Small Screen: ‘All’s Fair’ Loses Halle Berry, Netflix Partners With AMC
Nutime media/cbs
Broadcast: CBS is partnering with Black-owned sales company NuTime Media to promote their new soap opera, The Gates. The soap focuses on a wealthy Black family who live in a gated community. CBS has not released a new TV daytime soap since 1999, and The Gates is determined to reach Black audiences with its premiere.
“A daytime drama of this kind has not been on broadcast television in over 35 years, and we are certain it will fill that voice and have positive appeal with African American audiences,” said NuTime Media executive Morris McWilliams.
Phoebe Robinson - Kristina Bumphrey
Cable: Phoebe Robinson (2 Dope Queens) has partnered with Sony Pictures Television for a two-year first-look deal. Robinson will create a scripted cable and streaming series with Tiny Reparations. Sony Pictures Televisions' executive vice president of comedy development, Colin Davis, expressed that Robinson “can do it all.” Davis is certain that Sony Pictures' partnership with her will be authentic and fresh. Robinson herself expressed her excitement for the collaboration.
“[T]here are few things better than getting a new home – I’m registered at CB2, so somebody get me a nice duvet – and I’m thrilled that Tiny Reparations is joining the Sony family. They’re making me feel all cute and special, but more importantly, they’re doing dope things and I can’t wait for us to collab on making TV dreams come true for myself and others!” said Robinson.
BET's series Ms. Pat Settles It set the premiere date for its second season on July 31st. The series follows actress Ms. Pat Williams and her jury as they handle court cases of relationship dramas. The series will feature comedian guest stars like Chris Spangle, Ray J, and Karlous Miller. The cases apply to real-life situations, and those who sign up accept William's verdict.
“Ms. Pat Settles It is a place where you get a range of cases, but there is always fun in the courtroom,” said Williams.
Li Jun Li - Santiago Felipe / Stringer
Streaming: Peacock's mystery series Poker Face released a list of cast members for its second season, which includes Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul) and Kumail Nanjiani (Only Murders in the Building). As guest stars, they will join fellow actors Ellen Barkin (The Out-Laws), Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides), Rhea Perlman (Barbie), and Adrien Brody (Peaky Blinders). Created by Rian Johnson, the series will star Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) as Charlie Cale, a woman solving cases while on the run with her ability to know when people are lying. Esposito and Nanjiani's roles are not yet announced.
Tyler Perry announced plans to launch free, ad-supported television (FAST) channels in partnership with BET. The channels, BET Tyler Perry Comedy and BET Tyler Perry Drama, will air on Roku, Pluto TV, Plex, TCL, Freevee, and more. Perry’s BET library, with over 600 hours of series, will be showcased through marathons, highlights, and cast conversations. This initiative follows Perry’s multi-year deal with BET, which renewed eight series and introduced a new series, Route 187. BET Media Group's Louis Carr encouraged the move as influential for BET.
“The introduction of Perry’s content to FAST channels is a momentous occasion in our partnership,” said Carr. “We’re thrilled to provide Black audiences with a fresh avenue to enjoy Tyler Perry’s content and offer more access options for our original programming.”
Halle Berry (Kidnap) announced her exit from Hulu's upcoming legal series, All’s Fair. This development follows Hulu’s announcement that Berry and Glenn Close (Heart of Stone) were to star and serve as executive producers alongside Kim Kardashian and Ryan Murphy. The series, written by Jon Robin Baitz and Joe Baken, is set in an all-female law firm. Despite Berry's departure, the series continues with its original production team, including Murphy as director.
AppleTV+ renewed Maya Rudolph's Loot for a third season. The cast includes Rudolph, Joel Kim Booster, Nat Faxon, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, and Ron Funches. Season two left off with a post-divorce Molly Wells (Rudolph) heading the Wells Foundation. Focusing on her career and charity, Molly strayed away from a relationship at the end of season two. AppleTV+'s head of programming, Matt Cherniss, expressed his excitement on continuing the series.
“With each season, Loot continues to deliver joy, laughs and endearing characters for audiences around the world. We are excited to partner with Maya Rudolph, and the entire cast and creative team behind Loot, to create even more heartfelt moments with an ensemble of fan favorite characters in season three,” said Cherniss.
Verizon is offering a new bundle of free one-year subscriptions to Netflix Premium for customers who sign up for Peacock Premium through its +play hub. Peacock offers live sports streaming, including the upcoming Paris Olympics. Verizon launched +play in 2022 to provide a convenient way for customers to access exclusive deals on various content, including entertainment, fitness, lifestyle, wellness, education, and music programming. The plan includes Netflix's ad-free Premium tier, which allows streaming on up to four devices in 4K HDR. This bundle will save customers over $276 until the 12-month promotional period ends.
Netflix's series Adolescence added Ashley Walters (Top Boy) to the cast. Co-produced by Plan B Entertainment, the series focuses on the arrest of 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) for the murder of one of his peers. Walters joins the cast alongside Stephen Graham (Boiling Point) and Erin Doherty (Chloe). Walters will portray Detective Inspector Bascombe. The series is in production in the U.K. and was designed to be captured as one continuous shot, emphasizing the real-time progression of events.
MGM+ and Prime Video's live-action Marvel series Spider-Noir added Li Jun Li (Babylon) to the cast. A series regular, Li will play a singer at a nightclub. She joins fellow cast members Nicolas Cage (History of Swear Words) and Lamorne Morris (Night Shift), who play Spider-Noir and Robbie Robertson, respectively. The series is set in 1930s New York and follows an aging investigator (Cage) and his secret life as Spider-Noir.
Carlos Watson - Brian Stukes
Industry: Carlos Watson, founder of Ozy Media, was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn of fraud and conspiracy charges. After an eight-week trial, Watson was found guilty of misleading investors with false financial information and orchestrating a scheme that included impersonating executives from companies like YouTube to secure funding. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, Breon Peace, criticized Watson for his deceitful tactics that led to Ozy Media's collapse. Watson, who faces up to 37 years in prison, plans to appeal the verdict. The FBI and federal prosecutors emphasized that Watson’s conviction highlights the serious consequences of corporate fraud. Ozy Media, which ceased operations in early 2023, had previously misrepresented its media partnerships and financial performance.
AMC and Netflix agreed on a new deal to bring AMC's series onto the streaming service. Starting August 19th, Netflix will stream past seasons of 13 AMC series for one year, including season one of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, season one of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire, and seasons one through eight of Fear the Walking Dead. Additional series, such as season one of The Walking Dead: Dead City, will debut on Netflix on January 13th. These series will be available without commercials on Netflix's standard with-ads plan. AMC aims to leverage Netflix's 269.6 million subscriber base to boost awareness and viewership. CEO of AMC Networks Kristin Dolan stated that the deal will expose AMC's high-quality content to a vast audience while driving up interest in current and upcoming seasons on AMC's platforms. While AMC has seen some growth in streaming subscribers, it faces challenges with declining U.S. ad sales.
Warner Bros. Discovery is enacting more layoffs to implement new cost-cutting measures. Layoffs occur across various departments, including Max, finance and business, and production. This week's round is reportedly smaller than previous cuts and affects smaller groups within the company, such as the 100 employees laid off at CNN last week. Amid an industry decline, Paramount is also expected to lay off more employees as part of its cost-saving strategies before its acquisition by Skydance. Other companies like Disney, Amazon, Netflix, NBCUniversal, and several talent agencies have also made significant layoffs this year. Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO, David Zaslav, highlighted the necessity of restructuring, despite the challenging nature of these layoffs.
“I remember our first big layoff. It was brutal. But, Warner Bros. and Time Warner and even Discovery, these are companies that had never really been restructured for the future. And so, we decided that we have to have courage; we have to figure out how to restructure these businesses for the future. We said no sacred cows,” said Zaslav.
Top media analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich urged Warner Bros. Discovery to explore all strategic options to combat the tanking stock prices. Such measures include selling the company, divesting assets, and forming a streaming joint venture or merger, as the current structure "is not working." Since Discovery acquired Warner Media in early 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery's stock fell over 70%, prompting Erlich to suggest that these moves could create more shareholder value. Ehrlich maintains a 'buy' rating on Warner Bros. Discovery stock; however, Ehrlich gave it a reduced price target of $12 due to challenges in the linear market and a competitive advertising landscape. Following her remarks, Warner Bros. Discovery's stock rose over 6%, trading at $7.88.
Free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) is leading TV share, competing closely with premium subscription services. In June, Tubi, the Roku Channel, and Pluto TV collectively captured a larger share of TV viewership (4.3%) than Max, Paramount+, and Peacock combined (3.7%), as reported by Nielsen. Tubi alone saw a 14.7% increase from May, matching Disney+ in TV usage share. Regarding the success of FAST channels, Andrew Rosen, a former Viacom executive, said that “the product and viewing experience matters as much, if not more, than the content being watched.” Adam Lewinson, chief content officer of Tubi, noted that most viewers prefer free, ad-supported models. He emphasized that these platforms are becoming more popular because they focus on user experience and free content, appealing to consumers amid the rising costs of premium services.
Fọlákẹ́ Olówófôyekù (Bob Hearts Abishola) is now represented by Anonymous Content. Olówófôyekù previously earned an NAACP Image Award nomination in 2019 for her role in the series Bob Hearts Abishola. Her future projects include voice acting for Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King, which will be released in December 2024. Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, she has created protest songs, like “Ehen Ehen Okay Okay,” and will continue to pursue music.
