‘Soccer AM’ cancelled by Sky after nearly 30 years

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA announced Tuesday that it has bought an office building in North Hollywood for $46.6 million and plans to relocate its headquarters there in the next few years. The performers’ union has been renting its headquarters in the Museum Square building in the mid-Wilshire area. In 2015, the guild extended its lease into 2026. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s executive director, said in a statement that the new building will provide more space and better facilities, and that the union will save money over the long run by owning instead of renting. The new building is at 12020 Chandler Blvd., adjacent to a stop on the Orange Line busway and a few blocks from the NoHo Arts District. The building is currently home to Pilgrim Media Group and Screen Engine/ASI.

SAG-AFTRA has bought an office building in the San Fernando Valley for $46.6 million that will serve as its new national headquarters. Located at 12020 Chandler Blvd. in North Hollywood, the property features more than 118,000 square feet of commercial office space and includes the building on 1.22 acres and a nearby 0.71-acre vacant lot.

class action lawsuit filed in December 2020 by 10 members of the actors guild, including the late former SAG president Ed Asner, who died in 2021.As part of the agreement, SAG-AFTRA will pay $15 million to older members of SAG-AFTRA who lost their coverage in the guild’s health plan due to changes made in 2020 that raised the amount of annual earnings required to qualify for the plan and removing members’ ability to count residuals towards that earnings threshold. The trustees of the health plan at the time said that such changes were necessary to keep the health plan solvent, as the plan’s funds were falling during the COVID-19 pandemic and were projected to run out by 2024.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan announced on Monday that it has agreed to pay $15 million to older performers who lost health coverage due to eligibility changes made in 2020. Under a settlement agreement, the health plan will also pay up to $5.6 million over the next eight years to older performers who no longer qualify for coverage. The settlement resolves a class action lawsuit filed in December 2020 by Ed Asner, a former SAG president, and nine other performers. Asner and the other plaintiffs alleged that the plan had discriminated against older members by raising the earnings floor to qualify for health benefits and excluding residuals from the earnings threshold. The plaintiffs said the change forced nearly 12,000 participants off the plan.

A lawsuit filed against the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan, which claimed that changes to eligibility for benefits “illegally discriminated” against older members, has been settled. The suit was filed in federal court in December 2020 by former SAG president Ed Asner and nine other SAG-AFTRA members. The Health Plan, which had been facing staggering deficits, said that the changes were necessary to keep it from going broke.

Bad news for fans of Sex/Life!

Netflix has canceled the steamy series Sex/Life after just two seasons and the news comes just two days after star Sarah Shahi made some surprising comments about the show.

BreAnna Bell A series of changes have taken place at Showtime. Variety has confirmed the network has canceled “Ziwe” after just two seasons and has picked up Mandy Patinkin’s “Seasoned” to series, delivering a six-episode order. Hosted and executive produced by comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, the talk show focused on presenting trending hot topics concerning race, politics and other cultural issues as well as musical numbers, interviews, guest stars and comedic sketches. Guests on Season 2 included Drew Barrymore, Rowan Blanchard, Blake Griffin, Emily Ratajkowski and Mia Khalifa, among others. The series first debuted in 2021. With the loss, that leaves Showtime without a current late night talk show following the cancellation of “Desus & Mero” (which Ziwe also served as a writer on before moving to her own show). The changes come as part of Showtime’s reevaluation of the programming slate after MTV Entertainment Group president and CEO Chris McCarthy stepped in to oversee the cabler once former CEO David Nevins left in October.

EXCLUSIVE: Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance’s film Heist 88, which had been earmarked for Paramount+, will be moving to Showtime, Deadline has learned. Additionally, I hear the network has made decisions on two of its three comedy pilots, handing a six-episode series order to Seasoned, starring Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody, and passing on The Wood, based on the 1999 feature film. Showtime also has opted not to renew Ziwe, hosted and executive produced by comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, for a third season.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski trial was watched by nearly 30 million people across YouTube and social media platforms, Variety can report. The eight-day saga was covered exhaustively by major media outlets and disseminated in viral clips and memes all over the internet. It was also a significant boon for the Law and Crime Network, which streamed the trial live on its YouTube page (the channel also has carriage deals with the likes of Roku, Samsung TV and Sling TV, though those numbers only report quarterly). 16.5 million people tuned in to the livestream, the network said. Another 7.4 million viewed the event on Facebook, and another 4.2 million consumed proceedings involving the Oscar winner on TikTok. Keep in mind, these numbers do not account for similar airings on Court TV and the Associated Press live feed.

After Gabi Elnicki revealed Zach Shallcross promised her that he would keep what happened between the two of them in the fantasy suite “between us,” the season 27 Bachelor is shedding light on what changed.

EXCLUSIVE: Britannia will leave its army of fans on a cliffhanger finale after Sky decided not to renew the epic fantasy historical drama for Season 4.

Joanna Krupa’s husband Douglas Nunes has reportedly filed for divorce.

Ricky Gervais.Baroness Claire Fox of Buckley – who was previously a Brexit Party MEP – had been due to give a talk that included the discussion of cancel culture and free speech.However, she had previously retweeted a joke by Gervais in a Netflix special, in which he referenced “the old-fashioned women, you know, the ones with wombs” and “the new ones we’ve been seeing lately with beards and cocks”.She wrote in her original tweet: “Skewered … trans-identity ideology. I laughed.

The spark between Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth has faded…

Sky Studios CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz has called the plethora of shows on the market “really confusing” for viewers.

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate Home Entertainment EVP Jed Grossman is set to retire this month after a near 30 years run at the studio.

Sky Sports shocked fans as they decided to axe fan favourite show, Soccer AM, after a staggering 28 years on the air. Since 1995, Soccer AM has aired on a Saturday morning during the football season. Sky Sports announced on Wednesday that the current season would be its last, leaving just 10 episodes before the show leaves the air once and for all.

Succession season four has been heavily praised in early reviews, with critics branding the opening four episodes as “one of TV’s greatest achievements”.The final season of the HBO series picks up after events of the season three finale, where Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) tipped off Logan Roy (Brian Cox) about the Roy siblings’ plan to prevent Waystar Royco from merging with GoJo.With the company now slipping away from them, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) must continue to plot against their father in an ongoing power struggle.A synopsis for the season reads: “The sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson moves ever closer. The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is completed.”The first four episodes of the final season have received widespread praise, earning four and five-star reviews from most critics.“Powerhouse performances from the Roy clan offer a dazzling masterclass of buttoned-up emotions competing with years of desperately craving approval from the family patriarch,” writes IGN.

Cult football programme Soccer AM is being cancelled by Sky after almost 30 years on air. The broadcaster has made the decision due to failing ratings.