AMC Networks Offers Addressable Ad Slots in Original Programs on AMC, WeTV

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTV networks have long demanded more data from Nielsen to help keep track of viewers who are leaving traditional TV for streaming video and mobile viewing. Now they say they want less.Nielsen recently began releasing new sets of information that include more granular measurement of TV audiences, available alongside its traditional measures of total linear viewership by age and gender.

EXCLUSIVE: Roswell, New Mexico star and Hallmark Channel alumna Heather Hemmens has signed a deal to star in multiple original films exclusively for Hallmark’s parent company, Crown Media Family Networks.

Documentary+, the free streaming service launched by non-fiction studio XTR, is getting into the original programming and has ordered its first project.

Assad Zaman (Hotel Portofino, Small Axe) has joined the cast of AMC’s Interview With The Vampire, its series adaptation of Anne Rice’s book. Zaman will play Rashid, joining previously cast Sam Reid as Lestat, Jacob Anderson as Louis and Bailey Bass as Claudia. The seven-episode first season is set to premiere on AMC+ and AMC later this year.

Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor said that it is blocking access to Facebook, as concerns are growing over a wider crackdown on media and the passage of new restrictions on reporting about the invasion of Ukraine.

EXCLUSIVE: David Eilenberg is returning to being a buyer.

Peter Olsen, president of ad sales, sees a blended future for the ad-supported TV business, but one in which Nielsen will continue to play a central role.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorA+E Networks has long been in the business of selling advertising time for its linear cable networks. But as it moves into a new era of haggling over audiences who watch TV in decidedly non-traditional fashion, it has started to push advertisers to find new ways to spend their money.“As our industry continues to evolve, we remain focused on premium, popular and relevant stories and storytellers and are expanding the ways our viewers can find our content,’ says Paul Buccieri,” president and chairman of A+E Networks Group, in a prepared statement, adding: “In an ever-changing landscape, we are providing our advertisers more —  more programming featuring the world’s most beloved talent, more best-in-class opportunities to reach their targets, and more custom solutions to exceed their goals and deeply engage their audiences.” A+E Networks is holding a virtual upfront presentation Wednesday for advertisers.

“The Batman” this weekend.AMC theaters are planning to charge higher ticket prices for the Robert Pattinson superhero flick when it opens this Friday, March 4.The cinema chain is experimenting with variable pricing for films, meaning they want to charge more money for certain, presumably higher-budget movies.AMC’s CEO Adam Aron announced the news on Tuesday during a web call about the company’s quarterly profits: “Currently, our prices for ‘The Batman’ are slightly higher than the prices we are charging for other movies playing in the same theaters at the same time,” he said. Aron then said that the transition follows a few years after they raised weekend prices for some of its locations in the United States, Deadline reported.“This is all quite novel in the United States, but actually AMC has been doing it for years in our European theaters.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorStanley Tucci’s next trip to Italy will face a slight delay.CNN will bump the debuts of a handful of looming original documentary projects due to its ongoing coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The second season of “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy,” will premiere on CNN later in the spring, as will the new series “Nomad with Carlton McCoy.” Meanwhile, the WarnerMedia network will push back the debut of “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” to Sunday March 13 at 9 p.m., a week later than its previously scheduled March 6 launch.The network has built a new business out of documentaries and docuseries, but it must balance those projects with the demands of the news cycle.

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett is set to publish his first comic book, Nights of Lono.The comic, which will launch this year but has yet to receive a firm release date, was announced on Monday (March 1), along with the news that AMC Networks is launching a new book publishing arm, AMC Networks Publishing.For Nights of Lono, Hammett – a longtime horror enthusiast – will be teaming up with writing partner Marcel Feldmar. The comic book will be set in 1989 Hawaii, and will explore themes within the supernatural, mystery and adventure genres.Per AMC Networks Publishing’s official description, Nights of Lono will tell the tale of “a troubled female detective who is hired to find King Kamehameha’s tomb before it is discovered by an unscrupulous occultist fro the mainland”.The comic is also described as a “self-aware journey through standard detective tropes and cliches that are sharpened and given new life with fresh takes on the myths and folklore of the Hawaiian Islands”.Following the news of AMC Networks Publishing’s launch and Nights of Lono, Hammett took to social media to say: “Excited to partner with award-winning creatives & companies to further engage [AMC’s] passionate fanbases with the stories & characters they love”.A post shared by Kirk Hammett (@kirkhammett)Besides Nights of Lono, Hammett is set to provide a foreword for AMC Networks Publishing’s first title, Shudder’s Creepshow: From Script to Scream, alongside Stephen King.Nights of Lono will mark the second book that the Metallica guitarist has written, following his 2012 coffee-table book, Too Much Horror Business, which detailed his horror collection and memorabilia.

A&E and WWE are expanding their original programming partnership in a multi-year deal calling for more wrestler-themed episodes of Biography as well as new series WWE Rivals.

From BAFTA-Winner Peter Moffat, J. David Shanks, and Michael B.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAMC Networks will unveil a new ad-sales initiative called “Avenue” aimed at helping advertisers reach diverse audiences more effectively and more frequently.Slated to be unveiled at a virtual “upfront” event on Thursday, “Avenue” aims to give advertisers more resources to reach different audiences and new events that will make that outreach possible throughout the calendar year, says Kim Kelleher, , president of commercial revenue and partnerships for AMC Networks, in a recent interview.“We are part of this greater industry that’s really striving to be more representative, and more authentic in that representation,” says Kelleher. “What we have done is organized our audiences, our data tools, and our creators in a way that can more easily be tapped by our advertising and marketing partners.” “Avenue” will initially focus on five key groups: women, Black audiences, LBGTQ+, Asian-American Pacific Islanders) and Hispanic/Latinx.

AMC Networks has set a deal with major cable providers Comcast, Charter and Cox for addressable ads to be shown in each hour of original programming on AMC and WE tv in 2022.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAt around $7 million per 30-second spot, an ad for Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI did not come cheap. But with more than 112 million viewers having tuned in for the Los Angeles Rams victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, the companies who shelled out that cash would likely think it was worth it to have their spot viewed by that many eyeballs.

AMC Networks beat Wall Street estimates for the fourth quarter and reported 9 million streaming subscribers as of the end of 2021, in line with company projections.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAMC Networks reported its fourth-quarter 2021 earnings Wednesday, revealing it had reached more than 9 million paid streaming subscribers by the end of 2021. The company also beat Wall Street’s expectations for both its Q4 revenue and profit.AMC Networks previously said it expected to have 9 million streaming subscribers by the end of 2021, and forecast between 20 million to 25 million paid subscribers across its streaming services by 2025.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMadison Avenue is getting closer to realizing its dream of using TV advertising to talk to viewers in a style more akin to a one-to-one conversationThe future of the humble TV ad has long been described as the following: New data and interactive technology will trim the practice of throwing a diaper ad or a car spot at every single member of the audience. Instead, more marketers will use addressable technology that allows them to beam different ads to different household, all in the same “slot” in a commercial break.Horizon, the independent media-investment company, will help deploy addressable ads in national linear inventory on networks owned by A+E Networks and Fox Corp.

Broadcast and cable networks have news teams in place in Ukraine as attention focuses on the possibility of an invasion, perhaps as soon as this week.