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Mediaset Expresses Alarm Over Feared Vivendi Hostile Takeover Attempt
1 hour ago
Rome – Tensions between Italian broadcaster Mediaset and French media conglomerate Vivendi are escalating, with Mediaset warning of a hostile takeover attempt following an announcement by Vivendi that it now owns a 3% stake in Mediaset and intends to build that up to as much as 20%.
Vivendi’s surprise move sent the broadcaster’s shares up more than 20% to 3.44 euros ($3.65) per share in early trading Tuesday.
Mediaset says it had not been informed of Vivendi’s intentions, which were announced Monday and come as the two companies spar in court over a partnership agreement they signed in April. Vivendi essentially subsequently pulled out of that deal in July, leading Mediaset to allege breach of contract.
Vivendi’s decision to purchase Mediaset shares on the market “confirms intentions on Vivendi’s part, which Mediaset had noted on July 26, 2016, to shift from an industrial agreement to a [hostile] takeover attempt,” Mediaset said in a statement issued Monday evening.
Under »
- Nick Vivarelli
Jan Mojto’s Beta Invests in Formats Business Lineup Industries
1 hour ago
Jan Mojto’s TV distribution firm Beta Film, best known for drama series like “Gomorrah,” is ramping up its investment in non-fiction. The Munich-based outfit has taken an unspecified minority stake in Ed Louwerse and Julian Curtis’ formats sales company Lineup Industries, whose slate includes “Long Lost Family” and “The Bully Project.”
Lineup, based in Amsterdam, was founded by Louwerse and Curtis in 2014. Both are experienced international TV executives. Louwerse was most recently managing director and senior VP at Sony Pictures Television, and previously headed the international distribution division of Endemol. Curtis was responsible for formats distribution in major territories including Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and Asia Pacific at Sony Pictures Television. Previously he was at 2waytraffic, where he was tasked with building the business in Asia while based in Hong Kong.
Lineup will continue to operate independently, but will benefit from Beta’s “established position in the international media industry as it looks to further »
- Leo Barraclough
‘American Idol’ Contestant Sues Over Injury From Earpiece
10 hours ago
A contestant on “American Idol” sued the producers of the show claiming that he suffered major ear damage when an audiologist’s representative took out an earpiece he was wearing and part of his eardrum was removed.
The contestant, Michael Simeon Smith, claims that on Dec. 12, 2014, he was getting ready to perform for the show and was fitted for an earpiece in his right ear, along with silicone or molding material. He “immediately felt pain,” according to the lawsuit, and when the audiologist’s representative pulled it out, a portion of his eardrum was removed. He was then moved to another room for several hours, as blood came out of his ear.
“Plaintiff has sought medical treatment for his injuries, including right tympanoplasty,” his lawsuit stated. “Plaintiff has been unable to perform music at the same level as prior to the incident, due to the absence of much of his eardrum.”
His »
- Ted Johnson
‘Marco Polo’ Canceled By Netflix
10 hours ago
Netflix has canceled “Marco Polo,” Variety has confirmed. The Weinstein Co.-produced series streamed for two seasons on the digital service.
Originally developed at Starz, “Marco Polo” premiered in 2014, with its second season debuting earlier this year. It becomes one of only a handful of original series to be canceled by Netflix, including “Bloodline,” “Hemlock Grove,” and “Lillyhammer.”
The series starred Lorenzo Richelmy as the titular Italian explorer and Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan. It was also among the more ambitious and costly efforts in the history f the company’s original series. Season one cost a reported $90 million. Production for that first season included a construction crew of 400 and an art department of 160.
In his 2014 review of the first season for Variety, Brian Lowry wrote, “While ‘Marco Polo’ possesses scope, scale and an inordinate amount of exposed skin, the series exhibits only a sporadic pulse. That leaves a property that can be fun taken strictly on »
- Daniel Holloway
‘Duck Dynasty’ Producers Accuse ITV of Greedy Corporate Takeover
10 hours ago
“Duck Dynasty” creators Scott and Deirdre Gurney are accusing U.K. broadcaster ITV of a “greedy corporate grab,” a week after the Gurneys were forced out of their company amid fraud allegations.
The Gurneys say they will file a countersuit against ITV, accusing the firm of fabricating baseless claims in order to lower the value of the couple’s minority stake in Gurney Productions. The Gurneys are also prepared to claim that they — and not ITV — continue to have the legal right to run the company.
ITV bought 61.5% of the reality production company in 2012 for $40 million. The Gurneys retained the balance of the shares and stayed on as co-CEOs, producing dozens of shows for Discovery, Hgtv, TLC, and other cable networks.
Last week, ITV announced that the Gurneys had been suspended pending an investigation into billing fraud, and installed an interim CEO. On Friday, ITV formally fired the Gurneys and sued them, accusing »
- Gene Maddaus
TV News Roundup: Cartoon Network Sets ‘Adventure Time’ Miniseries for January
12 hours ago
In today’s TV news, Cartoon Network will premiere a special “Adventure Time” miniseries, Netflix’s “Atypical” adds another recurring player, and more.
Dates
Cartoon Network will premiere an “Adventure Time” miniseries starting Jan. 30 at 7:30/6:30c and finishing on Feb. 2. “Adventure Time: Islands” is an eight-part journey into Finn the Human’s mysterious past. The four-night special event will answer one of the series’ most-asked questions: What happened to the humans?
National Geographic‘s “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman” will return for its second season on Jan. 16 at 9/8c. Season 2 of the series, which is part travel documentary, part exploration of faith, will see host Morgan Freeman continue to meet with faith leaders, scientists, and other experts to unravel some of life’s deepest questions. The first episode will feature a 9-year-old boy in Minnesota who Tibetan monks believe is the reincarnation of a lama, a »
- Arya Roshanian
Our Staff Picks: TV Shows to Watch the Week of Dec. 12, 2016
13 hours ago
Welcome back to Tune In: our weekly newsletter, offering a guide to the best of the week’s TV.
Each week, Variety’s TV team combs through the week’s TV schedule, selecting our picks of what to watch and when/how to watch it. The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning, but before award season 2017 kicks off — and the holidays! — there’s still more TV to catch this year.
“America’s Next Top Model” season premiere, VH1, Monday, 10 p.m.
Cycle 23 struts onto the catwalk with a new host (Rita Ora is in for Tyra Banks), new judges’ panel (model Ashley Graham, celebrity stylist Law Roach and Paper Magazine’s Drew Elliott) and a new home on VH1. The format feels similar, but slight changes give the show a modernized makeover. Speaking to Variety about the new season, VH1 and MTV exec Nina Diaz said, “We felt like the fashion and the social nature of »
- Variety Staff
After Crashing Super Bowl, Frito-Lay Drives Away From Event
13 hours ago
Super Bowl viewers won’t have ads for Frito-Lay chips and snacks to munch on during Super Bowl commercial breaks in 2017.
The PepsiCo-owned maker of Doritos, Cheetos, Fritos and Sun Chips, among other salty favorites, said it would not run an ad in Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl Li in February of next year, with a spokesperson noting the gridiron classic “did not fit with our marketing plans.” The departure takes place after the company announced that Super Bowl 50 would feature its last “Crash the Super Bowl” contest. For a decade, the company solicited Doritos commercials from amateur filmmakers and put the best of them up alongside Super Bowl ad giants like Bud Lite and Coca Cola.
PepsiCo continues to be associated with the Super Bowl. Its Pepsi sponsors the event’s halftime show, which next year is slated to feature Lady Gaga. PepsiCo spent $172 million on Super Bowl advertising between 2006 and 2015, according to data from »
- Brian Steinberg
‘The Walking Dead’ Ep Gale Anne Hurd Talks Death, Negan, and the Kingdom
13 hours ago
Read no further if you haven’t seen the midseason finale for “The Walking Dead,” which aired Dec. 11.
“The Walking Dead” ended the first half of its seventh season in its usual bloody fashion — even Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) went unscathed, if you count the stubble he shaved off at the beginning of the episode, or the fact that his barbed-wire-encrusted bat, Lucille, took a bullet. “Walking Dead” executive producer Gale Anne Hurd talked to Variety about the nature of tyrants, how tough this season was for the actors, and why Spencer (Austin Nichols) had to go.
The tagline for the second half of the season, which premieres Feb. 12, is “Rise up.” Is that a “Hamilton” reference?
It’s so funny, we didn’t think of that! I saw “Hamilton” when it was at the Public, but no. The line is really inspired by the fact that now we’re on the road to rebellion against Negan »
- Oriana Schwindt
The 20 Best New TV Shows of 2016
14 hours ago
Approximately 18,450 new shows premiered in 2016. All right, I apologize, that’s an exaggeration. But it feels true, and isn’t that what matters?
In all seriousness, there were months in which it felt as though a dozen new shows were premiering every day, and it is true that there are now more than 400 scripted shows (new and returning) competing for viewers’ attention.
And yet, I can’t quite bring myself to complain about this deluge, which has brought so much thoughtful and arresting work to our screens. As I wrote in March (and in a giddy September piece as well), the half-hour arena has been particularly fertile, and that’s been an exciting development to watch during the past few years. Television still can be good at inviting viewers to engage with a mainstream-oriented, big-tent kind of program, but much of the cutting-edge creativity and excitement in the TV realm has come from those who are exploring »
- Maureen Ryan
How the Orlando Massacre Changed Reality TV’s ‘Rules’
14 hours ago
Lisa Vanderpump awoke the morning of June 12 feeling anxious.
The reality television star was set to film her Bravo show, “Vanderpump Rules,” during the Gay Pride Parade in West Hollywood. Furthermore, she owns two restaurants in the heart of the predominantly gay neighborhood: Sur (the setting of “Rules”) and Pump. It was going to be an intense day.
Then she got the news: 49 people — mostly Lgbt — were gunned down at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando hours earlier, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
She immediately got on the phone with Bill Langworthy, the “Vanderpump Rules” executive producer-showrunner. They were both afraid.
“It was pretty scary at the time,” Langworthy recalled. “We really just didn’t know what would happen.”
“I spoke with Doug Ross, the president of Evolution, the production company,” Langworthy explained. “Right from the start he said, ‘You do whatever you think is right. If you feel you want to burn that shoot »
- Lawrence Yee
‘Moonlight’ Named Top Film by African American Film Critics
14 hours ago
Coming-of-age drama “Moonlight” has won the top movie award from the African American Film Critics Association.
The A24 film also won awards for best director for Barry Jenkins and best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali. “Straight Outta Compton” won the group’s best picture award last year during an awards season that was criticized for its lack of recognition for African American actors and projects, particularly by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“Our members had a plethora of outstanding movies, documentaries, and TV shows to choose from this year,” said Aafca co-founder Shawn Edwards. “It was an exceptional year in terms of the quantity and quality of films about the black experience. And while this by no means solves the diversity issue in the film industry, it was definitely refreshing to have such a wide range of exceptional work to choose from to honor and celebrate with our approval.”
Awards »
- Dave McNary
50 Cent Threatens to Leave Starz’s ‘Power’ Over Golden Globes Snub
14 hours ago
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson put in his two cents regarding Monday’s announcement of this year’s Golden Globe Awards nominations — which didn’t include his Starz show, “Power.”
The rapper and actor slammed the Hollywood Foreign Press Association via Instagram for once again omitting “Power.” The show, which recently wrapped its third season, has never been nominated for a Golden Globe or any major award show accolade.
50 Cent, who serves as an executive producer and plays the character Kanan, had some less-than-flattering words to say regarding the snub and stated that he will be quitting the show.
“I’m on the move again, the Golden Globes can suck a d-ck,” 50 Cent posted on Instagram. “I accept my series Power was not intended to be a signature show for the network but it is the highest rated show. I know my audience very well, I’m done promoting this out side of contractual obligations. Season »
- Arya Roshanian
NBCUniversal, Dick Wolf in Talks to Transform Oxygen Into Crime-Centric Channel (Exclusive)
15 hours ago
NBCUniversal and prolific producer Dick Wolf are in discussions about turning the Oxygen cable channel into a crime-centric outlet anchored by Wolf’s Universal TV-produced drama series.
Sources cautioned that the discussions are still in the early stages and that a formal deal may not come together. It is understood that Wolf might wind up with a small equity stake in the revamped channel.
NBCUniversal declined to comment. A rep for Dick Wolf also declined comment.
The discussions are a sign that even the largest cable programmers are feeling the pressure when it comes to under-performing channel assets. Oxygen has been in a ratings slump with few buzzy series to draw attention. Oxygen already has taken steps to shift its programming focus by recently adding a “Crime-Time”-branded block of unscripted true-crime series on four days of the week, Friday-Monday, to capitalize on the growing interest in such docu fare. That »
- Cynthia Littleton
Viacom Makes It Official: Bob Bakish Named Permanent CEO
15 hours ago
Bob Bakish passed the audition process.
Viacom said Monday that it had named Bakish, who had been working as its interim chief executive, to the position on a permanent basis, offering a new direction for the troubled media company, which has seen its stock price slide as its MTV network and Paramount movie studio have underperformed.
Bakish’s role has become more solid in the wake of a decision by Viacom’s controlling shareholder, National Amusements Inc., to discontinue an exploration of combining the company with its other major holding, CBS Corp. Bakish will serve as president and CEO. He was named acting CEO on November 15.
“I am very excited by the strategy Viacom is pursuing under Bob’s leadership, as well as the relentless hard work and passion he has demonstrated not only in his fast start at the helm but in his many years at the company,'” said Shari Redstone, president »
- Brian Steinberg
Reba McEntire to Star in ABC Series from ‘Desperate Housewives’ Creator Marc Cherry
15 hours ago
Reba McEntire is heading back to TV.
The country music superstar is set to headline a series from “Desperate Housewives” creator Marc Cherry that has been put into development at ABC, Variety has learned.
ABC emerged as the network for the potential series, after a bidding war for the pilot script that landed with a hefty penalty at the broadcaster.
The untitled hourlong series is described as a “Southern Gothic soap opera” set in motion after a horrible, suspected act of terrorism happens at a Fourth of July parade in the small town of Oxblood, Kentucky. The FBI sends a cocky agent of Middle Eastern descent to investigate and he teams up with the mercurial local Sheriff to uncover secrets far darker than either could have ever imagined.
Cherry created the project and is set to serve as executive producer and showrunner. His producing partner Sabrina Wind will also exec produce via their Cherry-Wind Productions banner, along »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
Trailer for ‘Secret’ Netflix Series ‘The Oa’ Offers Glimpse at Death and the Unknown
15 hours ago
Netflix released the trailer and premiere date for upcoming series “The Oa” Monday morning, telling its viewers to “trust the unknown” in anticipation for the series’ premiere on Friday, Dec. 16.
From creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the eight-episode season follows Prairie Johnson (Marling), a missing blind woman who finally returns to her family after seven years with her sight restored. Though Prairie is said to “remember everything,” she refuses to talk about what happened to her during her time away from home, leaving viewers to contemplate what exactly befell her all those years ago.
“I didn’t disappear,” says Prairie in the trailer. “I was present for all of it.”
Alongside Marling, the series stars Emory Cohen (“Brooklyn”), Scott Wilson (“The Walking Dead”), Phyllis Smith (“The Office”), Jason Isaacs (the “Harry Potter” films), Alice Krige (“Star Trek: First Contact”), Patrick Gibson (“The Tudors”), Brendan Meyer (“Mr. Young”), and more. Brad Pitt »
- Arya Roshanian
TV Ratings: Giants Win Over Cowboys Lift NFL Ratings on Sunday Night
16 hours ago
Update: That’s better: NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” finally caught a big break in Week 14, with a Cowboys-Giants match-up that hauled in an average audience of 26.5 million as America’s Little Brother (Eli Manning) led the Giants to a victory over America’s Team, 10-7.
The 16.5 overnight household rating it pulled in was the best overnight household rating for a primetime NFL game in nearly three years, excluding the always highly rated kickoff weekends. (Incidentally, the last game that drew this big of an overnight rating, played Dec. 29, 2013, was a Cowboys-Eagles brawl.) In final ratings, the game drew a 14.9 household rating, the highest of the season for “Sunday Night Football.”
Elsewhere on the dial Sunday night, in Nielsen’s preliminary ratings:
CBS’ lineup was rendered hinky by NFL overrun in multiple large markets, so these numbers will adjust in the finals: “60 Minutes” came in with a 1.1 and 9.76 million viewers. A »
- Oriana Schwindt
‘Flip or Flop’ Stars Separate, Hgtv Series to Continue
16 hours ago
Tarek and Christina El Moussa, hosts of Hgtv’s “Flip or Flop,” have announced their separation after seven years of marriage in a joint statement.
The duo — who have two young children — also stated they will continue with their popular home-improvement series.
The announcement comes following a domestic altercation last spring in which the police were called.
“Like many couples, we have had challenges in our marriage,” the El Moussas told People. “We had an unfortunate misunderstanding about six months ago and the police were called to our house in an abundance of caution. There was no violence and no charges were filed.”
The altercation in question happened in May, after police responded to “a call of a possibly suicidal male with a gun” at the El Moussa’s home in Orange County, Calif., according to TMZ. Local law enforcement stated that 11 deputies and a helicopter arrived at the scene, where »
- Arya Roshanian
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Casts Klingons Chris Obi, Shazad Latif, Mary Chieffo
17 hours ago
Three new cast members are set to board “Star Trek: Discovery.”
Chris Obi, Shazad Latif, and Mary Chieffo have joined the upcoming CBS All Access series, with all three set to play Klingons — members of the fan-favorite alien race that is fundamental to “Star Trek” lore. Obi will play T’Kuvma, a Klingon leader seeking to unite the Klingon houses. Latif will play Kol, commanding officer of the Klingons and protégé of T’Kuvma. Chieffo will play L’Rell, the battle deck commander of the Klingon ship.
Obi, Latif, and Chiefo join the series on the heels of last month’s casting of Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, and Michelle Yeoh — the first actors set for the new series from CBS Television Studios. The studio has yet to settle on a lead, but CBS is said to be eyeing an African-American or Latina actress for the role.
“Discovery” will be the first new series set in the “Star Trek »
- Daniel Holloway
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