Comcast And AMC Networks Set Distribution Deal Expanding Streaming Presence On Xfinity And XClass

EXCLUSIVE: Filming has begun in Canada on New Regency-backed fencing thriller Balestra, which will be produced as a feature with an alternate version to be released separately as a limited series.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAMC Networks says it plans to sell three addressable ad slots in each linear hour of original programs on its flagship cable network as well as WeTV, the latest expansion of technology that allows advertisers to hone their pitches to radiational mass TV audiences.The spots are slated to run on Comcast, Charter and Cox cable systems and have the potential to reach 35 million U.S. homes.

William Earl Streaming industry leaders Mark Niemiec, senior vice president of sales at Salesforce, and Michael Bishara, group senior vice president and general manager of direct-to-consumer at Discovery, Inc., will join Variety TV writer Mónica Zorrilla for a conversation in the Variety Streaming Room on March 2.  Discovery+ is one of the newest entries in an ultra-competitive streaming marketplace. During their conversation, Bishara will touch upon the streamer’s strategy to gain the attention of new audiences.

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.

above and the poster below. The film will be released exclusively on Disney+ on May 20, 2022.“Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” stars John Mulaney (“Saturday Night Live”) as Chip, Andy Samberg (“Palm Springs”) as Dale and KiKi Layne (“If Beale Street Could Talk”). Also joining the cast are Will Arnett (“Arrested Development”), Eric Bana (“Dirty John”), Flula Borg (“Pitch Perfect 2”), Dennis Haysbert (“24”), Keegan-Michael Key (“Schmigadoon!”), Tress MacNeille (“The Simpsons”), Tim Robinson (“I Think You Should Leave”), Seth Rogen (“Pam and Tommy”), J.K.

EXCLUSIVE: Universal, EVP of Global Physical Home Entertainment, Kathleen Gallagher, has been named EVP, General Sales Manager for the studio’s North American Theatrical Distribution team, Deadline has learned.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentOrange Studio has signed a two-year distribution deal with the aggregation company Under The Milky Way. The pact will allow the outfit to handle the distribution of titles from Orange Studio’s library across English-speaking territories as well as Latin America on transactional VOD services such as Amazon, PlutoTV, Roku and Tubi.

he had a “small” heart attack in July 2021 on the set of his AMC series “Better Call Saul.”Now Odenkirk, 59, has opened up about the harrowing experience — revealing that he shockingly didn’t have a pulse when he initially collapsed between filming.“We were shooting a scene, we’d been shooting all day, and luckily I didn’t go back to my trailer,” he recently told the New York Times, adding that he was taking a break with costars Patrick Fabian and Rhea Seehorn at the time of the incident — about which he has no memory.“I went to play the Cubs game and ride my workout bike, and I just went down,” Odenkirk said. “Rhea said I started turning bluish-gray right away,” he continued.

EXCLUSIVE: The strange, true-life story of Elmer McCurdy, a turn-of-the-20th Century train robber whose corpse became a carnival attraction and unwitting stage prop well into the 1970s, will be adapted into a musical by the writers of Broadway’s acclaimed The Band’s Visit.

only 15 out LGBTQ athletes competed.Outsports reports that the athletes hail from 14 countries and will compete in nine different sports, including ice hockey, figure skating, skiing, and snowboarding.They include veteran LGBTQ competitors like Canadian figure skater Eric Radford, the first out gay man to win a gold Winter Olympics medal, bisexual Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst, the most decorated LGBTQ Olympian of all time, and gay skier Gus Kenworthy, who will be competing for Great Britain after switching from Team USA (Kenworthy holds dual citizenship).Also Read: A tennis player yelled anti-gay slurs at the Olympics. He blamed the weather.The Beijing Winter Games will also feature a number of freshly out LGBTQ athletes, including Brazilian skeleton athlete Nicole Silveira and Team USA figure skater Timothy LeDuc, who will be the first out nonbinary athlete at the Winter Olympics.Team USA’s Brittany Bowe, a world record-holding speed skater, holds the honor of being the only out LGBTQ athlete to be chosen as a flag bearer for the Winter Olympics opening ceremony.Bowe, the only openly LGBTQ woman athlete on Team USA, will compete in her third Olympic games in Beijing.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeJennifer Caserta is exiting AMC Networks after nearly two decades at the company, most recently as its chief transformation and people officer. As Caserta departs, Aisha Thomas-Petit has been named chief people and diversity officer at the company.Caserta had served as chief transformation/people officer since 2018; prior to that, she spent 14 years at IFC TV, including as president and GM.

AMC Networks has elevated its first head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Aisha Thomas-Petit, to the role of Chief People and Diversity Officer. She succeeds Jennifer Caserta, the longtime IFC executive who segued to AMC’s HR chief in 2018 and is departing after 20 years at the company.

K.J. Yossman SkyShowtime, the joint streaming venture between Comcast and ViacomCBS, has received full regulatory approval.It will launch in Europe later this year.

Angelique Jackson The popular YouTube Originals series “Super Sema,” starring and executive produced by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, has appointed UTA as its North American licensing and publishing agency.UTA will work alongside global toy licensee Just Play to focus on retail initiatives and key partnerships in publishing, apparel, home and accessories for the program, which is the world’s first children’s animated series focused on an African kid superhero.The series follows the world-changing adventures of an extraordinary young African girl, Sema, and her twin brother MB, who are on a mission to protect their town Dunia from the villainous Tobor. Fueled by STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) superpowers, Sema knows that with determination and creativity, anything is possible.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAMC Networks has renewed its multiyear distribution deal with Comcast.Under the continued agreement, AMC Networks’ linear channels — AMC, We TV, BBC America, IFC, and SundanceTV — and streaming service AMC Plus will remain available to Comcast Cable’s Xfinity TV, broadband and XClass customers. Additionally, the pact covers expanded availability of AMC Networks’ other targeted streaming services — Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, Allblk and the recently acquired Hidive — to Comcast users.Among this year’s upcoming content offerings from AMC Networks are the final seasons of “The Walking Dead,” “Killing Eve” and “Better Call Saul,” as well as the launch of new shows “61st Street,” “Dark Winds,” “Tales of the Walking Dead,” “Moonhaven” and the first two series in its Anne Rice TV universe, “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire” and “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches.” “We are excited to continue and also expand our longstanding partnership with Comcast through a new agreement that includes not only continued carriage of our cable networks, but also our fast-growing targeted streaming services including AMC+, which was made available first to Xfinity customers,” Josh Reader, president of distribution and development for AMC Networks, said.

Dennis Harvey Film CriticThe sense of a city as a complex, ailing ecosystem is rendered with unusual vividness in “All That Breathes.” Shaunak Sen’s documentary has no formal interviews, onscreen text or omniscient narrator to provide relevant stats on Delhi, where air pollution is reportedly twelve times worse than in Beijing, which ranks second on the global list. Instead, the environmental impact is felt on the microcosmic level of two resident brothers dedicated to urban bird rescue.