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Fox's World Series Home Run?; 'Walking Dead' Ratings; AT&T's Comcast Connection

October 25, 2016

What's news: The World Series kicks off in Cleveland tonight, and for the first time in years, Fox is expecting a ratings grand slam thanks to the long-suffering Cubs. Plus: Inside Obama's final fundraiser at Katzenberg's house, actors begin picketing the video game industry and The Walking Dead's ultraviolent premiere ties its ratings high. — Matthew Belloni and Erik Hayden.

Katzenberg's final Obama fundraiser. Chris Gardner has a few details from inside:

No more than 25 people gathered last night at the Beverly Hills home of former DreamWorks Animation boss Jeffrey Katzenberg and wife Marilyn to participate in a discussion with the president, according to a source.

The Katzenbergs hosted the event along with couples Crystal and Chris Sacca, and Jennifer Perry and Andy Spahn. Other guests in attendance included J.J. Abrams and wife Katie McGrath, with tickets reported at $100,000 per person. What else happened.

Earlier in the evening: The president joined Jimmy Kimmel to read mean tweets about himself, and shared a few more decent one-liners aimed at Trump: “I don’t tweet at 3 a.m. about people who insult me." Watch.

Ratings: 'Walking Dead' Matches High

It's still hot: The Walking Dead tied its all-time ratings high with an average 17M viewers tuning in to AMC on premiere night. Michael O'Connell has the just released figures:

The drama, already renewed for an eighth season, averaged an 8.4 rating among adults 18-49. That's more than double the same-day score of any broadcast scripted series this season. (It's still slightly shy of its best ever, an 8.7 rating for that same 2014 episode.)

The large live tune-in likely means comparatively smaller time-shifting for the episode, which has recouped more and more viewers from DVR, and a drop-off next week. But there's no question that these ratings are especially good news for the aging franchise.

In terms of growth from the sixth season, viewership was up 16 percent from the comparable episode last October and 20 percent from the finale.

► Where it goes now I Why it was so violent I Advocacy group: Too much.

↱ In AT&T mega-deal land. Matt emails: Here's an $85B question: If the AT&T-Time Warner merger is shot down by federal regulators, will Randall Stephenson and Jeff Bewkes have Comcast to blame?

Eriq Gardner raises that issue in his breakdown of the long approval process awaiting the biggest media deal in years. Comcast, which swallowed NBCUniversal in 2011, made a bunch of promises in order to gain approval of the deal.

And, at least according to watchdog groups, it hasn't lived up to its word. Now AT&T's Stephenson will likely be forced to make similar concessions, but will the government believe him? And what happens if regulators nix the deal?

The best detail from the New York Times backstory on the secrecy of the megadeal: Time Warner was codenamed "Rabbit" after WB's Bugs Bunny. ↲

Elsewhere in TV...

► World Series kicks off with high ratings stakes. Tonight's match-up between the Cubs and the Indians stands to give Fox a much-needed ratings lift — with some predicting a ratings climb on par with 2004, which still stands as the last series to average north of 20 million viewers.

► A Trump TV preview? The candidate's campaign held an inaugural airing of Trump Tower Live, kicking off a series of nightly shows on the GOP nominee's Facebook page. It's just to air campaign ads during the election, right? Right?

► Tonight Show showrunner exits for Universal. Showrunner Josh Lieb is exiting Jimmy Fallon's late-night series for an overall deal at Universal Television, where he will return to writing. The Tonight Show is expanding the roles of three producers to fill the void.

► Conan O'Brien is headed to New York. TBS' Conan is set to tape five shows from New York beginning Monday, Oct. 31, where guests will include Louis C.K. and Tracy Morgan. This marks O'Brien's first string of shows in New York since 2011.

► The CW commits to unscripted slate. Three shows got good news: Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Masters of Illusion have all been renewed to return in summer 2017.

► ESPN to launch in Africa. Under a new deal, the network will be available in 19 countries, and Walt Disney's sports juggernaut will also produce daily SportsCenter updates for the continent.

In THR, Esq: Suge Knight lawsuit claims Dr. Dre tried to have him killed (!) ... Kim Kardashian drops lawsuit after website apologizes for faked robbery story ... Warner Bros. sues Innovative Artists over screener piracy.

Actors Picket Gaming Industry

Rain-filled skies gave way to sun yesterday as SAG-AFTRA members arrived at the Playa Vista offices of Electronic Arts to picket against the nearly $100B video game industry, Natalie Jarvey reports:

The four-day-old strike centers around compensation for actors who lend their voices, complete stunts and perform motion capture work for hugely popular titles released by EA, Activision Blizzard and other gaming companies.

During its most recent contract renegotiation, which began about two years ago, the union asked the video game employers to adopt an agreement that would guarantee voice actors residuals from successful games.

Among key negotiating points: A demand for increased transparency around the projects actors are hired to work on, including the title of the game, which is often withheld to avoid leaks to press.

“It’s been two years of negotiating a contract where we’re not getting movement from the employers in a way that’s meaningful,” SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris told THR. “This is a multi billion-dollar industry. These are employers who should know better.”

Elsewhere in film...

↱ Must read: John Candy's children give rare interview. Near what would have been the legendary actor's 66th birthday, his adult children, both of whom are in show business, granted an in-depth conversation to share new tales about their father after his sudden death in 1994. ↲

► Shaun the Sheep Movie sequel in the works. Aardman Animations and StudioCanal unveiled sequel plans to 2015's Oscar-nominated title, an expected move given the $106M earned by the first film. Richard Starzak will again direct, with Paul Kewley returning as producer.

► Universal lands Peter Jackson’s next fantasy project. Jackson is adapting sci-fi fantasy novel Mortal Engines with his protege, Christian Rivers, set to helm the film. Jackson and Fran Walsh wrote the script with their collaborator Philippa Boyens.

► Alexander McQueen biopic finds leading man. Unbroken actor Jack O'Connell has been cast as the late fashion designer in the untitled film, to be directed by Andrew Haigh with Pathe producing. The script is written by Chris Urch.

► Marvel Studios addressing gender inequality. Saying that a “conscious change” is happening, exec vp of physical production Victoria Alonso said that the studio is working to bring more women to its ranks: "hopefully we can make a balanced Hollywood."

► Margot Robbie in talks for Peter Rabbit. The actress is in final negotiations to join the cast of Sony’s live-action/CG hybrid adaptation of the children’s tale written by Beatrix Potter, which is being directed by Will Gluck.

► Stranger Things actress joins thriller. Shannon Purser, known for her role as Barb on the Netflix series, has now found a feature outlet in Wish Upon. The film, currently in pre-production, has John Leonetti directing from a script written by Barbara Marshall.

Sausage Party to get serious awards push. Sony is gearing up to give the raunchy Seth Rogen animated film a full campaign, including but not limited to a push for a best animated feature Oscar nom, something no R-rated film ever has received.

Today in '78: 'Halloween' Hits Theaters

Where it all began: On Oct. 25, 1978, John Carpenter unleashed Halloween in theaters, spawning decades of imitations of the iconic horror title. An excerpt from THR's original review:

"Carpenter obviously knows the genre well and he builds a properly terrifying atmosphere through his well-paced direction. It’s an effective entry for its intended market...

...Carpenter creates excellent tension throughout and he avoids excessive blood and gore in the murder sequences. The violent actions are mostly implied more than graphically depicted, which serves to heighten the effect...

...Jamie Lee Curtis is excellent as the girl around whom the action revolves and she creates a natural, sympathetic character."