Ratings: Lincoln Lawyer Dominates Nielsen Streaming Top 10 With Season 4 Release; The Pitt Comes In At No. 2
Netflix’s legal drama “The Lincoln Lawyer” reclaimed the Nielsen streaming top spot for the week of Feb 9‑15, amassing 2.54 billion minutes across its 40 episodes, with 74 % of that consumption coming from the freshly released Season 4. HBO Max’s “The Pitt” secured the second position with 1.04 billion minutes, marking its highest‑ever ranking. Netflix also occupied four of the top five slots, including “Bridgerton,” “Love Is Blind,” and “Stranger Things.” The week highlighted strong demand for new‑season releases and underscored Prime Video’s growing appeal, especially among Black audiences.
Premeditated Productions Lands Five-Year Extension Of First-Look Deal At Amazon MGM Studios
Premeditated Productions has secured a five‑year extension of its first‑look deal with Amazon MGM Studios, extending the partnership through summer 2032. Launched in 2024 as the production arm of Entangled Publishing, Premeditated has already greenlit over a dozen adaptations of New York Times...
Globo Bets on a Portfolio of Series and Formats at Series Mania
Globo will present a diverse slate of scripted and unscripted series at Series Mania, Europe’s leading TV‑series market event. The lineup includes the telenovela "The Life We Lead," the horror‑fantasy "Blood Red – Under the Moonlight," and reality formats like...
Netflix Is Developing a Series About Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
Netflix announced a scripted series chronicling the lives of Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The drama adapts French author Claire Berest’s biography and will be directed by Patricia Riggen and Gabriel Ripstein, with María Renée Prudencio as head writer. Production is in early...
DIRECTV Launches In-App Sports Hub and New Multiview Mix Ahead of March Madness
DIRECTV is rolling out an in‑app Sports Central hub and a dedicated March Madness Multiview Mix for both satellite and streaming subscribers. The Multiview Mix lets fans watch up to four games simultaneously in a 4‑box layout during the early...
X Games Launches New Era With First League Draft at Cosm L.A.
The X Games unveiled its first MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Draft on March 14 at Cosm Los Angeles, marking the transition to a year‑round, global, team‑based competition. Forty of the world’s top action‑sport athletes were drafted into four city‑named...
Dropout Launches First Animated Series, ‘Toonout’
Dropout, the comedy‑focused streaming service that grew out of CollegeHumor, is entering scripted animation with its debut series "Toonout." The short‑form show launches on March 24 and will run 25 episodes, releasing new installments every other Tuesday through February 23, 2027. Production taps...
SCREENRIGHTS Calls for Applications in 2026 Cultural Fund Round
Screenrights, the copyright collective for Australian and New Zealand screen creators, has opened applications for its 2026 Cultural Fund round, allocating up to $300,000 in total funding. Grants of up to $50,000 will support projects that use screen storytelling to enhance...
Zephyr Animation Greenlights ‘Mogu & Perol’
Zephyr Animation, part of Madgic Group, has greenlit the preschool series Mogu & Perol, a 39‑episode 7‑minute 3DCG show co‑produced with Japan’s dwarf studios and Taiwan’s Aries Creative. Production will commence this month at France’s 2 Minutes studio, with delivery scheduled...
YouTube TV Adds a New 4K Channel
YouTube TV has added the Golf Channel to its 4K lineup, available through the optional 4K Plus add‑on. The upgrade costs an additional $9.99 per month on top of the $82.99 base plan and unlocks unlimited streams and offline downloads. The...
Line of Duty Star's "Remarkable" Thriller with 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score Being Removed From Netflix
Vicky McClure’s three‑part thriller *The Replacement* will disappear from Netflix on 19 March, ending a year‑long streaming window. The BBC drama, which debuted in 2017, has earned a perfect 100 % Rotten Tomatoes rating from eleven critics, drawing praise for its Hitchcock‑style tension and...
Hearst Media Production Group Names New President
Hearst Media Production Group announced that Bryan Curb will assume the role of president on July 1, succeeding retiring founder Frank Biancuzzo. Curb, currently executive vice president and general manager of educational and informational programming, brings over a decade of...
Dish Network Customers Cut Off From Gray Media Stations As Firms Fail To Reach Agreement
Katz Media Group’s recent two‑week membership drive generated more than $45,000 for the Broadcasters Foundation of America, bringing its cumulative contributions since the program’s start to nearly $550,000. The funds support the Stu Olds Memorial Fund, which provides emergency medical and...
Warm Springs Productions Launches Faith-Based Film & Television Banner
Warm Springs Productions announced the launch of Steadfast Collective, a new faith‑based film and television banner. The banner will produce a range of formats—including docudramas, reality series, micro‑dramas and feature films—for global audiences. Executives Bridger Pierce and David L. Cunningham...
Week of March 2 Evening News Ratings: Newscasts See Growth in Demo
ABC World News Tonight retained its position as the nation’s most‑watched evening newscast during the week of March 2, 2026, drawing 8.901 million total viewers and a 7% rise in the coveted Adults 25‑54 demographic. NBC Nightly News posted solid gains, up 2% in...
A Funding Rethink Can Help BBC Survive Crisis | Letters
Letter writers argue that the BBC’s traditional TV licence fee is increasingly untenable, citing a 12.5% non‑compliance rate and a 30% drop in funding during 2024‑25. They propose replacing the licence with a hypothecated council‑tax levy, similar to Switzerland’s universal...
Disney Sells Out 98th Oscars Ad Inventory, Pricing Up Double Digits
Disney Advertising announced that its entire ad inventory for the 98th Oscars has been sold out, driven by strong marketplace demand after last year’s broadcast. The company raised 30‑second spot prices to $1.7‑$2.3 million, a double‑digit increase over 2024, and secured...
Google and Range Media Partners Tap Veteran TV Producers for Microdramas Slate
Google and Range Media Partners have unveiled the 100 ZEROS initiative, a slate of microdramas created by veteran TV producers such as Mike Fleiss, Simon Fuller and McG. The vertical‑video series will debut on the Google TV app for Android...
‘Half Man,’ From ‘Baby Reindeer’ Creator Richard Gadd, to Launch on HBO Max in April
"Half Man," a six‑episode drama created by Richard Gadd, will debut on HBO Max in April 2026. The series, co‑produced with the BBC, streams across the U.S., Latin America, Europe, and airs on BBC iPlayer, BBC One, and BBC Scotland...
The Week’s MPN Video Podcast: NFL Money Grab: Why the League Reopened Its $111B Deal Early
Five years into its record $111 billion TV and streaming agreement, the NFL has reopened negotiations to secure a larger share of broadcast revenue. The league’s move follows the NBA’s recent $75 billion rights deal, which set a new market benchmark. Analysts...
Sky Sports’ New Rights Cycle for PGA TOUR Reshapes Production Operations
Sky Sports has entered a new PGA TOUR rights cycle, establishing a permanent production hub inside PGA TOUR Studios. The arrangement gives Sky two commentators and an on‑course reporter direct access to the world feed, while also providing permanent transmission...
PBS Chief Calls for Arkansas Public TV Commission to ‘Take a Pause’ on Leaving National Network
PBS CEO Paula Kerger urged the Arkansas TV commission to pause its planned disaffiliation from the national PBS network, arguing the decision should involve public input. Arkansas TV, citing unsustainable dues after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting lost federal funding, voted...
Xfinity To Stream THE PLAYERS Championship in RealTime4K; Debut Multiview and Fan View Features
Comcast’s Xfinity is teaming with NBC Sports and Golf Channel to broadcast THE PLAYERS Championship in RealTime4K, a low‑latency 4K format that arrived up to 49 seconds faster than conventional streams. The launch also introduces two interactive features: Fan View,...
BIScience Adds Linear TV to Its AdClarity Analysis Platform
BIScience has launched the TV Intelligence Suite, extending its AdClarity platform to include U.S. linear TV data. The upgrade lets customers monitor more than $174 billion in digital ad spend and $51 billion in linear TV spend from a single interface. Coverage...
Sports Stars Among Nominees for PTS Board of Directors
The Ministry of Culture released a second list of nominees for the eighth board of Taiwan’s publicly funded broadcaster, Public Television Service (PTS). The slate includes former baseball star Peng Cheng‑min and gymnast Lee Chih‑kai alongside leaders from online education,...
"Superb" And "Compelling" Period Crime Drama Being Removed From Netflix Soon
Period crime drama "Ripper Street" will be removed from Netflix on March 26, ending its streaming availability after a year on the platform. The BBC‑originated series follows Detective Inspector Edmund Reid and his team as they investigate Whitechapel crimes from...
Rakuten TV Enterprise Launches LIVE CTV Event Series
Rakuten TV Enterprise has launched LIVE, a new European event series focused on connected TV and streaming executives. The inaugural edition will take place in Madrid on March 17, gathering over 150 senior leaders from advertising, media agencies, platforms, studios...
RTL Approaches Inflection Point with Streaming Profitability Expected This Year
RTL Group reported a 3.8% drop in total revenues to €6.02 billion, but announced that its streaming portfolio is poised to become profitable this year after nearing break‑even at the end of 2025. Subscriber numbers rose to 8.06 million in 2025 and...
DStv’s High Entry Price Is Killing Subscriber Growth, Says Canal+
Canal+ Africa warned that DStv’s steep entry price is stalling subscriber growth in Anglophone Africa. Installation costs average €38 per household, nearly three times the €13 seen in Canal+‑run Francophone markets, contributing to a drop from 14.9 million to 14.4 million subscribers...
Nielsen’s New Insights Could Help Shift Ad Budgets in the Upfront
Nielsen unveiled a new upfront planning guide that offers a granular look at ad‑supported TV viewership across linear, FAST and AVOD platforms, with a focus on the 18‑49 demographic and sports audiences. The study shows adults 18‑49 allocate 63.8% of...
Mumbrellacast: Media Apocalypse Right Now
Tim Burrowes’ Unmade Index, which monitors 14 Australian listed media firms, has recorded a more than 60% drop in total market value since its launch in early 2022, underscoring a deepening media apocalypse. The latest Mumbrellacast episode also dissects the...
Showmax to Be Replaced by Canal+ App
Canal+ will retire Showmax, migrating South African subscribers to its own OTT app after Showmax accumulated roughly R8.7 billion in losses, including R4.9 billion in 2025. The transition will fold Showmax titles into the Canal+ platform and DStv Stream, aiming to retain customers...
Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar, Sanjay Kapoor Lead Indian Streamer Amazon MX Player’s Most Expansive Slate Yet, Topping 150 Shows for...
Amazon MX Player, India’s free streaming service with 250 million monthly viewers, announced its most ambitious 2026 lineup. The slate features over 150 new and returning titles across drama, action, reality and its micro‑drama MX Fatafat vertical. High‑profile projects such as...
VFL Inks Broadcast Deals with Foxtel, Seven, ABC, and SEN
The Victorian Football League has secured broadcast agreements with Foxtel, ABC, Seven and SEN, promising the competition’s biggest audiences in decades. Foxtel will stream 16 matches on Kayo Sports across the first 13 rounds, while ABC returns to VFL TV...
Looper Survey: Streamers Set to Dominate Sports Media Rights
A Looper Insights survey of sports‑media executives finds global streamers poised to dominate sports rights by 2026, with Amazon Prime Video emerging as the clear front‑runner. Forty‑one percent of respondents said streaming platforms will hold the greatest structural power, edging...
How IndyCar And NASCAR Joined Forces For Memorable Phoenix Weekend
The IndyCar and NASCAR doubleheader at Phoenix Raceway delivered record viewership, with the IndyCar Good Ranchers 250 drawing 1.247 million viewers—a 95 percent increase—and the NASCAR Cup Straight Talk Wireless 500 pulling 2.841 million, up 19 percent. The event marked Team Penske’s 60th anniversary and featured...
Fox, ESPN on Improving Live Sports Experience With DTC
Fox One and ESPN Unlimited are refining their direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) platforms to tackle sports‑viewing fragmentation, ingestion hurdles, and personalization demands. Fox targets the 60 million cord‑less households, offering the same lineup as pay‑TV and a joint ESPN bundle at $39.99 per...
Programming
Optimum‑owned News 12 is debuting “Made In,” a weekly series that highlights local businesses and entrepreneurs across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, premiering March 16 at 9 p.m. with repeats throughout the week. The show will be anchored by Rebecca...
Ratings
March Madness drove record TV audiences, with ESPN delivering its most‑watched men’s college basketball season since 2014‑15, averaging 1.1 million viewers across 127 games. ABC’s five tournament events pulled 1.7 million viewers, while ESPN’s family of networks posted a 25% year‑over‑year increase....
Disney+ Verts Landing Soon
Disney+ is rolling out a new vertical‑video feature called Verts to U.S. mobile users this week, following a January announcement. A dedicated Verts icon will appear in the navigation bar, letting subscribers swipe through bite‑size scenes from the platform’s library....
Barb Appoints Caroline Baxter as CEO
Barb, the UK’s joint‑industry audience measurement body, announced Caroline Baxter as its new chief executive. Baxter, who joined Barb in 2022 and was promoted to COO in 2024, will steer the firm through a new wave of innovation for linear,...
Sony Pictures TV Nonfiction Heads Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman Departing Studio
Sony Pictures Television announced that Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman will leave the nonfiction division they have led since 2022. The unit will be folded into President Katherine Pope’s portfolio, joining her scripted and kids businesses. Sony originally acquired Holzman...
The Live Nation Settlement Has Industry Insiders Baffled
The DOJ reached a settlement with Live Nation‑Ticketmaster that stops short of a breakup, instead imposing a 15 % fee cap on tickets sold at Live Nation‑owned amphitheaters and requiring limited transparency for artists. The agreement also obliges Ticketmaster to open...
Bell, Telus Reach Distribution Agreement for Oxygen True Crime, USA Network, New CTV Specialty Channels
Bell withdrew its April 2025 complaint after reaching a distribution agreement with Telus for five discretionary channels—Oxygen True Crime, USA Network, CTV Nature, CTV Speed and CTV Wild. The dispute originated from Bell’s claim that Telus favored Rogers’ new channels...
Magnify Digital’s Audience Intelligence Platform Adopted by NZ Content Funder
Magnify Digital announced that Te Māngai Pāho, New Zealand’s national Māori screen fund, will deploy its AI‑driven audience intelligence platform ScreenMiner across about 150 funded productions each year. The platform aggregates quantitative metrics and structured qualitative feedback from digital channels, delivering decision‑ready insights...
Spain Named Country of Honour at the 2026 Banff World Media Festival
Spain has been named the Country of Honour for the 2026 Banff World Media Festival, recognizing its rapid ascent as a global hub for premium content. The designation follows a breakout year featuring hits such as *Berlin* and *La mesías*,...
Kerry Washington Talks Possibility of ‘Scandal’ Revival at ‘Imperfect Women’ Premiere
Kerry Washington, promoting Apple TV+’s Imperfect Women, was asked about a possible Scandal reunion and redirected the question to creator Shonda Rhimes. Co‑star Tony Goldwyn gave a matching response, also pointing to Rhimes for any revival plans. Fans have already...
Calrec To Unlock Hybrid Workflows At 2026 NAB Show
Calrec will showcase hybrid workflow solutions at the 2026 NAB Show, unveiling its U.S. debut of the IP‑native Argo M audio console. The 48‑fader console packs up to 356 internal DSP channels and supports SMPTE ST 2110 and cloud connectivity. Calrec will also...
FreeWheel Launches AI Agent Infrastructure for Premium Video Ads, Pilots with PMG
FreeWheel unveiled an AI agent infrastructure built on its Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server and a suite of Intelligence tools, embedding artificial intelligence directly into premium video ad transactions. The platform enables real‑time workflow automation, performance monitoring, and decision‑making for...
CBS Sports Turns to University of Cincinnati’s Control Room and Staff for Two Big 12 Men’s Basketball Broadcasts
CBS Sports partnered with the University of Cincinnati to produce two Big 12 men’s basketball games from the school’s on‑campus control rooms, marking the second university‑based linear broadcast after Kansas State. CBS supplied its front‑bench producers and directors while Cincinnati...