Small Screen: Disney and Comcast in Talks Over Hulu Stake, Gavin Houston Talks General Hospital 60th Anniversary

Broadcast: Actor Gavin Houston appeared on WJBF to discuss his role on General Hospital as the soap celebrates its 60th anniversary. Houston, who is best known for playing Jeffrey Harrington OWN’s The Haves and the Have Nots, plays Zeke Robinson on GH’s anniversary season. He previously played Sly Thomas in a recurring role on the soap. Houston, a New Jersey native, got his start in acting as a child, when he performed in small stage plays. He calls first role as Jeffrey Harrington on The Haves and the Have Nots “a blessing;” a longtime Perry fan, Houston found the director and actor to be personable and inspiring. 

“[Tyler] was just such a kind, giving person. [Being an actor,] he knows how it is to be on the other side, so he directed all of our episodes. He was just there with us in those trenches, as we were shooting, shooting out all those episodes. And he was just very patient and understood the actors' process. . . . It was great to work with him.”

After shooting the final season of Haves, Houston spent time in daytime television on General Hospital and Guiding Light, where he found a new and occasionally dizzying pace.

“[Daytime] moves so fast, but Tyler moves even faster. So it's just a lot of fun. In television or film, there's one camera. . . But with daytime and how our show was shot, which was almost like a primetime, they have multiple cameras, so they can get it all at once. It's fast paced, the dialogue needs to move. . . . It’s like a bootcamp.”

Houston found the speed of daytime to be good practice, and, along with learning the ins and outs of the industry, got him ready for his career.

“It prepared me completely for [my career.] It’s like CrossFit: we’re going to do some of this, and some of this, and I’m going to jump on this. Constant production, almost like mass production.”

Houston grew up with General Hospital, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. He looks back fondly on the role of the iconic soap in both the industry and his own life.

“I remember being in school when everybody’s parents and grandparents watched [the show.] . . . [I got to] work alongside a lot of the cast that I grew up with. Seeing people from your childhood that you watched on TV . . . is really a blessing.”

Houston returns to the show after his previous recurring role to guest star as Zeke Robinson, the brother of Dr. Portia Robinson. In addition to GH, Houston stars in NCIS: Los Angeles, and has two films out currently, Dance For Me on BET+ and Safe Word on Tubi. He hopes that his films can help inspire younger actors breaking into the field.

“The first thing[s] that I think an actor should do [are] actually learn your craft, and learn the business. This is a business [that] a lot of people see the end result of on TV, but they don't know the work that has to go on behind the scenes. . . . There's a lot of sacrifice, and it's like anything, you get what you give to it. So I say it's a it's a patient slow process, which has great rewards to it, but you have to be truly committed. I think learning the business [is important.]”

He highlights the importance of doing background work and seeking out experiences rather than money. In his early days, Houston says, he did work for which he was “paid in pizza,” but found the experience to be valuable to his career. 

“I was able to be behind the scenes and hear the language on set and learn how the actors work. [I] learned my marks, [and] I learned about the language. . . . When you get representation, which is always the goal, you’re [then] ready with a product and brand to go out and pursue and compete for jobs.”

The next episode of General Hospital will air on May 22 on ABC.

The CW has canceled Kung Fu, a reboot of the eponymous classic series, after three seasons. The move comes as the network shifts its focus to lower-budget scripted originals from Canada and the UK. Kung Fu joins The Winchesters and Walker Independence as the latest in CW’s cancelations, with the statuses of Superman & Lois, Gotham Knights, and All American: Homecoming remaining in question. Warner Bros. Television looked into other options for Kung Fu, but was reportedly unsuccessful. The series followed Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang), a Chinese American woman in the midst of a quarter-life crisis. Shen drops out of college to go on a journey to a Chinese monastery, but returns to her hometown of San Francisco to find her parents Jin (Tzi Ma) and Mei-Li (Kheng Hua Tan) under the thumb of a powerful Triad in a city overrun by crime and corruption. Shannon Dang, Tony Chung, Jon Prasida, Gavin Stenhouse, Eddie Liu and Vanessa Kai also star. The pilot was written by Christina M. Kim, who also executive produced and served as co-showrunner with Robert Berens. 

CBS has pulled the plug on cop drama East New York after one season. The show starred Amanda Warren as Deputy Inspector Regina Haywood, the new boss of the 74th Precinct in East New York, a working-class neighborhood near Brooklyn undergoing gentrification and social turmoil. Along with Haywood. Jimmy Smits played Chief John Suarez, with Ruben Santiago-Hudson portraying training officer Marvin Sandeford. The show premiered in October and ran its final episode, Ruskin Roulette, on May 14. 

Fantasy Island will not be renewed for a third season at Fox. The show, which premiered in August of 2021, has run two seasons featuring Roselyn Sanchez as Elena Roarke, a descendant of Mr. Roarke from the original Fantasy Island. The reboot takes place at a luxury resort, where, according to its official description, “​​literally any fantasy requested by guests is fulfilled, although they rarely turn out as expected.” Season two, which began in January, ended this week. The network said of the cancellation, 

“We were very pleased with Fantasy Island’s fun and escapist creative, which we had hoped would gain strong traction among viewers. . . . [We would] like to thank Fantasy Island’s cast, led by Roselyn Sánchez, Kiara Barnes and John Gabriel Rodriquez, crew and executive producers Liz Craft, Sarah Fain and Anne Clements for their partnership on the series.”

The CW has picked up both seasons of AMC’s 61st Street, a legal thriller starring Courtney B. Vance. The series follows Vance as he defends a high school athlete (Tosin Cole) victimized by a corrupt criminal justice system in the city of Chicago. AMC originally picked up the series with a two-season order, airing the first installment in the spring of 2022. After the conclusion of season two, AMC axed the conclusion as part of cost-cutting measures in late 2022. Season 1, along with the yet-unseen Season 2, will air on The CW in the fall and in early 2024, respectively. In a statement, Vance said of the news,

“There was a lot of love and hard work that went into making 61st Street. I’m thrilled that The CW has enthusiastically given all 16 episodes . . . a network home. With The CW, I’m confident that we will engage a universe of viewers who will celebrate the series with us. My cast, crew and I can’t wait.”

CW Entertainment president Brad Schwartz agreed, saying,

“61st Street is a gripping, star-studded premium drama led by a powerhouse performance from Courtney B. Vance and featuring an incredibly talented ensemble cast and creatively brilliant team of producers. We are proud The CW is now the broadcast home of 61st Street and cannot wait to introduce this series to a whole new audience.”

Benjamin Zephaniah's memoir Life and Rhymes is being adapted for TV.  Baby Cow and Timewasters’ Daniel Lawrence Taylor will work on the project, which is part of a funded development slate from Steve Coogan’s production company. The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah will follow the poet, artist, and activist whose “radical” poetry lifted him from a life of poverty to find him performing across the globe in front of names like Nelson Mandela and The Wailers. Lawrence Taylor, the creator of BAFTA-winning Timewasters, will develop the show with Zephaniah, along with Baby Cow CEO Sarah Monteith. Of the show and its subject, she says,

“You can’t get more unconventional than Benjamin Zephaniah. Born into poverty in Birmingham, he had a problematic relationship with his father and is now a world-famous poet, gentleman-farmer and vegan. Benjamin’s story has a lot to say about Black male identity through the decades.”

Monteith will also be developing other projects, with one centering on former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, though details are scarce. The slate will also include a series based on Patricia Wiltshire memoir Traces, as well as a dark comedy from Nikhil Parmar called Steel Trap. Steel Trap will follow a death at an Indian wedding, and explore “issues around race and the complexity of social status.” Monteith notes that the writers strike, currently in its second week, could be damaging to the slate, and hopes that commissioners are not persuaded into a phase of “risk aversion” that could impact her upcoming project. Though the commissioning slowdown caused by the strike could aid in market correction, the strike itself presents an additional worry. Monteith says, 

“There’s a real pride in great British content and I would hate to think that inflation could drive us out of being able to do anything other than safe programing. We like to push the envelope and be provocative and the best British content works on those levels.”

Cable: Scott Ly will join HBO’s The Sympathizer as a recurring character. Ly will play Gunner Dao, a former Vietnamese soldier who escaped to the United States and joined the Recon squad. He joins Hoa Xuande, Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Vy Le and Alan Trong, Sandra Oh, Kieu Chinh and Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen, as well as Robert Downey Jr., who also executive produces. Ly recently starred in A Tourist Guide to Love alongside Rachel Leigh Cook, and has also appeared on Animal Kingdom, FBI: Most Wanted and Legend of Souls. The series The Sympathizer is based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book by the same name, an acclaimed thriller that uses satire to explore the lives of a half-Vietnamese and half-French communist spy during the Vietnam war and his subsequent exile to the US. Production on the series, which is written and directed by Park Chan-wook, recently wrapped filming between Thailand and Los Angeles. 

Streaming: Onyx Collective has picked up comedy pilot Deli Boys to series. The series will stream on Hulu in the US, Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ in other territories. Starring Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh, Alfie Fuller, Poorna Jagannathan and new series regular Brian George, Deli Boys follows the two brothers whose convenience store-magnate father is revealed to have a secret life after his death. The brothers (Ali and Shaikh) lose everything and must try to fill their father’s shoes in the seamy underbelly of his hidden world. The series is created by Abdullah Saeed, developed by Jenni Konner and Nora Silver, and executive produced by Nisha Ganatra and Vali Chandrasekaran. The series will run 10 half-hour episodes. 

Paramount Global will launch an ad-supported tier on its BET Plus subscription streamer. The announcement comes as Paramount continues talks about selling its stake in BET Media Group, in which several big names have shown interest. The BET Plus Essential tier, debuting June 25 synchronously with the BET Awards telecast, will run viewers $5.99 a month, $4 less than the monthly BET Plus fee. The service will run 15 and 30 second ads before and during programming, and will carry the same lineup as BET Plus. BET Media Group president and CEO Scott Mills said of the announcement,

“A primary focus for BET Plus has been delivering consumers the content they want, how they want it and when they want it, so the natural evolution of the service was to provide consumers with a more economical ad-integrated experience. We are delighted to expand access to our premium streaming service by introducing this ad-supported tier.”

Today, 70% of Black consumers subscribe to at least one SVOD service, and more than 80% report using a free ad-supported TV service in the past month. The new service will appeal to BET’s audience as well as advertisers, who have increasingly been looking for more non-linear options.

The Effects of Lying has been acquired by UK streamer ITVX. The comedic drama from Bonaparte Films is known for its South Asian representation and comes from director Isher Sahota of Grace and McDonald & Dodds. The show follows Naveen (Ace Bhatti), a loyal husband and father whose life is disrupted when a particularly chaotic day exposes a lifetime of family secrets. The show also stars Laila Rouass, Lauren Patel, Navin Chowdry, Shaheen Khan, and Mark Williams. Of his character, Bhatti says, 

“Naveen is a man who tries to do right by his family. He’s trying so hard to keep his fractious family together, but within 24 hours he learns three very deep, very dark secrets that break his life apart. By lunchtime, his whole life is shattered… and he has to learn very quickly how to deal with that on an emotional level.”

The Effects of Lying will release on July 6, marking the beginning of South Asian Heritage Month.

Disney will introduce a new streaming service featuring content from Hulu and Disney+ by the end of 2023. Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, which have been offered as a discounted bundle since 2020, will continue to be available as standalone services. CEO Bob Iger noted that pricing would be increasing with the consolidation, and CFO Christine McCarthy said that Disney would take a $1.5 to $1.8 billion impairment charge as a result of content cuts and streamlining in the streaming department. The single-app structure presents an “exciting” advertising opportunity, says Iger, as 40% of Disney’s domestic ad units are addressable, meaning they can target various viewer demographics with customized ads. Of the single app, Iger says,

“The single app [offers] greater opportunities for advertisers, while giving bundle subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content, resulting in greater audience engagement and ultimately leading to a more unified streaming experience.”

The consolidation comes as no surprise; since Disney took over Hulu in 2019, many industry players have suspected a consolidation or streamlining of some kind. In early 2024, a put/call option takes effect for Disney, who holds operational control of Hulu, and Comcast, which owns one-third of the service. Comcast’s stake is worth more than $9 billion, and Hulu’s total floor amount was estimated at $27 billion in 2019. Iger notes, “We are confident we are on the right path toward streaming profitability.”

Ava DuVernay - Jeff Kravitz

Industry: In an apparent change of course, Disney CEO Bob Iger has revealed that talks with Comcast about acquiring its one-third stake in Hulu have commenced. The talks have been “constructive” and “cordial,” though according to Iger, It has not yet been fully determined what’s going to happen.” In Disney’s second quarter earnings call, Iger said,

“I mentioned on the first earnings call that I did when I came back [in February] that everything was on the table, and in fact everything was on the table. I’ve now had another three months to really study this carefully and figure out what is the best path for us to grow this business. . . . It’s clear that a combination of the content that’s on Disney+ with general entertainment is a very strong combination, from a subscriber perspective, from a customer acquisition and retention perspective, and also from an advertiser’s perspective.”

Iger did not reveal even a semblance of a structured agreement, but seems to have warmed up to the idea of acquiring Comcast’s stake. Hulu was formed by Fox and NBC as a joint venture in 2007, after which Time warner joined in during the early days of the rise of streaming. Iger’s comments came along with the announcement that Hulu would be added to Disney+ as a single-app offering by the end of 2023, which would bring with it a price increase. 

Disney will be pulling some content from its streaming platforms as it restructures its offerings in a marriage between Hulu and Disney+. CFO Christine McCarthy said on the company’s post-earnings call, 

“We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation. As a result, we will be removing certain content from our streaming platforms, and currently expect to take an impairment charge of approximately $1.5 to $1.8 billion. The charge, which will not be recorded in our segment results, will primarily be recognized in the third quarter as we complete our review and remove the content.”

Disney has not specified what content it intends to remove, but along with the recent cancelation of both Willow and National Treasure, it says it plans on producing “lower volumes of content” in line with its change in strategy. Amid layoffs and a $150 million hit last quarter, Disney says it is still on track to meet or surpass its planned savings of $5.5 billion. Iger called the cancellations and conservative approach to content creation a “surgical” approach, saying that the company has spent too much time and money on production and marketing of content that did little to increase subscriber numbers. He said,

“When you make a lot of content, everything needs to be marketed. You’re spending a lot of money marketing things that are not going to have an impact on the bottom line, except negatively due to the marketing costs. . . . We were spreading our marketing costs so thin that we were not allocating enough money to even market [content] when [it] came onto the service.”

Iger noted that, as a relatively new player in the streaming landscape, Disney is still in the “maturation process.” He said,

“We are learning a lot more about it. Specifically, we are learning a lot more about how our content behaves on the service and what customers want.”

The overall deal between Warner Bros. TV and Selma director Ava DuVernay will be ending this month. DuVernay, who is also known for When They See Us and Colin In Black & White, signed a five-year deal with WB in 2018 that was worth about $100 million. During the span of the deal, she sold and produced eight series, including writing and producing Naomi for the CW. She also created and executive produced NBC’s Home Sweet Home. Reports indicate that the deal came to an amicable close, with DuVernay going on to work on her film Caste with Vera Farmiga, Niecy Nash, Nick Offerman, Jon Bernthal, Audra McDonald and Connie Nielsen and focus on features. DuVernay has not revealed where she plans to move her television deal. 

Sony’s faith-based streaming platform Pure Flix will merge with Hallmark rival Great American Media. Specific terms of the deal have yet to be revealed, but Pure Flix will be part of the new entity along with GAM’s two cable networks, Great American Family and Great American Living, and free subscription-based streamer Great American Adventures. President and CEO of Great American Media Bill Abbott will retain his majority stake in the newly merged company, and will keep his CEO title. Abbott said in a statement, 

“In a media environment where programming and distribution business models are in a constant state of flux, this agreement provides a rare opportunity to maximize our potential with the expertise, market knowledge and content creation capabilities of a world class partner like Sony Pictures.”

Chairman of global television studios and corporate development for Sony Pictures Ravi Ahuja added,

“Family-friendly entertainment remains an important segment of the industry, and merging these two entities will create the greatest opportunity to achieve more scale for Pure Flix as it continues to build its subscriber base.”

Pure Flix was acquired by Sony Pictures in 2020, and has close to 1 million subscribers in North America, while GAM has a reach of about 50 million households. 

After his recent Peabody win for the docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby, W. Kamau Bell has started a production company, Who Knows Best, and signed an overall deal with Boardwalk Pictures. The Emmy-winning producer, director, and comedian founded Who Knows Best in Oakland, California, with the goal of “fostering a diverse creative community and telling revolutionary non-fiction stories by any medium necessary.” After partnering with Boardwalk on We Need to Talk About Cosby, WKB and Boardwalk moved forward with the multi-year deal, for which Bell says he’s “super excited.”

“I’m super excited for the opportunity to highlight stories and talent from the Bay Area — and specifically Oakland — alongside a powerhouse production company like Boardwalk Pictures[.] I’ve learned through working with them now for several years that the name ‘Boardwalk’ comes from the idea that a Boardwalk is a communal gathering space That is exactly the type of place that I want to foster in Oakland with WKB, a place where talent can learn and grow. I’m extremely grateful to the team at Boardwalk for their partnership, collaboration and trust. And I very much look forward to amplifying Bay Area stories and voices.”

Under the contract, WKB will create scripted and unscripted non-fiction projects centered around marginalized voices in the Oakland area. Boardwalk VP Sarina Roma calls Bell a “creative and artful storyteller,” adding,

“[He] sees the full picture: humor, injustice, nuance. He understands the power of sharing a compelling narrative for broad audiences, and we are thrilled to partner with him to further amplify the community and the stories that are so special to him.”

Bell recently directed and executive produced the Max doc 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed, which explores the nuances of multiracial children and their families in the Bay Area as a followup to We Need to Talk About Cosby. The latter premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and earned four Emmy nominations, a Gotham Award, and a Peabody. Bell has also hosted and executive produced Emmy Award-winning series United Shades of America With W. Kamau Bell for CNN. 

Strike Watch: In the midst of the WGA writers strike, media companies must make their annual upfront pitches to advertisers. Next week’s upfronts, an event that sees networks presenting their upcoming programming to advertisers, are complicated not only by the ongoing strike, but by a gloomy economic outlook and a shift in the streaming landscape. The industry is facing some important questions head-on. As live linear programming continues to fall out of favor, does the prime-time schedule have any meaning? How will companies develop and evolve their profit models as streaming becomes the most popular way to consume content? What is the new equivalent of an advertiser’s bets on a hot new primetime show? First-quarter earnings reports showed “significant ad softness,” though some people remain optimistic. Mark Marshall, interim chairman of ad sales and partnerships at NBCU, says,

“We feel dramatically better about things than we [did] a few months ago. Supply chain issues have improved, inflation is slowing down. The job market continues to churn, which means consumers still have money to spend. Remember, the upfront is a futures market.”

Marshall points out that in the fourth quarter, there are slated to be 16 movie studio releases, 17 new car launches, and 10 new pharmaceutical drugs on the market – all things that need to be advertised. In the last few years of relentless and unprecedented change, the structure of upfronts, once well-established, has been upset. And with the WGA work stoppage nearing the end of its second week, late-night shows, once an advertiser’s mecca, have gone dark. Many creators are refusing to cross picket lines from Los Angeles to Manhattan. President of ad sales and partnerships at Disney Rita Ferro notes her “tremendous respect” for writers and their plight, saying the strike “has been rough for everyone.” Warner Bros Discovery Chief U.S. Ad Officer Jon Steinlauf agrees:

“We’re still putting together the splashiness of it. We’re going ahead. We’re doing a show Wednesday morning at MSG and we expect to have a big crowd for it, but it’s a different year. … We’re trying to make sure the celebrity presence is what we’d like it to be. … It’s a changing situation. We’re working on it. It won’t be like last year.”  

Nonetheless, some companies have bowed out of live events completely, with Paramount hosting a series of small dinners in lieu of its traditional Carnegie Hall event and Netflix choosing not to host its live show at the Paris Theatre, citing the strike. The CW will host a press breakfast and client luncheon rather than its usual New York City Center Theatre blowout. Paramount Advertising President John Halley said of these shifts,

“I really think it has worked out a lot better this way. We have much more detailed and productive conversations and people feel like they can really engage, instead of rushing from event to event.”

At this year’s upfronts, companies are faced with a changing landscape of viewership and consumption. With the streaming market becoming increasingly saturated, platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime rely heavily on original content to differentiate themselves and attract subscribers. Streamers who are leaning into the ad-supported model need their original content to appeal to advertisers, but the work stoppage means that content has run dry. Though still an appealing market to advertisers, streamers are forced amid the strike to push their release schedules and rely on international content. Companies outside of the US are not feeling quite the same squeeze: TelevisaUnivision, whose production base is in Mexico, will use the upfronts to highlight resilience in the “Hispanic ad market.” While other companies report declines, TelevisaUnivision can boast increases in ad sales over recent quarters. Donna Speciale, ad sales chief at Televisa, says,

“Historically, Hispanic investment would be the first to be cut in a volatile market, and now the opposite is happening.”

As the strike plods on, no aspect of the industry will go unaffected, from production to distribution. Both sellers and buyers at this year’s upfronts will have to think on their toes and make room for cataclysmic shifts in previously well-established dynamics.