Rob Wade Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

In one of the biggest twists of the 2023 upfront, Fox opted not to renew its highest rated scripted series, 9-1-1. The drama, produced by 20th Television, was instead picked up for a seventh season by 20th TV sibling ABC.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Warner Bros. Television Group chairman/CEO Channing Dungey is returning to the Banff World Media Festival this June to serve as one of its keynote speakers, the event announced on Wednesday. Dungey joins a lineup that also includes Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade as a summit series keynote.

Banff, the Canadian television event set in the Rocky Mountains, continues to attract top U.S. execs with Channing Dungey the latest addition.

EXCLUSIVE: Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade is realigning the company’s content and business operations into three groups, the Fox Television Network, Fox Entertainment Studios and sales arm Fox Entertainment Global.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fox Entertainment is restructuring its operations into three divisions: network, studios and sales. As part of this re-org, Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade has promoted Michael Thorn to president of Fox Television Network and upped Fernando Szew to head of Fox Entertainment Studios.

A slew of internet celebs are starring in a new sandwich competition from Gordon Ramsay.

Tonight is the night for the 2023 Academy of Country Music Honors special and we have all the details about what you can expect.

The Masked Singer, the return of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Lego Masters and David Spade-hosted game show Snake Oil are among the slew of unscripted titles leading Fox’s fall schedule as the writers and actors strikes take a bite out of the scripted broadcast season.

It was standing-room only crowd at the Fox upfront — mostly because there was no place to sit. But there were cocktails and lots of f-bombs from Gordon Ramsay, who helped to keep the 55-minute presentation moving at NYC’s Manhattan Center Monday.

Just last month, fans were shocked to hear that Fox had officially cancelled 9-1-1, which had been the network’s most popular primetime television series for six seasons.

Jamie and Corinne Foxx, and teased the premieres of long-gestating animated series “Krapopolis” — which features Waddingham among its voice cast and has already been renewed through Season 3 — and “Grimsburg,” headlined by Jon Hamm and already renewed for Season 2.While the orders for previously announced new dramas “Doc,” an adaptation of an Italian TV series, and “Rescue: HI-Surf” from “Shameless” producer Wells are still in place, the network did not reveal the cast for either project.The decision to not unveil Fox’s fall schedule — or the cast of its two new drama series — during the upfronts presentation is unusual. The event traditionally serves as the broadcast networks’ opportunity to boast on their programming slate, as well as showcasing their scheduling strategy to potential ad buyers.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Fox Entertainment’s CEO addressed the decision to cancel “9-1-1” and the show’s subsequent move to ABC during a conference call with the press ahead of the network’s upfront presentation to advertisers in New York. “We look at shows in two different ways,” said Rob Wade, CEO of Fox Entertainment. “First and foremost from a creative lens and how much we like the creative. And the second thing is really the economics of that. I think we felt moving forward into what is really a new era of television, the economics weren’t going to pan out on this show for us. The decision was made there that the business model wasn’t right for us and that 20th TV would take the show back.”

Fox unveiled its 2023/24 programming slate this morning and the writers strike was front and center.

Fox Entertainment will have its new CEO, Rob Wade, making his debut at the network’s upfront presentation today. In a sign of continuity, he will unveil the Fox content slate for the 2023-2024 television season but not a schedule. The network first broke with tradition by not presenting a fall grid at the upfront last year; Fox announced fall schedule and premiere dates June 6.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter For the second year in a row, Fox is not releasing a fall schedule ahead of its upfront presentation. Fox did the same thing in 2022, opting instead to announce their content slate for the upcoming broadcast season but holding off on announcing a formal schedule until a later date. Last year, the move came as the network was still waiting on decisions on the dramas “9-1-1” and “The Resident.” But with the latter show canceled and the former moving to ABC, this year’s move comes as the writers’ strike enters its third week. Networks like CBS and NBC have already announced their fall lineups, but whether or not any primetime scripted shows across all the networks debut as scheduled remains to be seen as the strike drags on.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Scott Greenberg, the co-founder and CEO of Fox-owned animation studio Bento Box Entertainment, is exiting the company, Variety has confirmed. Greenberg is also the CEO of Fox’s Web3 media and creative technology company Blockchain Creative Labs (BCL). He will officially depart both roles on May 19. “It’s been an incredible honor and privilege to work alongside the many people who have helped build Bento Box and Blockchain Creative Labs into two great companies,” Greenberg said. “The many series and projects we launched together are a great source of lasting pride to me. Deep down, I’m an entrepreneur at heart who enjoys building organizations and nurturing their teams to bring out the best in themselves. With Bento Box and BCL running full steam ahead on the path for continued growth and success, now is the time to explore new opportunities.”

K.J. Yossman Dan Harmon’s upcoming animated comedy “Krapopolis” hasn’t yet broadcast a single frame but, in an unprecedented move, Fox has already renewed the show for a further two seasons, president of scripted programming Michael Thorn revealed on Wednesday. “Krapopolis,” which features an all-star voice cast including Richard Ayoade (“The IT Crowd”), Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”) and Matt Berry (“Toast of London”) is set in Ancient Greece but, despite the olde-worlde get-up, it turns out Ancient Greece has a lot of similarities to the present day. Ahead of previewing the show at London TV Screenings on Thursday, Thorn sat down with Variety to discuss the show and why Fox is betting on it being a runaway hit.

Last year, Fox’s in-person Upfront event at the Skylight venue in New York surprised ad buyers with a largely pre-recorded video led by then-boss Charlie Collier.

In October, newly minted Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade said that TMZ had the potential to become a “huge entertainment studio”.

EXCLUSIVE: Allison Wallach has been promoted to oversee unscripted programming for Fox.

Fox’s new distribution outfit Fox Entertainment Global (FEG) is pushing into international scripted co-productions, has optioned a “best-selling selling British thriller” and is “looking into” an international detective franchise.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor CANNES – The newly constituted senior entertainment team at Fox Corp. came to Mipcom this year with checkbooks in hand. The trio of executives who offered the keynote address Monday evening at the international content conference were blunt in telling the crowd that they came to make some new friends around the world and strike some deals. The company is bucking the trend in media toward direct-to-consumer subscription platforms. Fox is putting its resources into content and IP that can travel around the world and be adaptable in many forms. “While others are trying to hide their content behind paywalls, we are doing the opposite,” said Rob Wade, who was promoted this month to CEO of Fox Entertainment (“I’m 10 days in to the job,” he noted with a smile on stage). “We see the potential of working with (outside) networks, producers and distributors to be able to get our content out there further.”

Fox’s new Entertainment Global sales unit will “go against the grain of other U.S.-based media entities” by being wholly agnostic and selling to everyone, according to CEO Fernando Szew.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Rob Wade has been promoted to CEO of Fox Entertainment following the exit of former chief Charlie Collier. “Since the formation of Fox Entertainment, Rob has been an integral part of the leadership team responsible for delivering on its long-term strategy of creating an independent media company built on broadcast, developing an owned content portfolio and maintaining a disciplined in-house infrastructure,” Fox Corp. executive chief and CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement Thursday. “Given Rob’s sharp creative instincts and proven operational acumen, he is well-suited to lead Fox Entertainment in what promises to be an exciting next chapter in its rich history.”

EXCLUSIVE: Fox’s reality supremo Rob Wade has been elevated to CEO of Fox Entertainment.

Selome Hailu “Masterchef” has been renewed for a thirteenth season at Fox. Chef and executive producer Gordon Ramsay, chef Aarón Sánchez and restaurateur Joe Bastianich all return to judge the cooking competition series. The news comes ahead of the finale of Season 12, which airs Wednesday and features the return of former judge Christina Tosi, chef and owner of Milk Bar. According to Fox, “Masterchef” currently reaches an average of 4.7 million people in multi-platform viewering. The series is produced by Endemol Shine North America and One Potato Two Potato, and is based on a format created by Franc Roddam. Along with Ramsay, Elisabeth Murdoch, Danny Schrader, Pat Llewellyn, Ben Adler, Sharon Levy and DJ Nurre serve as executive producers.

Jenny McCarthy stands by her decision to not walk offstage in protest when Rudy Giuliani appeared on “The Masked Singer” earlier this year.

Special Forces: The Ultimate Test (working title) in January. The show sees 16 contestants take part in grueling challenges from the actual Special Forces selection process. They include former MLB slugger Mike Piazza, Spice Girl Mel B.

Fox has packed its fall schedule with a number of unscripted series and given its plum post-Super Bowl spot to Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef.

Fox is breeding another reality series reboot.

EXCLUSIVE: A variety competition format first trialed in Ireland as part of Fox’s international formats fund is on its way to the U.S.

Selome Hailu Fox has given a series order to “Farmer Wants a Wife,” a dating series based on an unscripted format developed by Fremantle. The series will follow farmers across the nation looking for love with someone who will embrace their remote country lifestyle. They will be matched with single women who’ve given up on dating in big cities and are looking for a true connection with a farmer. The news came ahead of the network’s presentation at the Television Critics Association’s virtual summer 2022 press tour. The original “Farmer Wants a Wife” debuted in 20018 on the U.K.’s ITV, though different versions have aired in 32 countries including Australia, France and even the U.S. for a short run on the CW in 2008.

Selome Hailu As Fox Entertainment gears up for the fall season, the chief of its unscripted division is most excited about returning to production with scaled-back pandemic restrictions. “I’m not gonna say COVID’s gone, because it’s definitely not gone, but things have become easier to film,” Rob Wade, president of alternative entertainment and specials, told Variety ahead of the network’s summer 2022 Television Critics Association press tour presentation. “‘We have ‘The Masked Singer’ coming back,” which has been completely reinvented,” Wade said. The series, a singing competition between celebrities whose identities are concealed by elaborate costumes, debuted in 2019. Therefore, only its first two seasons got through production unaffected by COVID-19.

Jamie Lynn Spears, Kate Gosselin and Mel B are among the 16 celebrity contestants competing on Fox’s new reality competition, “Special Forces: The Ultimate Test”, it was announced Wednesday.

Fox is debuting a new celebrity endurance show "Special Forces: The Ultimate Test." The series, which will feature 16 celebrities undergoing challenges used in the Special Forces selection process, will premiere in January 2023. "These celebrities, who are so used to being in the spotlight, quickly learn the meaning of ‘no guts, no glory’ – and no glam," Fox's press release stated.

Jamie Lynn Spears, Kate Gosselin and Mel B are among the 16 celebrity contestants competing on Fox's new reality competition, , it was announced Wednesday., slated for a January 2023 premiere, is being described as «the ultimate celebrity social experiment.» The competition series, which will not have formal eliminations, finds the celebrities enduring «the harshest, most grueling challenges from the playbook of the actual Special Forces selection process,» according to Fox. The only way for the celebrity recruits to leave is to go on their own accord, whether through failure or injury or by force.Joining Spears, Gosselin and Mel B in the celebrity cast are Danny Amendola, former Hannah Brown, Tyler Florence, Dwight Howard, Montell Jordan, Gus Kenworthy, Nastia Liukin, Carli Lloyd, 's Beverley Mitchell, 's Kenya Moore, Mike Piazza, Dr.