Meet Television’s Ad-Sales Chiefs Taking Center Stage at the 2021 Upfronts

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJeff Zucker, chairman of news and sports at WarnerMedia, held a company town hall on Tuesday in which he addressed the recent Chris Cuomo-CNN controversy and answered questions regarding return-to-office plans.Zucker suggested CNN staffers who were vaccinated and wished to return to the outlet’s New York offices would likely be able to do so starting in June, according to a person familiar with the event.

The long-awaited “Friends” reunion is almost here.

Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell are about to take a huge step in their relationship, according to an inside source.

good night's sleep. Luckily, Memorial Day weekend is less than a week away, and with the holiday comes all the Memorial Day sale types you can think of, including Memorial Day mattress sales. And some have already started. There are a ton of deals available right now to help you get your Memorial Day mattress sale shopping on.

EXCLUSIVE: Bondit Media Capital, which became an important funder for independent film and television during Covid, is partnering with Vancouver-based Arcana Studio to launch Bondit Canada Capital.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTV ratings are down. But the networks aren’t letting that get in the way of demanding big price hikes in their annual negotiations with Madison Avenue.Even as advertisers express concern about declines in the live audiences tuning in for TV staples like “Young Sheldon,” “This Is Us” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” they appear to be on the verge of capitulating to marketplace pressure.

Jordan Rose Columbia Records has promoted A&R executives Luis Mota and Maria Arangio to senior vice president and vice president, respectively. The Sony Music label is home to such up-and-coming acts as 24KGoldn, Polo G, and Lil Tjay, as well as perennial superstars like Beyonce, Harry Styles and Tyler, the Creator.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticContinuing the week of networks’ upfront presentations, ViacomCBS released sneak peeks of four new shows to their advertisers and public consumers Wednesday.Although it’s too soon to really assess the shows themselves, that isn’t stopping this critic from weighing in on their potential, based upon these first looks.Here are those thoughts, in rough descending order:“FBI: International”If any further proof was needed that Dick Wolf is in the absolute elite tier of

ABC’s flagship drama series, Grey’s Anatomy, was just renewed for a record-extending 18th season. In announcing the pickup after original cast members  Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. closed new deals, ABC did not call Season 18 a final one.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe largest TV networks are getting ready to snare billions of dollars from Madison Avenue. And lose them, all at the same time.Expectations are high for the industry’s annual upfront, when TV networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory for the upcoming season.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorIn the space of just a few weeks, a group of Madison Avenue heavyweights — with names like General Motors, Interpublic Group and WPP — has made public guarantees of ad money for some of the industry’s smaller media outlets, all owned by Black entrepreneurs. Getting these companies to talk about ad spending in public is an amazing feat.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorNielsen’s TV yardstick has been found wanting.A review of recent Nielsen efforts to map out TV audience activity determined the company likely undercounted TV audiences in February of this year, a development that is expected to intensify a growing rift between the measurement giant and the TV networks who depend on it to set discussions with advertisers that help undergird billions of dollars in advertising.The Media Rating Council, an industry organization that

fans… the show has been renewed for season 18!ABC made the exciting announcement on Monday, and ET has learned that Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens, Jr. (the OG stars of ) will all be back for the new season.

After months of uncertainty, “Grey’s Anatomy” has officially been renewed.

On the eve of the podcast upfronts, Sirius XM Holdings has created a new ad sales group to encompass the combined resources of SiriusXM, Pandora and Stitcher.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorBig advertisers like General Motors and Target say they intend to pay more attention to Black-owned media outlets.