Umms ceo chrencik to take leave of absence

Top International execs from ZDF Studios, Fremantle , All3Media and Banijay have said the potential U.S. writers strike and changing market economics can create opportunities to strike new business. As Banijay Rights CEO Cathy Payne put it, likening the challenging of leaving previous market conditions behind to bouncing back after being dumped: “When one door closes, another one opens.” She was talking during a Series Mania panel on windowing and content financing this afternoon in France. International distribution companies are already wrestling with myriad content financing issues as the U.S. market corrects after streamers’ spending momentum slows. All eyes are now turning to the discussions between the WGA and AMPTP, and one potential upshot if a strike kicks off will likely be more international business for U.S. networks. All3Media International CEO Louise Pedersen said U.S. execs at the London TV Screenings at the start of the month had begun … [Read more...] about Banijay, Fremantle, All3Media & ZDF Debate Market Economics And Writers’ Strike: “When One Door Closes, Another Opens” — Series Mania

GLAAD has released its 18th annual “Where We Are on TV” report. It counted 596 regular and recurring LGBTQ characters across broadcast, cable and streaming shows that have been released (or are expected to) between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023. This is a decrease of -6.44% from the previous year’s 637 LGBTQ characters. Streaming continues to dominate with 356 LGBTQ characters on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Peacock, and Paramount+ vs. 141 LGBTQ characters on broadcast, and 139 LGBTQ characters on cable. All broadcast networks saw a decrease in their percentage of LGBTQ series regulars from the previous report. The CW remains on top with 14.8 percent of all series regulars being LGBTQ. That is down -2.3%, and the report expresses concern how the network’s changed ownership would impact LGBTQ representation. In total, 51 percent (304) of the 596 LGBTQ characters are people of color. For the first time, in 2022-23 streaming features a majority … [Read more...] about LBGTQ Representation On TV Dipped During 2022-23 Season, GLAAD Reports

Work has begun on Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight ’s Birmingham TV and film studio. Digbeth Loc. Studios will complete in July and filming will begin in October, including on Knight’s upcoming BBC drama Two Tone. The 80,000 sq ft Digbeth Loc. Studios will create 760 new jobs, according to its founders, contributing £30M ($36.6M) to the local economy as it acts as a regeneration project for the Digbeth area in the West Midlands. Knight, who is also helming the BBC and FX’s upcoming Great Expectations adaptation, had a vision to create a long-term cultural legacy for Birmingham and he forged the idea for Digbeth Loc. with business partner Piers Read, the CEO of TIME+SPACE. The studios are the first such project in Birmingham, which has been boosting its local TV and film industry in recent years. Knight is also involved with the Birmingham Create Central grouping of producers and creatives, which champions local talent. Birmingham City Council has … [Read more...] about Work Begins On ‘Peaky Blinders’ Creator Steven Knight’s TV & Film Studio, First Projects Will Film Later This Year

A Fox News producer claims that she was “coerced” and “intimidated” by the network’s legal team into providing misleading and evasive testimony in a deposition in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case. Abby Grossberg , who has worked on shows hosted by Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson , also claimed that the network’s attorneys were trying to subtly shift “all responsibility for the alleged defamation against Dominion onto her shoulders and by implication, those of her trusted female colleague, Ms. Bartiromo, rather than the mostly male higher ups at Fox News who endorsed the repeated coverage of the lies against the Dominion.” Her suit was filed in federal court in New York and Delaware Superior Court, where Fox and Dominion are delivering oral arguments on Tuesday in the summary judgment phase of the case. Grossberg also claims that she was retaliated against after she complained about unlawful harassment based on her gender and Jewish religion. She claims … [Read more...] about Fox News Producer Sues Network Claiming She Was Coached To Give Misleading Testimony In Dominion Case

Ted Lasso Season 3 scored a goal for Apple TV+ with its premiere episode. About 870,000 Samba TV-measured U.S. households tuned in to the first episode in the first four days since it debuted on the streaming service, according to the audience analytics company. That’s up about 59% from the 546,000 households Samba measured for the Season 2 premiere. Of course, this doesn’t tell the whole viewing story, though it does give a pretty good picture of the premiere’s performance. Samba TV doesn’t measure mobile, however, their sample includes a panel of 3 million terrestrial TVs, weighted to the U.S. Census. By contrast, Samba TV’s panel is nearly 100x larger than Nielsen’s household footprint of 45K homes. Apple TV+ hasn’t released any data for Ted Lasso viewership (or any of its series), but it did say that Season 2 delivered the streamer’s biggest premiere day ever , largest opening weekend ever and No. 1 debut across all series and movies. So far, the streamer … [Read more...] about ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 3 Premiere Scores 870K U.S. Households, Up 59% From Season 2 Premiere, Samba TV Says

The first premiere of Succession was in 2018 at the NYC complex formerly known as the Time Warner Center. “A lot has happened in those five years. We’ve had a couple of corporate mergers, a global pandemic, a few Emmys,” said Casey Bloys , chairman-CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content at the premiere of the series fourth and final season. HBO parent Warner Media was sold to AT&T in a deal that closed that year. The telecom giant then sold it to Discovery in 2022. At the Season 3 premiere in October of 2021 the deal to create Warner Bros. Discovery had been announced but not yet closed. “It’s been a wild ride. But we are so proud to be the home of Succession ,” Bloys said taking the stage at the event at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Succession happens to be a show where tortured M&A attempts and boardroom infighting by a charismatic ensemble led by Brian Cox as media mogul-patriarch Logan Roy are integral to the action. “It’s been a joy from day one,“ Bloys said … [Read more...] about HBO Content Chief Casey Bloys’ Heartfelt ‘Succession’ Sendoff, A Series That Weathered A Few Real-Life Corporate Mergers

Amazon is laying off another 9,000 workers as job cuts in the tech sector expand at a time of growing economic uncertainty. It follows cuts last fall and early this year. “Given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount,” Jassy said in a memo to staff today. “As we’ve just concluded the second phase of our operating plan (“OP2”) this past week, I’m writing to share that we intend to eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks—mostly in AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch. This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term,” he said. (PXT is People eXperience and Technology,) Tech companies have been shedding staff at a rapid clip. Meta Platforms, the corporate parent of Facebook , Instagram and WhatsApp, recently announced plans to cut another 10,000 jobs and undergo a hiring freeze in what CEO Mark … [Read more...] about Amazon Laying Off Thousands More As Job Cuts In Sector Expand