Broadcasting & Cable News

Showtime Debuts Motown Documentary ‘Hitsville’ Aug. 24

July 21, 2019

Showtime will premiere the documentary Hitsville: The Making of Motown Aug. 24. Benjamin and Gabe Turner directed the film, about the story of Motown Records. The Motown story is told through new and exclusive interviews with label founder Berry Gordy. The documentary focuses on the birth of the ...

Ford Leaving Position at Nonfiction Producers Group

July 21, 2019

Veteran network programming executive John Ford is stepping down as general manager of NPact, a trade organization serving producers of non-fiction entertainment content. The move is the result of the sale of Justice Network and Quest to Tegna for $77 million in May. Ford has been head of ...

Amazon Lines Up Jack Reacher Series

July 21, 2019

Amazon Prime has won the rights to develop a Jack Reacher series. Author Lee Child is behind the two dozen books featuring Jack Reacher, including Bad Luck and Trouble, Blue Moon and Past Tense. Reacher departed the U.S. army and travels the country, taking on random jobs, investigating suspicious ...

Season 23 of ‘South Park’ on Comedy Central Sept. 25

July 21, 2019

Season 23 of animated hit South Park premieres on Comedy Central Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The show launched in 1997. Trey Parker and Matt Stone created South Park. New episodes can be streamed on South Park Studios and Hulu the day after they premiere. The whole of the South Park library can ...

Kaylee Hartung Joins ABC News as Correspondent

July 21, 2019

Kaylee Hartung has joined ABC News as a correspondent. She’s based in New York. She comes from CNN, where she was a correspondent in Atlanta. James Goldston, ABC News president, said in a note to staff, “She is a versatile and skilled journalist. Kaylee reported from the streets of Charlottesville ...

New Season of ‘Alaskan Bush People’ on Discovery Aug. 4

July 21, 2019

A new season of Alaskan Bush People begins on Discovery Aug. 4. Park Slope Productions produces the show, about the Brown family as the members attempt to survive out in the wilderness. “After six months on the mountain, the Wolfpack has fully re-dedicated themselves to the goal of total ...

Ted Danson to Star in New Tina Fey Comedy on NBC

July 21, 2019

NBC has ordered a comedy from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock that stars Ted Danson as a wealthy businessman who runs for mayor of Los Angeles for all the wrong reasons, and wins. “We are so excited that this is the first NBC show we get to greenlight straight to series,” said George Cheeks and Paul ...

Spalter Gets Three More Years Atop USTelecom

July 21, 2019

USTelecom has renewed the contract of CEO Jonathan Spalter for three additional years. Spalter was chair of Mobile Future before joining the telecom association in January 2017, succeeding Walter McCormick. “I’m energized by USTelecom’s growing leadership in the key issues driving the future of our ...

Zefr Sells Rights Management Assets to Vobile for $90M

July 21, 2019

Vobile Group agreed to acquire the RightsID and ChannelID assets from Zefr, which will focus on its contextual targeting platform for brands. The purchase price is about $90 million, according to the companies. The acquisition bolsters Vobile’s video identification, protection and monetization ...