David Zaslav’s Tough Upfront Tactics Spark Discord With Madison Avenue (EXCLUSIVE)

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTelevisaUnivision had something to sell in this year’s TV upfront market that many of its English-language counterparts did not: growing linear audiences.The Spanish-language media giant has finished its upfront negotiations and expects to see rising volume of advance commitments for its advertising, according to a person familiar with the matter. This person says TelevisaUnivision anticipates a double-digit-percentage increase in volume, with CPMs, or the cost of reaching 1,000 viewers, rising as much as 8% to 9%.Like other TV networks in the midst of selling upfront inventory this year, TelevisaUnivision noted significant advertiser interest in sports and streaming. Advertisers proved interested in the company’s soccer broadcasts, and saw ad investment in its streaming-video outlet, ViX more than double.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSome people gird for battle by putting on armor. Tony Dokoupil just bought a second pair of dress shoes.“I’ve had the same pair of brown, beat-up, nasty dress shoes — my good shoes.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMadison Avenue’s growing interest in sports and streaming video helped Fox Corp. nab new ad dollars amid a softening market.The owner of the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports and Fox News Channel expects an uptick in advertising commitments made in advance of its next programming schedule, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the company becomes the latest media outlet to wrap negotiations in the industry’s annual “upfront.”Advertisers were interested in Tubi, Fox’s ad-supported streaming hub; the company’s sports events; and its Fox News programming, this person said, among other offerings.The company could see an uptick of volume committed to its primetime broadcast schedule in the mid-single-digit percentage range.

William Earl Jennifer Dorn has been promoted to visual content director at Variety.The four-year Variety veteran oversees all photography and photo imagery for the brand. She reports to incoming co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh and Variety co-editor-in-chief Cynthia LittletonBased in Los Angeles, Dorn has significantly expanded Variety‘s investment in original photography.

DC films following The Flash, according to reports.The actor, who has been arrested multiple times and subject to restraining orders in recent months, will play Barry Allen aka The Flash in the forthcoming DC movie – which wrapped production in October 2021 for a June 2023 release.According to Deadline, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav is facing a “crisis” over how to handle the bad press surrounding Miller.“There is no winning in this for Warner Bros,” a source told the outlet. “This is an inherited problem for Zaslav.

Even though it isn’t on the Warner Bros release calendar until June 23, 2023, The Flash is becoming Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s first movie crisis, because of the escalating coverage of incidents of volatile and odd behavior involving the film’s star, Ezra Miller.

general restructuring under CEO David Zaslav, which stems from the completion of the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger.Henson’s post was executive vice president, head of unscripted programming for TBS, TNT and truTV. In the role, she oversaw and spearheaded unscripted creative development and production for all three cable brands.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTV’s dollars are migrating to digital, just like its viewers.The CW has wrapped upfront negotiations, according to a person familiar with the matter, and expects a rise in advance ad commitments for its digital venues, but sees its primetime broadcast schedule take in similar volume to last year’s market.Variety estimates that CW may have seen primetime volume come in between $440.8 million and $626.9 million, in 2021, compared with $440.8 million and $$597.1 million in 2020More to come….

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTV’s upfront market is starting to close and ad dollars seem harder to collect.NBCUniversal expects the volume of advance advertising commitments secured in the annual haggle to be “in the same range as last year,” according to Jeff Shell, CEO of the Comcast owned unit. He said that declines due to “cord cutting were offset by pricing and Peacock for us,” during remarks made at an investor conference organized by Credit Suisse.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaIt’s that time of year again. That post-July 4th period when media barons and billionaires break out the Brooks Brothers casual and don their sweater vests to hit an idyllic Idaho resort town of Sun Valley for another edition of “lets make a deal.”Many of the names expected to rub elbows next month are familiar ones. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Liberty Media’s John Malone, Comcast chairman Brian Roberts, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple pasha Tim Cook and Berkshire Hathaway guru Warren Buffett are among those who have once again made the cut for Allen & Co.’s annual media conference.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAdam Verdugo, a news producer who has worked for years with anchor Norah O’Donnell, has been named executive producer of “CBS Evening News,” just weeks after O’Donnell and CBS extended a contract to keep her at the helm of the show.Verdugo will start his new duties June 13, and brings the executive producer position for the program back to Washington, D.C. For the past several months, CBS News veteran Al Ortiz supervised the evening newscast out of New York.

Blackwood’s departure was an expected step in the ongoing leadership shift at the studio under Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who is installing his own leaders and organizational structure.

Following the departure of Toby Emmerich as Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Boss, his fellow associate, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group COO Carolyn Blackwood is leaving. This is all ahead of Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy coming in to run the motion picture group under Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterVeteran Warner Bros. executive and film division chief operating officer Carolyn Blackwood is parting ways with the studio, sources told Variety.Her resignation follows a week after word that her boss Toby Emmerich, chairman of the motion picture group, will transition to lot producer later this year. The regime changes come as Warner Bros.

This has been building since before Toby Emmerich exited and Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy took the reins at Warner Bros. Joaquin Phoenix hasn’t quite signed a deal to reprise his role as the disturbed murderous anarchist Arthur Fleck in a sequel to the billion dollar grossing "Joker," but the film is a go.  Director Todd Phillips revealed on Instagram that there’s a "Joker" sequel script he just wrote with Scott Silver and that Phoenix, who won an Oscar for playing the title role, is reading it.That isn’t quite true; Phoenix read it awhile ago, and it has come down to making a rich deal for him to star in the genre-jumping sequel.

Selome Hailu J.J. Abrams’ science fiction drama series “Demimonde” will no longer move forward at HBO.This is the end of a long road for the project, which was ordered to series at HBO in Feb. 2018 after a bidding war with Apple.

“Joker: Folie a Deux” and, in another shot, a sitting Joaquin Phoenix appearing to read through it.In 2019, “Joker” became one of the most successful comic-book movies ever, both at the box office and on the awards circuit. After surprising the film world by winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, “Joker” became the first R-rated movie ever to gross $1 billion worldwide and earned 12 Oscar nominations, with Phoenix winning his first Oscar for his performance as struggling comedian Arthur Fleck, a.k.a.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe TV upfront market doesn’t appear to compute for Microsoft.The technology giant has been telling TV networks and media buyers that it intends to bypass TV’s annual haggle for commercial inventory, according to four executives familiar with recent discussions. The company behind such products and services as Windows, LinkedIn, the Halo video games and Surface tablets instead favors taking its chances in what is known as TV’s “scatter” market, the purchase of ad time bought closer to run date.Microsoft seems to feel that it needs to be cautious in trying to sell consumers expensive hardware and other tech goods at a time when the stock market is churning, according to two of these executives, and when people may be fretting about loosening their purse strings.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWhen James Corden cuts ties with CBS’ “Late Late Show” next year, he may leave with more than people expected.CBS is considering replacing Corden’s distinct program with a multi-host panel, according to three people familiar with the matter, a sign of how late-night is changing as viewers sample the best of the programs via social media rather than watching them in their wee-hours’ time slot. Corden has decided to leave “The Late Late Show” in the spring of 2023.  A panel format could encompass a wide range of concepts, such as the news-roundtable program “Politically Incorrect,” which Bill Maher led on ABC late-nights between 1997 and 2002, or even the frenetic game-show stylings of “@midnight,” which aired in late night on Comedy Central between 2013 and 2017.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav on Wednesday dropped his memo to staff about Toby Emmerich stepping down as Chairman of the Motion Picture Group and the three new studio divisions being put in place. It’s a slightly similar structure to the way Disney handles its franchise brands, with the hope that DC will have its own Kevin Feige maestro to exploit IP across all mediums.