FIRST LOOK
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ON TELEVISION (WEDNESDAY 1/29/25)
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CNN anchor Jim Acosta is stepping down, a decision he announced at the close of his morning show on Tuesday. Acosta, known for taking a tough line with President Trump during Trump’s first term, was informed earlier this month that his show was being moved to midnight as part of a shift in the network’s lineup. “I’m grateful to CNN for the nearly 18 years I’ve spent here doing the news,” said Acosta. “People often ask me if the highlight of my career at CNN was at the White House, covering Donald Trump. Actually, no, that moment came here when I covered President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba in 2016 and had the chance to question the dictator there, Raul Castro, about the island’s political prisoners. As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home this lesson — it is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Let’s get personal: Meta is rolling out a feature that lets Meta AI remember certain details that users share with it in 1:1 chats across WhatsApp and Messenger. The company is also rolling out a greater level of personalization for Meta AI on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. “Let’s say you’re looking for something fun to do with your family this weekend and you ask Meta AI to suggest something,” said Meta in a blog post. “Based on the home location you’ve listed as part of your Facebook profile, recent views of reels featuring live performances by various country artists and its memory that you have a partner and two young kids, Meta AI might suggest tickets for that weekend’s country music show at your local arena and reservations at a local brunch spot.” Meta AI will only remember certain things users tell it in 1:1 conversations, not group chats, and its memories can be deleted at any time, according to Meta.
(Source: Cynopsis)
ABC News members of the Writers Guild of America East have ratified a new contract that covers the potential use of generative AI. “Now more than ever, we need journalists who can report and present the news while they are protected in their workplace,” said WGAE President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen. “A union contract is the only thing that ensures that protection. Our members and staff fought hard for this contract, and they deserve everything they won.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Max is tackling the content discovery problem with the phase-in of an updated navigation menu, relocating the Home, Series, Movies, HBO, B/R Sports, and CNN Max content lenses from the top of the page into the left side utility menu, which already includes Search and My Stuff functionalities, Settings, and Profiles. The update also introduces “What’s New,” a new navigation page showcasing content that has recently arrived on the platform, and “Categories,” a new pathway for users to browse titles by genre, brand, and thematic collections.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The National Comedy Center’s The Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum will be preserving the archive of writer and producer Bob Carroll, Jr., who, together with his writing partner Madelyn Pugh, made up the creative team behind “I Love Lucy” (along with producer Jess Oppenheimer). The announcement coincides with the anniversary week of Bob Carroll, Jr.’s passing in 2007, as the museum commemorates his enduring legacy in comedy.
(Source: Cynopsis)
CBS Stations held a station group-wide CBS Stations + American Red Cross Insta-Thon yesterday, a one-day complete takeover of Instagram accounts across its 14-owned markets to raise funds for wildfire relief efforts. The digital fundraiser encouraged viewers, on-air talent, and community partners to rally around a unified day of giving.
(Source: Cynopsis)
MGM+ handed an eight-episode series order to “American Classic,” a half-hour comedy series from co-creators Michael Hoffman (“Soapdish”) and Bob Martin (“Slings and Arrows”). Fifth Season is the studio, with Mar-Key Pictures, Likely Story, and Anonymous Content producing. The series, scheduled to go into production in 2025 in New Jersey, centers on a Broadway star and notorious narcissist, played by Kevin Kline, who suffers a spectacular public meltdown and returns to his hometown and the family-run theater.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Reelz announced the fourth season of live docuseries “On Patrol: Live,”produced by Half Moon Pictures, extending the show’s run through January 2026. The network also ordered 90 one-hour episodes of spin-off and “OPL” lead-in “On Patrol: First Shift.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
The Jonas Brothers are coming home to Disney with “Jonas Brothers Christmas Movie” (w/t), a holiday comedy from 20th Television slated to premiere during the 2025 holiday season on Disney+. Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (“Love, Simon”) serve as writers and producers. Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas and Nick Jonas are producers, alongside Adam Fishbach, Spencer Berman and Scott Morgan. Jessica Yu (“This Is Us”) is directing, and Justin Tranter is executive music producer, writing the original songs. The brothers starred in Disney Channel’s “Camp Rock” movies, as well as on Disney Channel, “Jonas” (2009-10).
(Source: Cynopsis)
Casting notes: Ashley Sutton (“Monsters”) has boarded the season three cast of Paramount+ with Showtime drama “Yellowjackets.”…Kate Mara (“House of Cards”) has joined Kerry Washington and Elisabeth Moss in Apple TV+’s “Imperfect Women.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
True crime series “How I Escaped My Cult,” from Texas Crew Productions and Spring Theory and narrated by Tamron Hall, follows the harrowing journeys of cult survivors starting Thursday, February 20 on Freeform.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The seventh and final season of ABC’s “The Conners” premieres Wednesday, March 26 at 8p. The series started as the groundbreaking comedy “Roseanne” (1988-97), which was revived in 2018, and morphed into “The Conners” later that year with the exit of Roseanne Barr.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Who wants a taste of the 22nd season of Bravo’s “Top Chef”? Brands including BMW of North America, Chipotle, Delta Air Lines, Finish Dishwasher Detergent and Additives, Josh Cellars wine, Morton Salt, Paramount Pictures, Pure Michigan, Rao’s Homemade, Saratoga® Spring Water, Talenti, Wayfair, and the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Credit Card have lined up to partake of dynamic integrations and fresh ad content in the cooking competition. The season kicks off Thursday, March 13 at 9p.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Suspense thriller “Long Bright River” premieres Thursday, March 13 on Peacock. The series, based on the Liz Moore bestseller, stars and is executive produced by Amanda Seyfried.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Fubo is teaming with the Troon Partners Network, a provider of golf and club-related hospitality services, for a marketing partnership making Fubo the Official Streaming Partner of Troon. It’s Troon’s first relationship with a streaming partner.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Adtech platform Nexxen announced advancements to its live sportsofferings as well as new partnerships with publishers. Partnerships include DSPs like FOX Sports, Fubo, DirecTV and FanDuel Sports Network, as well as programmatic advertising platform StackAdapt.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Auto entertainment network Speedvision is now streaming on MyFree DIRECTV. “Speedvision is extremely proud to be among the first networks to launch on the new MyFree DIRECTV platform, as it represents the latest in a series of significant distribution milestones since our launch two years ago,” said Robert Scanlon, President and CEO of Speedvision. “Now any car-passionate viewer with an email address can access Speedvision’s best-in-class vehicle content at no cost, wherever and whenever they want, just by downloading the DIRECTV app.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
For the fourth consecutive season, the Big East Conference will partner with the Black Fives Foundation, a nonprofit public charity dedicated to inspiring excellence in youth by preserving, teaching, and honoring the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball. This year’s theme, “Pioneers of Change,” will shine a spotlight on early African Americans who left an indelible mark on the sport.
(Source: Cynopsis)
The Kansas City Chiefs/Buffalo Bills matchup drew nearly 58 million viewers to CBS, a record for an AFC Championship game – and up 2 million from last year’s record setter. It was a different story for the NFC title game, which brought Fox 44.2 million viewers, the lowest audience since 2018.
(Source: Cynopsis)
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