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Robin Thede of A Black Lady Sketch Show and Bridget Everett of Somebody Somewhere have taken over for Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the comedy queens of HBO . Here, Deadline checked in with multi-hyphenates about their start in Hollywood and how they made their visions a reality. Robin Thede After majoring in broadcast journalism at Northwestern University to keep her parents happy —“I was going to move to Los Angeles to pursue comedy professionally, but my parents were so scared,”—Thede began her career by writing for shows like Clunkers, Real Husbands of Hollywood and The Queen Latifah Show before becoming the first Black woman to serve as head writer on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore in 2015 . Two years later, she launched her own late-night show on HBO called The Rundown with Robin Thede . “I never had any intentions on being a journalist by trade,” says Thede. “I was being a dutiful daughter who got into the best journalism school in the country, so I … [Read more...] about Redesigning Women: How Robin Thede And Bridget Everett Are Raising The Comedy Bar On HBO — Deadline Disruptors

Better Call Saul captured the top spot on a sleepy week, collecting 821 million minutes of viewing for its first five seasons on Netflix . Along with the rankings for the week of April 18 to 24, Nielsen also released the April edition of The Gauge, its monthly look at overall viewing via TV sets. Helped by an upswing for HBO Max , overall streaming set a new record for the month in terms of its share of total viewing, at 30.4%, up from 29.7% in March. For the first time, HBO Max reached 1% of the viewership pie, a long way from Netflix’s 6.6% but a mark of achievement for the 2-year-old service. Breaking Bad , the series from which Better Call Saul spun off, is also one of the most popular acquired titles on Netflix. Both shows draw audiences that are 55% male, per Nielsen, but 75% of Saul viewers are older than 35. By contrast, half of Breaking Bad viewers are younger than 35. Sampling of past seasons was helped by promotions for Season 6, which just … [Read more...] about ‘Better Call Saul’ Leads Quiet Week, But Streaming Makes Noise With New Record Share Of Total TV Viewing In April, Nielsen Says

Twenty-four hours before his win for Best Documentary Feature would result in one of the most powerful speeches of this year’s Oscar night, Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson and his Summer of Soul team gathered at an intimate brunch in the picturesque gardens of Dana Walden’s Brentwood estate. Walden was there, along with Peter Rice, Matthew Greenfield, David Greenbaum and other high-level Disney executives. Even Disney CEO Bob Chapek put in an appearance. They were present to toast the early success of a small Hulu imprint, Onyx Collective , which is run by Tara Duncan and is dedicated to flying the flag for creators of color, bringing diverse, authentic stories right to the heart of the studio better known for its noisemaking franchise brands like Marvel and Star Wars. As Disney continues to reign supreme as Hollywood’s biggest studio, Duncan’s ambitions for Onyx Collective are no less than to create a brand that can compete for that same mainstream attention, making it a … [Read more...] about Onyx Collective Continues Mission To Bring Representation To Disney After ‘Summer Of Soul’ Oscar Triumph — Deadline Disruptors

The strategy to license Yellowstone and other major properties to rival streaming services like Peacock and HBO Max, which Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish has called “unfortunate,” is out the window, according to CFO Naveen Chopra . “We’re no longer licensing big, franchise IP to third parties. Back in the day when Paramount didn’t have its own streaming service, that was the best way to monetize content,” Chopra said during an appearance today at MoffettNathanson’s 9th annual Media and Communications Summit. “Today, that doesn’t necessarily make sense. As some of those things come up, we’ll keep them for our owned and operated platform.” Moderator Michael Nathanson cited heavy viewing on Netflix of Paramount shows like NCIS, wondering if that demand would persuade the company to continue selling off those rights. In answering, Chopra didn’t bring up any specific shows. He joined the company, then known as ViacomCBS, in August 2020, after a large licensing … [Read more...] about ‘Yellowstone’-Style Licensing Deals With Rival Streamers Are No Longer In Paramount’s Forecast, CFO Naveen Chopra Confirms

Stark political divisions in the U.S. have caused a surge in TV ad spending, with primary races in Ohio, Pennsylvania and other key states pointing to a massive haul in the upcoming fall midterms. One key beneficiary of that influx of cash is Sinclair Broadcast Group, the No. 2 owner of local TV stations in the U.S. The company’s CEO, Chris Ripley offered his outlook on political ads and other topics in an appearance at the MoffettNathanson 9th Annual Media and Communications Summit. “Some of these primary races are crazy,” Ripley said. He cited Ohio, where Donald Trump-backed U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance prevailed in a hard-fought contest. The $75 million spent on TV ads for the primary was 40 times more than what was spent on the primary in the last election, Ripley said, and four times more than the last general election. “On the one hand, I lament that we’re in the political environment that we are,” Ripley said. “On the other hand, it’s very good for our … [Read more...] about Politically Divided America Is “Very Good For Our Business,” Sinclair Broadcast CEO Says; Primary Ad Surge Points To Big Fall Haul