBLACK Awards, the highest amount ever awarded at the event. Sponsored by Netflix and PBS, the event — held at The Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center — was hosted by Baltimore-based comedian Sir Alex and included the presentation of the BPM Trailblazer Award to Emmy-winning filmmaker Sam Pollard. Documentary “Zenón,” about the life of Puerto Rican fisherman and revolutionary Carlos “Taso” Zenón, won the $150,000 film award, while the $50,000 immersive project award went to “Image Frequency Modulation,” an interactive memory broadcasting station. “The Museum of Black Joy: Ring Shouts, Rituals & Rising Signs” received a $25,000 immersive project award.
(Source: Cynopsis)
HGTV has ordered a new 10-episode season of “Renovation Aloha,”starring married home renovators Tristyn and Kamohai Kalama. The series, which attracted more than 13.9 million viewers to its freshman run, will once again follow the Kalamas and their large extended family as they transform the most dilapidated properties on the island of Oʻahu into beautiful family homes. The new season is slated to premiere in 2025.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele has joined the cast of the DailyWire+animated sitcom, “Mr. Birchum.” Steele joins a previously announced lineup of voice talent including fellow media personalities Megan Kelly and Brett Cooper. Steele will play Deena, who is married to Mr. Birchum’s best friend Gage. The series premieres May 12 and stars Adam Carolla and Roseanne Barr, Danny Trejo, Rob Riggle, Patrick Warburton, Tyler Fischer, Alonzo Bodden, Kyle Dunnigan, and Jay Mohr.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Family Entertainment Television will premiere classic Western TV show“The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, on April 29 at 1p. To celebrate the launch, FETV will conduct a special trivia event – “Life or Legend” – through May 5, featuring true or false statements posed both on-air and on FETV’s Instagram account, where viewers can answer in real time.
(Source: Cynopsis)
TV personality, producer, actress and entrepreneur Maria Menounos will launch her new airport magazine style talk series, “Maria: Discover More,” on ReachTV, which is available daily to 50 million travelers across the network’s screens at 2,400 airport gates, 750 venues at 90 airports, and 500,000 hotel rooms. Created by producer Keven Undergaro, the series will cover travel, wellness, DIY, beauty, cooking, fashion, finance and entertainment. Menounos also will produce and host “Maria at the Airport Trivia” on ReachTV, a game show designed for families to play along while waiting for flights.
(Source: Cynopsis)
An original prequel to classic horror film “Rosemary’s Baby” – “Apartment 7A” – starring Julia Garner and directed by Natalie Erika James, will premiere this fall exclusively on Paramount+ in Canada, the US and in select international markets. Set in 1965 New York City, the film explores what happened in the apartment before Rosemary moved in. The film also stars Dianne Wiest, Jim Sturgess and Kevin McNally.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The Impact Network will air the 5th Annual Pink Awards, a tribute to breast cancer survivors and supporters, on April 30 at 8p. The event is hosted by Malik Yoba (BET’s “First Wives Club”) and Carl Anthony Payne (“Martin”) and was taped in Atlanta.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Marla Adams, best known for her role as Dina Abbott Mergeron in the CBS daytime drama “The Young and the Restless,” died Thursday. She was 85 years old. Adams played the role of the Abbott family matriarch for 37 years and received the Daytime Emmy for her work on the show in 2021.
(Source: Cynopsis)
POWERBALL
Today’s Jackpot is $164 million.
Powerball is played in 43 states.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
Challengers – $15 million
Unsung Hero – $7.7 million
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire – $7.2 million
Civil War – $7 million
Abigail – $5.2 million
(Source: Box Office Mojo)
Keely's Korner 