Know What's Happening in Television
Know What's Happening in Television
China regulator cracks down on TV dramas obsessed with beauty
China’s National Radio and Television Administration warned that domestic TV dramas are overly fixated on physical beauty and traffic‑driven popularity, urging producers to prioritize stronger acting and storytelling. The directive was delivered at a conference attended by major streamers including iQIYI, Tencent Video, Mango TV and Youku.
WWE and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe have teamed with Netflix to produce "Kill Tony: WrestleMania," a comedy special filmed at Dolby Live in Las Vegas on April 18 and premiering on Netflix on April 20. The event coincides with WrestleMania 42 and will air alongside a double‑feature Raw after WrestleMania. It will feature WWE super‑stars, legends, established comedians and surprise celebrity guests. Tickets are sold as a closed‑door event via Ticketmaster, while WrestleMania 42 streams internationally on Netflix April 18‑19.
The FreeWheel Video Marketplace Report for H2 2025 shows Connected TV (CTV) now drives 86% of premium video ad views in the US and 50% in Europe, with ad view volume up 11% year‑over‑year across both regions. European CTV ad views...
Digital i’s Streaming in Flux: 2025 in Review shows streaming hours rebounding after a 2024 slump, driven by a resurgence in Netflix usage and a 47.6% jump in Disney+ daily minutes. Prime Video logged 6.9 billion viewing hours, while the total number...
Friends returns to UK streaming via HBO Max after disappearing from Netflix at the end of 2025. The launch, partnered with NOW, offers an ad‑supported tier for existing customers and four subscription options for new users. HBO Max’s catalogue now includes The Pitt,...
Crunchyroll has launched the second installment of its “Ready to Anime?” brand film in India, starring actress Rashmika Mandanna and cricketer Shubman Gill. The spot dramatizes Gill’s disappointment at an anime’s ending and Mandanna’s reassurance that more content awaits, underscoring the platform’s...
ABC employees ended a historic 24‑hour strike – the broadcaster’s first in 20 years – but negotiations remain unresolved, leaving the threat of further action alive. Meanwhile, radio personality Kyle Sandilands filed a Federal Court suit against ARN, publicly revealing...
Deltatre announced that long‑time CEO Andrea Marini will step down after five years and transition to Deputy Chairman, while Marc Watson has been appointed the new chief executive. Watson, a former BT TV Group head and DAZN chief commercial officer, brings deep...
HBO Max’s medical drama “The Pitt” claimed the No. 1 spot on Whip Media’s U.S. streaming originals chart for the week ending March 22. The series, starring Noah Wyle, follows a 15‑hour ER shift with each episode covering one hour, and its...
DAZN announced DAZN Inflight, a service to stream live sports on airplanes and cruise ships, led by partnership chief Aviv Giladi. The offering is slated for a 2027 launch, extending the platform beyond its current footprint in more than 200...
Netflix launched an ambitious PR activation for its new sci‑fi blockbuster, Rebel Moon, by installing a 10‑meter geodesic dome on the Thames banks in London. The dome, surrounded by a wheat field and hidden LED lights, projected series imagery, creating an...
Nina Lee, an award‑winning Black filmmaker, urged fans to watch the new rom‑com “You, Me & Tuscany,” because studios are waiting to see its box‑office performance before buying her already‑shot Black‑led rom‑com and a romance script. The film, starring Halle...
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment will launch a 15‑disc DVD box set of The Amazing World of Gumball on May 5, 2026. The collection compiles every episode from the show’s six Cartoon Network seasons along with the special "Darwin’s Yearbook"...
AdImpact’s first local CTV ad trends report examined 511,000 advertisers across 210 U.S. TV markets in 2025. Markets outside the top 50 generated 52.5% of local CTV impressions while representing only 33% of the TV population. Quarterly data showed Q4...
BTS’s live comeback concert streamed on Netflix attracted 18.4 million global viewers, while all 14 songs from their new album ‘Arirang’ simultaneously topped Spotify’s daily global chart. The dual achievement marks the group’s most powerful return since their military hiatus and...
Netflix announced that Bridgerton Season 5 will revolve around characters Francesca and Michaela, underscoring the streaming giant's continued commitment to the franchise. The move signals a strategic pivot toward fresh storylines while retaining the series' core appeal.
Paramount Global and Skydance have emerged as the leading bidder for Warner Bros. Discovery, but the deal now faces a wave of political criticism. Senator Elizabeth Warren and actress Jane Fonda released a video denouncing the merger as an abuse...
Netflix has terminated its pending purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery's studio assets, ending months of negotiations. The withdrawal leaves deal advisors scrambling and could reshape financing activity in the entertainment sector.
Married At First Sight (MAFS) continued to dominate Australian television on March 25, 2026, achieving a total national reach of 2.94 million viewers and an audience of 1.88 million. The episode generated controversy when contestant Danny made a sexist remark about moving...
Netflix launched its first Major League Baseball broadcast on Opening Night, featuring an hour‑long pre‑game show and a distinctive bottom‑right scorebug. The graphic combines three‑dimensional team logos, base‑path overlays, and pitch‑clock data, but its microscopic font has drawn sharp criticism...
HBO Max officially launched in the United Kingdom on Thursday, marked by a high‑profile party in London hosted by Lisa Kudrow. The event showcased the service’s flagship titles, including the medical drama The Pitt, the critically acclaimed The Last of Us,...
Monday TV ratings for March 23, 2026 were posted using Fast Affiliate Numbers, covering new episodes of shows such as Memory of a Killer, FBI, The Rookie, St. Denis Medical and Wild Cards. The report lists percentage changes from the previous original episode for each...
The NFL’s flag‑football push culminated in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, a star‑laden showcase that was abruptly moved from Riyadh to Los Angeles amid geopolitical tensions. Despite Tom Brady’s comeback hype and heavy promotion on Fox, the broadcast averaged only 650,000 viewers,...
Veteran broadcaster Bruce Whitfield is launching a new News24 business series that will interview South Africa’s economic leaders and explore growth sectors. The program aims to provide in‑depth analysis and elevate public discourse on the country’s post‑pandemic recovery. Meanwhile, KLA’s...
Hulu has decided not to move forward with the comedy pilot *Don’t Get High*, starring Tony Hale and created by Megan Ganz. The show, about a high‑school anti‑drug club, was part of Hulu’s broader effort to expand its young‑adult (YA)...
Netflix announced a sequel, City Hunter 2, slated for a 2027 global launch, bringing back Ryohei Suzuki as the titular Ryo Saeba. The original 2024 live‑action adaptation topped Netflix’s Global Top 10 non‑English films and entered the top 10 in 32 countries, sparking...
Paramount's pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery faced a surprise eleventh‑hour bid from Singapore‑registered Nobelis Capital, offering $32.50 per share in cash. The proposal lacked disclosed financing or a definitive agreement, prompting Warner’s board to label it a likely non‑serious...
Amazon MGM’s sci‑fi dramedy Project Hail Mary crossed the $100 million domestic mark in its sixth day and is projected to earn $45 million in its second weekend, a hold comparable to the 2024 March hit Dune: Part Two. The film will...
Fathom Entertainment announced that CEO Ray Nutt will retire later this year after nine years at the helm. Nutt, who joined as CEO in 2017 following a long tenure at Regal Entertainment Group, will assist the board in finding his...
Tubi unveiled Scene Sense, a scene‑level contextual targeting engine that analyzes visual cues, tone and sentiment to serve relevant display ads when viewers pause content, alongside new carousel, trivia and poll pause‑ad formats. It also introduced Tubi Priority Access, an...
The episode examines the abrupt shutdown of OpenAI's video‑generation app Sora and its fallout for Disney, which had invested $1 billion and secured rights to 200 of its characters. Host Matt Bellany and tech reporter Alex Heath discuss why OpenAI reprioritized...
Oh the irony of Colbert ultimately creating a movie for Paramount, who cancelled his show...
Starz cancelled the critically acclaimed sci‑fi drama *Counterpart* after two seasons, despite both seasons holding a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The series, starring Oscar‑winner J.K. Simmons, follows a low‑level U.N. employee who discovers a parallel‑universe cold war. Starz...
Reed Hastings Says Netflix’s Biggest Risk Is if YouTube Content ‘Boosted With AI’ Becomes ‘Cool and Sexy’ https://t.co/hnN5bz8ktl via @variety
Sabio Holdings' Creator Television has teamed up with Los Angeles‑based venture studio Convergence to produce creator‑led programming for television. The collaboration will generate original series across sports, lifestyle and other genres, extending influencer storytelling beyond social platforms. Produced shows will...
Sinclair Broadcast Group will merge the newsrooms of its Tulsa stations, KTUL (ABC) and KOKI (Fox), creating a shared content hub with upgraded weather, studio and master‑control facilities. The consolidation will shift KTUL to a reporter‑driven, anchor‑light format starting in...
Curtis LeGeyt, CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, warned that consolidation is essential for traditional TV networks to compete for the NFL’s roughly $10 billion annual media rights. He argues that only larger, merged entities can afford the escalating fees...
NBCUniversal’s Olympic Creator Collective sent more than 25 digital creators to the Milan‑Cortina Winter Games, generating over 4 billion impressions across its social channels – a 437% jump from Beijing 2022. The follow‑up Project Fortius program helped ten athletes add more than...
Mikyung (Michelle) Kwon, chief executive of Webtoon’s Studio N, told Variety that the Western entertainment industry is still learning the commercial potential of webcomic‑derived content, even as the studio racks up Emmy nominations, Netflix and Disney+ series, and record‑breaking Korean...
Premier Lacrosse League founder Paul Rabil praised ESPN executive Burke Magnus as a long‑time steward of lacrosse, highlighting his role in structuring the sport’s college coverage and negotiating the league’s first ESPN rights deal in 2022. Magnus, who has been...
ViX announced four new original productions— the anthology "Mujeres Asesinas 4," the docuseries "Implacables y Divinas," the action‑thriller "Carnada," and the drama "Yo No Creo en los Hombres." Each title features high production values and star‑studded casts from the Spanish‑language...
Paramount’s CBS has secured a multi‑year extension to broadcast WNBA games, expanding its slate to 20 regular‑season matchups on the CBS network and Paramount+. The deal removes CBS Sports Network from the lineup, consolidating all coverage on broadcast TV and...
Netflix is accelerating its content spend to $20 billion by 2026, adding a slate of high‑profile series, films and a new VFX studio in India. The push comes as Paramount‑Warner Bros. Discovery negotiates a $111 billion merger that could create a true...
Allen Media Group announced it will integrate Anoki’s ContextIQ AI platform across its streaming assets, covering live news, weather, sports and premium entertainment. The technology provides scene‑level, real‑time content analysis, allowing advertisers to place brand‑safe ads while preserving high‑attention inventory....
DoubleVerify announced that Charter’s ad‑sales arm Spectrum Reach has become the first partner in its Certified Transparent Streaming program, delivering verified show‑level reporting for streaming TV and CTV inventory. The initiative embeds program‑level data—covering news, live sports, weather and business...
Mediaproxy will unveil its next‑generation LogPlayer at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, booth W1423. The upgrade adds AI‑driven workflow tools, native YouTube TV ingestion, and broader support for broadcast standards such as ST 2110, NMOS, NDI and JPEG‑XS. AI features automate content...
Belgian public broadcasters VRT and RTBF have teamed up again to launch “Hunters,” a six‑part, 52‑minute psychological action thriller that delves into the SWAT response to the 2016 Brussels attacks. The series builds on the momentum of the 2023 hit...
Future Today’s free, ad‑supported streaming services Fawesome and HappyKids now reach over 75 million U.S. households, delivering more than 2 billion monthly impressions. The platforms together offer a catalog of 350,000 titles, with Fawesome’s average session time up 57 percent and viewers spending...
The YouAppi‑Kochava 2026 CTV Growth Guide reveals that connected‑TV (CTV) ads precede search in 96% of install paths and social in 94%, positioning CTV as the true origin of user intent. Despite capturing 17.9% of U.S. media consumption, brands allocate...
Prime Video released the fourth episode of 'Invincible' Season 4, titled 'Hurm', showcasing a demonic battle in the Underrealm with star‑studded voice talent including Bruce Campbell and Kate Mulgrew. The episode’s over‑the‑top action and new characters have ignited strong fan and...
A former Bally Sports executive has withdrawn his bid to acquire seven local TV stations, ending a brief return to broadcast ownership. The stations, spanning Washington, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Tennessee, were to be sold for $116.5 million to Community News Media...
