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NFL Denies Speculation About ‘Thursday Night Football’ Ending Amid Ratings Slump
2 hours ago
The NFL is looking to throw cold water on speculation that the “Thursday Night Football” TV franchise could end or be significantly pared down after the 2017-18 season.
The league on Monday issued a statement denying any such plans, following a report Sunday on NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk website.
“We are fully committed to ‘Thursday Night Football’ and any reports to the contrary are unfounded,” the NFL said in a statement.
The speculation about “Thursday Night Football” have a short run on broadcast TV comes as the NFL is grappling with significant ratings declines for its primetime showcases on NBC, Espn and for the “Thursday Night Football” games shared as of this season by CBS and NBC. The Thursday games air simultaneous on the NFL Network and on Twitter.
The league’s NFL Network cabler relies on the Thursday as the leverage to demand carriage by MVPDs. But there’s much been talk this season about »
- Variety Staff
At&T Entertainment Boss: DirecTV Now Doesn’t Need CBS to Succeed
4 hours ago
As expected, At&T debuted its DirecTV Now over-the-top suite of services without an agreement in place for CBS, the biggest programmer absent from the lineup.
John Stankey, CEO of At&T Entertainment Group, said negotiations continue with CBS to add its broadcast programming to DirecTV Now, as well as premium cable network Showtime. But he said he doesn’t see the lack of CBS as a major roadblock to the service’s uptake.
“When you look at the demographic we’re going after… there is not going to be one single network that is the reason (consumers) won’t subscribe,” he said in an interview. “Whether they can get CBS primetime shows is not going to be a determining factor.”
Whether or not that’s true, Stankey is clearly signaling a take-it-over-leave-it position to CBS, as the companies continue to work toward an agreement for DirecTV Now.
There are other gaps in DirecTV Now’s programming »
- Todd Spangler
TV News Roundup: ‘Big Little Lies’ Gets HBO Premiere Date, ‘Bones’ and ‘Rosewood’ Crossover to Air Dec. 1
5 hours ago
In today’s TV news roundup, “Bones” meets “Rosewood” in a new crossover episode, Dolly Parton will perform on Tuesday’s “The Voice,” and more.
Specials
Fresh off their popular lampoons of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live,” Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon will be on hand to light the 94-foot tall tree in Rockefeller Plaza for NBC‘s annual “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” special. This year’s show is set to air live Wednesday, Nov. 30, and will be hosted by “Today” anchors Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, and Hoda Kotb. “The Tonight Show” house band The Roots will attend and perform two songs, one of which will feature Anthony Hamilton & the HamilTones.
Dates
“Big Little Lies,” HBO‘s upcoming limited series based on Liane Moriarty’s bestselling book, will premiere on Sunday, Feb. 19. The series is described as a subversive, darkly comedic drama which tells the story of three mothers of first-graders »
- Will Thorne
Jim Parsons Developing CBS Comedy With Alex McAulay, Todd Spiewak (Exclusive)
5 hours ago
Jim Parsons is adding yet another project to his growing development slate.
“The Big Bang Theory” star is executive producing “Lance 2.0,” a single-camera comedy from writer Alex McAulay, Variety has learned exclusively. The series centers around a young couple that deals with the aftermath when the boyfriend has an accident that changes his personality and causes him to lose his impulse control.
McAulay penned the pilot and will serve as co-executive producer, working alongside Parsons who is exec producing with Todd Spiewak. Eric Norsoph, head of development and production for Parsons’ shingle, That’s Wonderful, will oversee the project for the company. Warner Bros. Television is the studio.
“Lance 2.0” marks Parsons’ latest project to sell this development season, beefing up his producing resume. He’s also attached as an executive producer to “Lakeside Va,” a hospital comedy at ABC, “The Terranauts” at the CW, “The Monarchy Is Going to Sh*t” at Freeform, plus »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
At&T Unveils DirecTV Now and Sets Channel Pacts With Taylor Swift, Reese Witherspoon
6 hours ago
At&T unveiled pricing plans for its DirecTV Now streaming service, set to launch Nov. 30, bringing the satcaster into the burgeoning business of offering internet-delivered TV packages for less than traditional cable or satellite services.
The telco also announced it has set separate streaming channel pacts with music superstar Taylor Swift and actress Reese Witherspoon, to offer exclusive content on DirecTV Now from each.
At&T Entertainment Group CEO John Stankey billed DirecTV Now as “rules-free TV” for consumers who are cost-conscious and want the flexibility to stream channels across various devices.
The DirecTV Now pricing plans range from $35 a month for a collection of 60-plus channels, $50 a month for 80-plus channels, $60 a month for 100-plus channels, and top out at $70 a month for 120-plus channels. In addition, in a special limited-time offer, DirecTV Now subs can sign up for the 100-channel bundle for $35 per month.
And, in what is sure to be an introductory discounted price »
- Todd Spangler
MTV Original Programming Head Michael Klein Departs After 6 Months
7 hours ago
Michael Klein is departing his post as head of original programming for MTV, Variety has confirmed.
Klein leaves the cable channel just six months into his tenure there. His exit comes on the heels of the departure of MTV president Sean Atkins, who was replaced last month by VH1 and Logo chief Chris McCarthy.
One of the first major executive hires made by Atkins, Klein was announced as MTV’s new originals head in March, but did not officially start in the role until two months later. He was recruited to the Viacom-owned cable channel following stints at Conde Nast Entertainment, Sundance Channel and TLC, and reported directly to Atkins. Klein’s credits included “Vanity Fair Confidential” for Investigation Discovery and “Man v. Food” for Travel Channel. He had most recently serves as Conde Nast Entertainment’s executive VP of programming and content strategy, digital channels.
Atkins was ousted from MTV in October, just »
- Daniel Holloway
Molly Shannon Reveals Origin of Iconic ‘SNL’ Character Mary Katherine Gallagher
8 hours ago
Molly Shannon created her iconic nerdy, Catholic school girl character Mary Katherine Gallagher in a rehearsal for a comedy performance while she was at Nyu drama school.
In her Variety “Actors on Actors” sit-down with Emma Stone, Shannon discussed her drama school days, where she performed with future fellow “SNL” cast member Adam Sandler.
“It was in the Black Box Theater at like 10 o’clock at night and it was like the comedy show, and I created Mary Katherine Gallagher in an exercise for rehearsals for that show,” Shannon said. “So we walk through the door and make up a character, [we] don’t think about it, so I walked through the door and was like, ‘Hi, I’m Mary Katherine Gallagher,’ and then you just improvise.”
After school, Shannon went on to create a popular comedy show with a friend of hers and took it to the West Coast.
“My stage show — where I did characters like »
- Will Thorne
Larry Wilmore Heads to ABC Studios for Overall Deal
8 hours ago
Larry Wilmore is turning his focus back to behind the camera.
The writer, producer and comedian has inked an overall deal with ABC Studios, marking his first major move since his late-night series “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” was cancelled by Comedy Central.
Under his new multi-year pact, Wilmore will develop his own projects, plus supervise others and work with ABC Studios executives to target talent for the studio.
Aside from hosting “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore,” he co-created HBO’s “Insecure,” which was recently renewed for a second season. A comedy vet, he created “The Bernie Mac Show” and “The P.J.’s.” The deal with ABC Studios marks a longtime reunion for Wilmore and the ABC company, as one of his first writing gigs was on “Sister, Sister.” He’s also an executive producer on ABC’s hit sitcom “Black-ish.”
“I’m excited beyond words to be back at ABC and look forward »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
HBO Launches in Spain, Adds Content From Disney, Nickelodeon
8 hours ago
Madrid – HBO España, HBO’s video streaming service for Spain, launched on Monday, offering not only its most popular shows such as “Game of Thrones” but also content from renowned providers such as Disney and Nickelodeon.
The HBO content in Spain, which includes completed seasons of original HBO productions, is available on site hboespaña.com and via Vodafone TV, the dedicated TV service by Vodafone, under the exclusive carriage deal inked by HBO with the Spanish telco last May.
Subscription to HBO España will cost €7.99 ($8.45) per month in Spain, with a one-month free trial for new subscribers. The new Svod service will include dubbed and subtitled content. Each subscriber can register five different devices.
Telefonica’s Movistar Plus, Netflix and Rakuten’s Wuaki TV already operate in Spain’s still-fledgling Svod market.
According to HBO, HBO España will offer a large number of titles released simultaneously with their debut in the U.S »
- Emiliano De Pablos
Taraji P. Henson Says Cookie and Social Media Have ‘Wrecked Her Personal Life’
8 hours ago
Taraji P. Henson’s life hasn’t been the same since Cookie.
The “Empire” actress discussed how the character has wrecked her personal life in a one-on-one interview with Ryan Reynolds as part of Variety’s “Actors on Actors.”
“You’re walking down the street and they’re just like, ‘Hey Cookie’ — maybe I didn’t want the world to see how I looked today, maybe I wore these sweats yesterday,” Henson said. “It was fine until Cookie came, I was okay under the radar, I could go to Target. I never saw that coming. I go from this normal life to having to find a house on a private gated road, it’s crazy.”
Henson, who also stars in the upcoming movie “Hidden Figures,” said she has tried disguising herself using wigs and sunglasses, but nothing has stopped the Cookie-crazy fans from finding her.
In the interview, she also talked with Reynolds about the impact of »
- Will Thorne
‘Quantico’ Moving to Mondays, Takes ‘Conviction’ Slot
8 hours ago
ABC’s counterterrorism drama “Quantico” is heading to Mondays starting Jan. 23, Variety has confirmed. The Priyanka Chopra-starrer will take the 10 p.m. slot that is currently home to the underperforming “Conviction.”
The “Quantico” writers tweeted out the news Sunday night after the conclusion of the mid-season finale.
We will see your faces on Monday nights at 10pm starting January 23rd. New night. More intense than ever. #quantico.
— Quan2co Writers Room (@QuanticoWriters) November 28, 2016
The move away from Sunday isn’t unexpected. What was once a promising night for ABC has taken a turn for the worse this season, with “Once Upon a Time” falling well below its prior season average, and “Secrets and Lies” and “Quantico” attracting under 1% of TV watchers in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic in Nielsen’s live-plus-same day ratings. “Quantico” was an initial bright spot last season in ratings of all stripes — live, delayed, and those C3 ratings that matter to advertisers — but »
- Oriana Schwindt
Ronan Farrow Hones Second Act for NBC News
9 hours ago
Ronan Farrow has moved from hosting a daytime program on MSNBC to chasing after nuclear vapors in Washington state.
In a report slated to air on NBC’s “Today” tomorrow morning, Farrow will take viewers inside the Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington, a facility with a record of providing lackluster safety for the workers who toil there each day. “They’ve got multiple Olympic-size swimming pools full of the deadliest, the most toxic” material, said Farrow during a recent interview. “There are serious safety problems.” He believes he is one of the first national reporters to gain access to the facility as well as get reaction from the U.S. Department of Energy, which supervises the site.
The assignment finds Farrow trying to shine a light on topics like the ones he talked about on “Ronan Farrow Daily,” an MSNBC experiment that gave an hour a day to an exceedingly bright host who had to master »
- Brian Steinberg
‘Sherlock’ Creators, Michael Palin to Attend New U.K. Television Festival
10 hours ago
The British Film Institute and Radio Times, one of the U.K.’s leading TV listings magazines, have teamed up to create the BFI and Radio Times Television Festival. The event, set to be the largest public television festival in the U.K., will take place April 7- 9 at BFI Southbank.
The festival will have more than 30 events, including talks with some of the biggest names in British broadcasting; exclusive U.K. and international previews; rare archive screenings; book signings; family programming; and a “fiendishly tricky” TV quiz.
The festival’s line-up includes appearances from British TV stars such as Monty Python’s Michael Palin, “Sherlock” creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, and “The Durrells” actress Keeley Hawes, as well as a tribute to comedy actress Victoria Wood with guests including Julie Walters.
There will be premieres of the new season of “The Durrells,” and an exclusive look at new Sky series “Guerrilla,” starring »
- Leo Barraclough
TV Review: ‘Incorporated’ on Syfy
10 hours ago
“Incorporated” is an energetic and watchable science-fiction thriller that posits that a climate apocalypse will be followed by a swift division of survivors into haves and have-nots — all by the year 2074. Right now, that date feels like a somewhat optimistic estimate.
Science fiction has always reflected the insecurities and paranoias of a given era, and on TV at the moment, there’s an entire subgenre that explores what could be called the corporate-disaster scenario. “The Expanse,” “Continuum,” “Colony,” “Dark Matter,” and “Killjoys” are among the shows that predict a future in which the remnants of humanity will live under the merciless and well-manicured hand of a white-collar ruling class that is desperate to avoid winding up in the slums most people inhabit. Come to think of it, a lot of these Fortune 500 post-apocalyptic scenarios play out on NBCUniversal networks: Do execs there know something about the future they’re not sharing?
“Incorporated »
- Maureen Ryan
Luke Evans, Daniel Brühl to Lead TNT’s ‘The Alienist’
10 hours ago
TNT’s upcoming Gilded Age crime drama “The Alienist” has enlisted Luke Evans (“The Hobbit,” Disney’s live action “Beauty and the Beast”) and Daniel Brühl (“Inglourious Basterds”) in its lead roles, Variety has learned.
Brühl will play the titular alienist — a doctor who studies deviant behaviors — Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, whose efforts to understand what turns a man into a murderer may help shed some light on his own trauma. Evans will play John Moore, a melancholy illustrator for the New York Times who finds himself dragged into his friend Laszlo’s work. Set in 1896 New York, Laszlo and John are enlisted by newly appointed NYPD commissioner Teddy Roosevelt to investigate a series of murders of boy prostitutes. A crew of other social outcasts, including Roosevelt’s female secretary, join Laszlo and John to help catch one of New York’s first serial killers.
Aside from “Inglourious Basterds,” Brühl is mostly known Stateside for his roles in »
- Oriana Schwindt
Food Network to Reboot ‘Iron Chef America’ Franchise (Exclusive)
10 hours ago
Food Network is heading back to Kitchen Stadium. The cabler plans to reboot its “Iron Chef America” franchise with a fresh incarnation dubbed “Iron Chef Gauntlet.”
The cooking competition will be hosted once again by Food Network regular Alton Brown, who gained fame through his “color commentary” reporting on “Iron Chef.” “Gauntlet” is expected to begin production early next year for a second-quarter premiere. Details of the new format are thin other than it promises to offer some new twists on the cooking-showdown format.
The original “Iron Chef” aired for 12 seasons on Food Network and helped burnish the credentials of such foodie TV stars as Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto, Michael Symon, Marc Forgione, Geoffrey Zakarian and Alex Guarnaschelli. The competition pits one notable chef each season to face a series of challengers in a bid earn or retain the title of “Iron Chef.”
“Gauntlet” is produced by Triage Entertainment in conjunction with Food Network. It »
- Cynthia Littleton
CBS Sets Big Football Launch Platform for Reality Series ‘Hunted’
11 hours ago
CBS is devoting one of its strongest launch platforms to the reality series “Hunted,” which will debut Jan. 22 on the heels of the NFL’s Afc championship game.
The series has been a high priority for CBS Entertainment president Glenn Geller. “Hunted” marks the first unscripted series he ordered after his promotion to head of entertainment programming in September 2015.
“Hunted” is also a big bet for Endemol Shine North America, which like CBS is in need of a new reality franchise. The company has been in the midst of an executive shuffle at the top, with co-ceo Charlie Corwin leaving the company earlier this month and Cris Abrego assuming the reins as solo CEO.
Based on a U.K. format, “Hunted” sends teams of ordinary people off on a mission to evade capture by an elite team of investigators. Teams that can stay underground for 28 days earn a grand prize of $250,000. Laura Fuest Silva, Brian Catalina »
- Cynthia Littleton
TV Ratings: ‘Sunday Night Football’ Wins the Night, Drops Slightly From Week 11
11 hours ago
Another Sunday night, another dip in NFL primetime ratings. In Nielsen’s metered market overnights, Sunday’s overtime defeat of the Denver Broncos by the Kansas City Chiefs drew an 11.8 household rating for the duration (roughly 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on the East Coast) on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.” While that’s an increase from the last time each team appeared on “Snf,” it is down a tenth from the week before, and an unpleasant 37% below the household rating for 2015’s Week 12 “Snf” game, which notched an unseemly 16.2 in the overnights.
Part of that steep decrease may simply be due to the fact that Week 12 in 2015 featured an overtime nail-biter between the Broncos and the undefeated New England Patriots. Given that 2015 was a boom year for NFL ratings, it might be helpful to look a little further into the past. The 2014 equivalent was a Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants contest that drew a 14.0 household »
- Oriana Schwindt
‘Westworld’ Recap: Fail Safe
21 hours ago
Do not read on unless you’ve seen “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” the ninth episode of the first season of HBO’s “Westworld.”
There are almost as many “Westworld” fan theories as there are hosts in the park, but no doubt a some ideas and conjectures are falling by the wayside as the end of the first season approaches and the drama begins to lay its cards on the table.
In “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” a few major facts were established. First and foremost, Bernard’s artificial existence was revealed to be an homage of sorts to one of the park’s founders. Ford created Bernard to be a replacement for Ford’s creative partner, Arnold. All things considered, Arnold would probably rather be alive than be “reborn” in robot form, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned conclusively this season, it’s that Robert Ford does not play well with others.
(Speaking »
- Maureen Ryan
‘Walking Dead’ Recap: Another New Community, Another Threat (Spoilers)
27 November 2016 7:10 PM, PST
Spoiler alert: Do not read until you’ve watched episode 6 of season 7 of “The Walking Dead,” titled “Swear.”
“The Walking Dead” has often been at its strongest when it breaks up the core group of survivors and follows them a few at a time. But as the seventh season nears its midway point, that formula is wearing thin. Rather than allowing the show to tell a greater variety of stories, the episodes following the aftermath of Negan’s bloody campfire circle have essentially told the same story over and over again. In “Swear,” we are again introduced to a new kind of post-apocalyptic community, and again shown how that community has dealt with the threat posed by the Saviors, which—surprise—is not especially different from the way the ones we’ve already seen have. Turns out when you’re confronted with an army of murderous thugs, there aren’t that many different ways to react.
At »
- Sam Adams
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