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Linear TV Falls Below 50% of Viewing; 'Blind Side' Battle Over Movie Profits; 'Bachelorette' Star Talks "Manipulative" Suitor; 'The Winter King' Review

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August 15, 2023

What's news: SAG-AFTRA will not be offering interim agreements to titles covered by a WGA contract. Beyoncé showed her support for Lizzo at her Atlanta gig. NBCU and Roku are teaming up to launch several FAST channels. Wendy McMahon will now oversee the news and stations divisions at CBS. — Abid Rahman

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Linear TV Falls Below 50% of Viewing for First Time

►Streamroller. THR's Rick Porter reports that broadcast and cable networks made up less than half of all TV use in July — the first time linear TV viewing has fallen below 50 percent in Nielsen’s two-plus years of tracking viewing time by platform. While overall TV use in July edged up from the previous month, the growth came in streaming — which hit an all-time high of 38.7 percent of all TV usage — and the “other use” category, which includes video games played on a TV screen and physical media playback, that made up 11.6 percent of usage. The story.

—ICYMI... somehow. Donald Trump and several allies were indicted in Georgia on Monday, accused of scheming to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. It’s the fourth criminal case to be brought against the former president and the second to allege that he tried to subvert the results of the vote. The story.

—"It is a win-win change." SAG-AFTRA is making a significant change to its practice of offering interim agreements during its 2023 strike. THR's Katie Kilkenny reports that SAG-AFTRA negotiations leaders told members on Monday that moving forward, the performers’ union will not be offering these deals to titles covered by a WGA contract that are also produced in the U.S. The story.

—"I love you Lizzo!" Beyoncé showed her support for Lizzo during her show in Atlanta on Monday night, calling out the “About Damn Time” singer’s name and exclaiming her love for her. Beyoncé’s support for Lizzo comes amid damaging allegations made against the latter in a lawsuit filed by three former dancers. The story.

'Blind Side' Subject Claims He Was Cheated Out of Movie Profits

►Shocking allegations. Michael Oher, a retired NFL player whose life story was chronicled in The Blind Side, says the family at the center of the movie didn’t adopt him but rather tricked him into signing documents that appointed them as his conservators. THR's Winston Cho reports that under the conservatorship, Oher has been deprived of the rights to his name, image and likeness on top of millions of dollars the family got for signing away the rights to the book the film is based off of, he claims. The story.

—Moving forward. A judge has advanced a lawsuit from former Fox News employee Laura Luhn, who sued the network over decades of alleged sexual abuse by late CEO Roger Ailes. Justice Lyle Frank found on Monday that a settlement Luhn signed releasing Fox News from claims of discrimination and negligence — including an allegation that Ailes blackmailed her with sexually explicit videos — isn’t enforceable because she may have signed the deal under duress. The story.

—"The story is heart-wrenching but triumphant." Mindy Kaling and Dev Patel have boarded the doc To Kill a Tiger as executive producers prior to the film’s Oct. 20 release. Nisha Pahuja directs the feature about an Indian farmer who demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. The film screened at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival and has earned three Canadian Screen Awards. The story.

Fathom is Expanding Beyond Faith-Based and Opera Events

►"Some things deserve more time on the big screen." THR's Pamela McClintock writes that Fathom Events, the Colorado-based distributor known for niche cinematic experiences, is now helping originals hit the big screen as "audiences are looking for special content." The company has made a big impression in the faith-based and anime spaces, ranking No. 9 on the list of top distributors at the 2022 domestic box office, with $68m in ticket sales from a whopping 117 titles. The story.

—FAST expansion. NBCUniversal and Roku are teaming up to launch several FAST channels devoted to long-running shows in NBCU’s library. Starting Aug. 15, the streaming device maker’s Roku Channel will offer free, ad-supported channels featuring the long-running mystery show Murder, She Wrote; the original iteration of sitcom Saved by the Bell; and the 1970s-80s drama Little House on the Prairie. The story.

—Shake-up. Wendy McMahon is expanding her purview at CBS. The co-head of CBS News and Stations will now oversee the news and stations divisions solo following the departure of Neeraj Khemlani. In addition, she will assume oversight of CBS Media Ventures, the network’s syndication arm. Steve Locascio, the president of CBS Media Ventures, said Monday that he would be retiring after 34 years at the company. Khemlani is shifting to a production deal with CBS. The story.

'Bachelorette' Star Talks Reconnecting With "Manipulative" Suitor

►"Watching it back, it was extremely difficult." Charity Lawson got plenty of closure with some of her most notable former suitors during her “Men Tell All” episode of The Bachelorette. THR hellion Ryan Gajewski spoke to the season 20 star of the ABC dating series, who discusses reuniting with Brayden Bowers and Xavier Bonner, and teases what's ahead for next week's finale. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.

—"I believe I’ll find my person." Amid all the Charity drama, the “Men Tell All” special also featured a sit-down with Gerry Turner, who is set to star on the network’s highly anticipated spinoff series The Golden Bachelor. The 71-year-old Indiana resident took the stage and explained why he doesn't expect a new romance to "look like the relationship I had with [late wife] Toni." The story.

—Honorees revealed. The developers of eight technologies used in television will receive Emmys during The Television Academy’s 75th Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Awards, which is slated to be presented Oct. 18. During the ceremony, Birney Dayton will receive a lifetime achievement award and the NAB will accept a corporate achievement honor. The story.

'The Crown' EP Reflects on Decade-Long Journey

►"I don’t know whether I’ll ever work on a 10-year project again." For THR, Hilton Dresden spoke to The Crown executive producer Suzanne Mackie who reflects on five seasons of the hit Netflix royal drama ahead of the sixth and final season. Mackie looks back on her decade-long journey with the show and how the cast changes affect Peter Morgan’s writing. The interview.

—"It’s about regular people doing extraordinary things." For THR, Esther Zuckerman spoke to Andor star Diego Luna on the Disney+ series’ relevance. The actor and EP discussed the narrative impact of his Star Wars rebellion show on the eve of the SAG strike. The interview.

—"I’m really passionate about how we represent queer sex generally." THR's Abbey White spoke to Red, White & Royal Blue's intimacy coordinator Robbie Taylor Hunt on why representations of queer intimacy remain complicated for audiences. Hunt also discusses working with stars Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine, how director Matthew López's background in theater aided his process, and why the SAG-AFTRA strike is a win for queer inclusion and the safety of artists alike. The interview.

—The power of a summer premiere date. THR's Tyler Coates writes that like Ted Lasso before it, The Bear's second-season premiere during the Emmy campaign window may boost its chances to secure the prize for best comedy series for its debut season. The analysis.

TV Review: 'The Winter King'

►"Struggles to balance the epic with the intimate." THR's Angie Han reviews MGM+'s The Winter King. Iain De Caestecker, Ellie James, Stuart Campbell and Eddie Marsan star in this revisionist take of the King Arthur legends based on Bernard Cornwell's novels. The review.

—"A light and bouncy cultural crossover." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Anthony Stacchi’s The Monkey King. Netflix's rollicking CG-animated fantasy inspired by the Chinese Journey to the West stories features a voice cast that includes Jimmy O. Yang, Bowen Yang, Stephanie Hsu and BD Wong. The review.

In other news...

—Netflix's Scout's Honor trailer exposes Boy Scouts abuse scandal: “This is an abomination”

—Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan star in trailer for Netflix’s Leonard Bernstein drama Maestro

—Harrison Ford inspires name for new species of snake found in Andes Mountains

—Only Murders in the Building escape room extended in Century City

—Zooey Deschanel engaged to Property Brothers star Jonathan Scott

—Ed Sheeran wows A-list crowd at intimate SiriusXM concert

What else we're reading...

—Aaron Blake looks at the four key things revealed by Trump’s latest indictment [WaPo]

—Sonam Sheth writes that Rudy Giuliani, who pioneered the use of RICO when he was a U.S. attorney, just got indicted on RICO charges [Insider]

—Jay Peters reports that Netflix is kicking off the first public tests of its cloud-streamed games [Verge]

—With hip-hop hitting 50, Justin Charity talks to Dr. A.D. Carson, a professor of hip-hop at UVA, about what the next half century for the genre might look like [Ringer]

—A horrific but important report from Charlotte Alter about a 13-year-old rape victim from Mississippi who was not able to get an abortion [Time]

Today...

...in 1997, Miramax unveiled James Mangold’s star-studded thriller Cop Land in theaters, where it would go on to gross $63m. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Jennifer Lawrence (33), Ben Affleck (51), Alejandro G. Iñárritu (60), Debra Messing (55), Anthony Anderson (53), Joe Jonas (34), Zeljko Ivanek (66), Peter Hermann (56), Natasha Henstridge (49), Emily Kinney (39), David Zayas (61), Quinton Aaron (39), Rob Thomas (58), Barbara Bouchet (80), Con O'Neill (57), Samuel Roukin (43), Tess Harper (73), Courtney Hope (34), Lubna Azabal (50), Ron Dean (85), Jacek Koman (67)

Magoo, the Virginia rapper who was part of the duo Timbaland & Magoo and who featured on the hit songs “Up Jumps da Boogie” and “Luv 2 Luv U,” has died. He was 50. The obituary.

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Written by José Vizcarra
on Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 7:14 AM.

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