Jennifer Maas: Last News

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNetflix has ordered a docuseries from Shawn Levy, Vox Media Studios and The Verge about how technology will affect the basic aspects of our lives in the future, Variety has learned exclusively.Titled “The Future Of…,” the show asks: “What if we could look into the future to see how every aspect of our daily lives — from raising pets and house plants to what we eat and how we date — will be impacted by technology?” Per Netflix, “We can, and should, expect more from the future than the dystopia promised in current science fiction. ‘The Future Of…’ will reveal surprising and personal predictions about the rest of our lives — and the lives of generations to come.”The series will be released globally in two batches, with the first six episodes premiering Tuesday, June 21, and the remaining six episodes on Tuesday, June 28.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Miguel,” the May 3 episode of “This Is Us.”“Miguel over the years,” was the simple description given for Tuesday’s “This Is Us,” the fourth-to-last episode of Dan Fogelman’s NBC family drama. While accurate, that logline doesn’t do the hour, aptly titled “Miguel,” justice, as it’s really the day-in-the-limelight installment fans of Jon Huertas’ Miguel Rivas have been waiting six seasons for — and also the one in which the character dies.The episode shows viewers Miguel’s origins in Puerto Rico, how he came to Pennsylvania as a boy with his parents and aunt, how he first didn’t get along with his best friend Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) wife Rebecca (Mandy Moore), and how years after Jack’s death, Rebecca and Miguel found their way back to each other, this time as romantic partners.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe 2021-2022 broadcast TV season is coming to a close, and CBS is ready to declare an early total viewers victory. The broadcast network said Tuesday they are poised to win their 14th consecutive season in terms of overall audience size.“The strength and depth of our core CBS series, the top new comedies and dramas on television, our iconic alternative programming, world-class sports franchises, plus the finest news program in the history of television, provided us with the power to surge to the top of the broadcast landscape for the 14th consecutive season.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Jackass” is heading back to the small screen, with a new series from the original creators in the works at Paramount+ after to the immense popularity of “Jackass Forever.”“Based off the success of ‘Jackass Forever,’ we’re working with the creators to continue the partnership with a new series, bringing even more ridiculous antics straight to Paramount+,” Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said Tuesday during the company’s Q1 earnings call Tuesday.“Jackass Forever,” the fourth film in the long-running franchise, debuted at the top of domestic box office in February with a better-than-expected $23.5 million. The film included classic cast members such as Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man, Danger Ehren and Preston Lacy, as well as several new faces, including Rachel Wolfson, Sean “Poopies” McInerney and Jasper Dolphin.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount+ and Showtime topped a combined 63 million subscribers at the end of the first quarter, Paramount Global revealed Tuesday. From that new total, 6.8 million are Paramount+ sub additions from Q1.That’s up from the combined 56 million subscribers that the company reported the streamers hit by the end of 2021.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Yellowjackets” ended its chilling first season by further fueling the mystery in the 1996 winter flashback sequence from the pilot, which featured the Antler Queen a.k.a. Lottie Matthews (Courtney Eaton) and her ilk killing and eating one of the survivors.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNetflix’s reboot of the “Iron Chef” franchise is bringing former “Iron Chef America” host Alton Brown and Mark Dacascos, who played the iconic role of “The Chairman” on the competition, back into Kitchen Stadium for another round.The streaming service’s “Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend” will see Brown return to host along with “Top Chef” winner Kristen Kish, and Dacascos reprise the part of The Chairman.Here is the official description for the “reimagining” of “Iron Chef,” which will launch on June 15: The legendary Iron Chef series is reborn with a supersized approach to the ground-breaking culinary competition that started it all. It’s been called the toughest culinary challenge a chef will ever experience.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSteve Carell’s “Space Force” has been canceled after two seasons at Netflix.The second season of the comedy, which re-teamed Carell and “The Office” creator Greg Daniels, debuted on Feb. 18.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterFormer AMC Networks chief Josh Sapan’s compensation for 2021, his final year as CEO of the company, rose 30% over the previous year to $15.3 million.According to a proxy statement filed with the SEC Friday, Sapan’s total pay from the company for 2021 was $15.3 million compared to the $11.8 million he received in 2020 and the $20.2 million he was paid in 2019.Click here to sign up for Variety‘s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial and investment news, and more.Sapan’s successor, AMC Networks interim CEO Matthew Blank, was paid $6.97 million for the year. Blank joined AMC Networks in his new role in August just as Sapan stepped down.Blank’s base salary for 2021 was $630,136, while Sapan’s was $2 million.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterPeacock ended the first quarter of the year with 28 million monthly active accounts (MAAs) and 13 million paid subscribers, Comcast revealed along with its Q1 earnings results Thursday.That total is up from the 24.5 million Comcast reported for the streamer’s end of 2021 figure. During Q1, Peacock streamed Super Bowl LVI and the Beijing Winter Olympics, along with debuting splashy titles like “Bel-Air,” its dramatic take on the ’90s classic “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” Jennifer Lopez’s theatrical-and-streaming release “Marry Me,” and “Tiger King” scripted series “Joe vs.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterCartoon Network Studios and NFL alumnus Trevor Pryce’s animation studio have teamed up on a content development deal designed to discover emerging creators and artists from underrepresented communities, Variety has learned exclusively.Pryce’s Mid-Atlantic-region-focused Outlook Company will host the initiative out of its recently formed animated projects incubator Neru Projects. The program will launch with six local participants who will have creative executives at Cartoon Network Studios and Neru Projects to shepherd their ideas from concept to pitch through the development of a series bible.Per Cartoon Network Studios, “At least one project will be selected to begin formal development at Cartoon Network Studios and Outlook Company but, through the program, all participants will learn how to collaborate with creative partners to develop and package their original animated series ideas.” The inaugural group for the development program includes these six individuals, who “represent diversity in race, gender, and age and will use their unique perspectives to shine a light on their homes, communities, and personal experiences through animation”:“Elevating original and diverse creative voices is one of our top priorities at Cartoon Network Studios,” Sam Register, president of Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterGeekWire co-founder Jonathan Sposato has launched JoySauce Network, a new ad-supported multimedia platform aimed at the “American Asian” audience and its allies, Variety has learned exclusively.The site, which went live Wednesday morning, boasts “multiple channels of vibrant digital programming dedicated to celebrating both new and established American Asian talent.” JoySauce Network notes the use of “American Asian rather than Asian American” is its way of “shifting the center of gravity, while recognizing that each of us chooses how the pieces of our identities fit together.”Per JoySauce Network, “Viewers can expect unscripted and scripted streaming shows, licensed movies from respected directors and writers in the Asian diaspora, stand-up comedy specials from emerging talent, documentaries, and more in a weekly episode format. The site will also publish original editorial from some of the community’s most talented writers, aiming to represent the full spectrum of American Asian narratives, covering culturally relevant topics in lifestyle, food, entertainment, pop culture, education, romance and more.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “The Night Before the Wedding,” the April 26 episode of “This Is Us.”There are four episodes left of “This Is Us” following Tuesday’s installment, which gave Pearson fans the long-awaited answer to the question of who is Kevin (Justin Hartley) going to marry without actually showing us who Kevin marries. The episode ended with the romantic reunion of high-school-sweethearts-turned-divorced-couple Kevin and Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge) at Kate’s (Chrissy Metz) second wedding, and cheers from the whole family over those two crazy kids finally figuring it out, with the heavy implication (confirmed by Hartley and Breckenridge) it will result in them tying the knot for good.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterLimited series “Anatomy of a Scandal” has ended “Bridgerton” Season 2’s reign as the No. 1 English-language TV series on Netflix, according to the streaming service’s newly release Top 10 rankings.For the week of April 18-April 24, “Anatomy of a Scandal” was viewed for 75.6 million hours in its second week of availability, while “Bridgerton” racked up 46 million and landed in the No.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterIn the wake of big spender Netflix’s Q1 shocking subscriber loss news, David Zaslav made a point to say Warner Bros. Discovery “will not overspend to drive subscriber growth” during Discovery’s first-quarter earnings call Tuesday.“As you’ve heard me say, we are not trying to win the direct-to-consumer spending war,” the WBD CEO said, instead promising that the newly combined WarnerMedia-Discovery company would “invest in scale smartly.”Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterEntertainment-focused private investment firm Coral Tree Partners has closed its inaugural round of funding with committed capital of approximately $470 million, well above the initial target of $350 million.Per Coral Tree, inaugural fund was “significantly oversubscribed above its original hard cap” and “received strong support from a range of high‐quality institutional investors, including endowments, foundations, insurance companies, pension plans, institutional family offices and funds‐of‐funds.”Founded by former Shamrock Capital Advisors partners Will Wynperle and Alan Resnikoff, Coral Tree Partners is focused on investments in the media, entertainment, marketing services, and communications industries, lower middle market buyouts, and late state growth equity investments. Currently, the Los Angeles-based company has two investments to its name: Loaded, a Santa Monica, Calif.‐based global talent management and marketing firm that works in the gaming influencer market, and Subject Matter, a Washington, D.C.‐based strategic communications, creative content, advertising and government relations firm.Along with Wynperle and Resnikoff, the Coral Tree Partners team includes Mike DiLorenzo, Matt Greenzang and Jake Simons, who have worked with the founders previously, as well as a group of executive advisors comprised of several CEOs, including the former CEOs of Giant Creative, Learfield Sports, MarketCast and Questex.“Our investment experience in our sectors combined with our lower middle market focus differentiates us in the market,” Wynperle said.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNBCUniversal Television and Streaming has promoted Orit Blankrot to senior vice president of entertainment business and legal affairs, Variety has learned exclusively.In her new role, Blankrot, who most recently served as vice president of entertainment business and legal affairs for NBCU’s TV and streaming arm, has increased oversight of business and legal affairs for NBCUniversal’s syndication studios. This includes Stamford (Conn.) Media Center’s first-run programming, E! News and co-productions for distribution on both internal and external platforms.As SVP of the department, she will report to Inge Van Herle, the head of entertainment business and legal affairs for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAfrican American-founded, faith-based channel Impact Network is making a big push into entertainment and lifestyle content with the ramping up of its Saturday programming slate, the hiring of a new chief creative officer and executive producer of original content, and the launch of a 6,000-foot production facility in Detroit with a music division, Variety has learned exclusively.The privately owned Impact Network has a reach of 80 million homes and distribution deals with DirecTV, Comcast Xfinity, Charter Spectrum, Verizon Fios, Frontier, Cable Bahamas, Cox and Altice USA. Founder and CEO Bishop Wayne T.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterHBO’s “House of the Dragon” cost under $20 million per episode to produce its 10-episode first season, which debuts Aug. 21, a source close to production told Variety.For comparison, “Game of Thrones” cost HBO around $100 million to per season.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Farnsby & B,” the Season 2 finale of “Ghosts.”Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) finally opened their bed & breakfast in the “Ghosts” Season 1 finale Thursday — only for their dreams to come literally crashing down moments later thanks to a curse. In the closing seconds of the episode, titled “Farnsby & B,” Sam and Jay are ready to welcome their first guests to the Woodstone B&B after defeating their enemy neighbors the Farnsbys in a game of pickle ball to get them to close their spitefully opened competitor, the Farsnby & B.But just as they open the doors, the floorboards crumble beneath them, suggesting the curse Thor (Devan Chandler Long) put on them before he got to know Sam is actually real.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Abbott Elementary” got an A+ from ABC on its season finale, tripling its ratings with seven days of delayed viewing across DVRs, Hulu and other digital platforms, Variety has learned exclusively.The 9 o’clock on Tuesdays freshman comedy managed an initial 0.6 rating among adults 18-49 and 2.8 million total viewers for its April 12 finale, according to Live + Same Day data from Nielsen. Adding in a week of multiplatform viewing, the episode jumped 200% to a 1.8 rating, tying the show’s series high, and added 3.1 million viewers to reach 5.9 million total, per ABC.In looking at this same week-out metric, the “Abbott Elementary” finale’s key demo rating is up 50% from the show’s Dec.