NBCUniversal Ad Group Formalizes New Exec Structure, Streamlining Efforts Across Broadcast, Sports, Cable & Streaming

Sam Smith and Christian Cowan continue to fuel romance rumors!

EXCLUSIVE: The Real Housewives of New Jersey and Vanderpump Rules both returned to Bravo this month with their best ratings in years.

. After a limited theatrical release on February 10 that allows  to be eligible for industry awards recognition down the road, the suspenseful drama and psychological thriller is out today — streaming exclusively on Apple TV+. Watch NowThe all-star cast — Julianne Moore, John Lithgow, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith and Briana Middleton — shine in their portrayals of flawed, complex characters.

restructuring at NBCUniversal aiming to optimize client relationships in a One Platform environment; while Jenny Depper was promoted to Senior Vice President E! News Digital as the brand grows its leadership team.Filler, who will join the Advertising and Partnerships division as Executive Vice President of the new Content and Talent Partnerships team, most recently served as Executive Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at E! News, where she oversaw the brand’s development and production of growing franchises as well as its digital content.Reporting to Josh Feldman, Global Chief Marketing Officer for NBCUniversal’s Advertising and Partnerships, Filler will oversee NBCUniversal’s advertising strategies and sponsorships while developing monetization opportunities for NBCU talent IP.Cutburth, who will become Executive Vice President of Creative Partnerships for the Advertising & Partnerships group, will focus on implementing the company’s marketing and advertising strategies across the entire NBCUniversal ecosystem, including streaming, linear, social and digital.

Linda Yaccarino, head of advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, has been named group chair of UK management firm YMU.

In today’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo sits down to talk about con man movies with director Benjamin Caron (“The Crown,” “Andor,” “Wallander”). The director is currently promoting his film, “Sharper,” which follows multiple con men and women in New York City who are all searching for the perfect mark and the biggest take.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Paramount Global’s success in streaming is hurting its bottom line The New York owner of the CBS broadcast network and the Paramount movie studio said that the costs of generating gains in streaming crimped the conglomerate’s operating income and forced a swing to a loss in its fiscal fourth quarter, the latest of the nation’s big media companies to show some of the wear and tear that the shift to court viewers who stream is taking on the industry’s financials. The company said it added 9.9 million subscribers to its Paramount+ streaming hub in the period and saw a new cohort of users come to its free, ad-supporters streaming venue Pluto. But those gains could not overcome a 93% decline in operating income., or a 7% decline in revenue among the company’s biggest business, its traditional TV networks. Paramount Global said the company swung to a loss, compared with a sizable profit in the year-earlier period.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is openly dreaming about a baseball-broadcast future that doesn’t include regional cable TV deals – and that would mean no more blackouts, among other improvements for fans, he said.Manfred’s musings came amid ongoing bankruptcy speculation for Diamond Sports Group, which missed a $140 million interest payment in January. He said if Diamond can’t pay the 14 Major League Baseball teams it has broadcast deals with, baseball is ready with a Plan B that he hopes could lead to a better deal for fans overall.“We’ve been really clear that if Diamond doesn’t pay under every single one of the broadcast agreements, that creates a termination right, and our clubs will proceed to terminate those contracts,” Manfred said.Then he went straight to outlining what a post-cable baseball world would look like: “In the event that MLB stepped in, what we would do is we would produce the games, we would make use of our asset with the MLB Network to do that, we would go directly to distributors, Comcast, Charter, the big distributors, and make an agreement to have those games distributed on cable networks.”That transformation would give them a chance to finally get rid of those pesky local digital blackouts.“We would also be seeking flexibility on the digital side so that, when you look at MLB.TV, you could buy your out-of-market package like you always had but have the option to buy up into in-market games, something the fan has never had before, which I see as a huge improvement for fans,” Manfred said.Though a Diamond Sports bankruptcy would create minimal fan disruption, its impact on MLB’s bottom line and revenue could be major.

With numerous major retailers announcing store closures across Scotland, the high street is facing more major blows this year.

EXCLUSIVE: MetFilm Sales has acquired world rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand, to Gloriavale: New Zealand’s Secret Cult, Fergus Grady and Noel Smyth’s feature doc about a notorious kiwi religious cult.

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from Episode 4 of AppleTV+’s Dear Edward.

EXCLUSIVE: Artist International Group (AIG) has signed an exclusive representation deal with Selectors, a UK based incubator of IP and producer of fact-based stories across audio, non-scripted, and scripted Film & TV productions.

At its third annual developer conference on Wednesday, NBCUniversal introduced a range of new products and capabilities aimed at enhancing the media company’s appeal to advertisers. Among them: a new “content quality index” partnership with MarketCast; an expansion of in-scene advertising capabilities; and the certification of 29 new measurement partners.

A “globetrotting” college boss racked up over twenty foreign trips before backing a redundancy scheme for staff.

With New Jersey nipping at its heels and producers complaining about tardy payouts, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s latest budget for New York state, out Wednesday, raises the tax credit for film and television production back to 30%, boosts the annual cap to $700 million, modifies payout terms and attempt to lure TV production from other states in a new incentive package that would run through 2034.

The full cast and creative team for the upcoming Kander & Ebb Broadway musical New York, New York were announced by producers today, with, among others, Tony Award nominee Emily Skinner (Stage Show) joining the previously announced stars Colton Ryan and Anna Uzele.

Alec Baldwin and Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed did not follow safety procedures said the formal filing today in New Mexico of two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021.

EXCLUSIVE: Ensemble Studio Theatre, one of New York’s premiere Off Broadway venues perhaps best known for its annual Marathon of One-Act Plays, announced today that Estefanía Fadul and Graeme Gillis have been appointed the new Co-Artistic Directors of the 55-year-old theater company.

EXCLUSIVE: Adeola Role, who can currently be seen as a series regular on Fox’s character-driven police procedural Alert, has signed with The Rosenzweig Group for management in all areas.

Almost two weeks after the Santa Fe District Attorney revealed that Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will face criminal claims over the October 2021 fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, charges against the duo will be formally filed tomorrow.