‘Summer Baking Championship’ Renewed for Season 2 at Food Network (EXCLUSIVE)

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “The Walking Dead” spinoffs “Dead City” and “Daryl Dixon” have both been renewed for second seasons at AMC. The announcement was made at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday. For “Dead City,” the renewal comes ahead of the first season finale on July 23. Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan star in the series as Maggie and Negan respectively. “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon,” which stars Norman Reedus, is due to debut in September. “This next chapter in the ‘Walking Dead’ Universe continues to thrive with a terrific inaugural season for ‘Dead City’ and highly anticipated new journey for fan-favorite character Daryl Dixon coming in September,” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks. “We can’t wait to bring ‘Dead City’ fans back to the epicenter of Manhattan for more zip-lining action with Maggie and Negan. And, ahead of its debut, we’re thrilled to double down on Daryl as we bring the apocalypse to France, transforming Notre Dame, Pont du Gard and other iconic locales into an apocalyptic landscape unlike anything we’ve seen before.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Here’s an example of just how chaotic things are in Hollywood these days: Disney CEO Bob Iger’s recent remarks that the company’s linear TV assets “may not be core” to its business were buried under the lede of his comments that SAG-AFTRA and the WGA are not being “realistic” in their contract negotiations last week. But now that a small bit of the initial dual strike dust has settled, sources inside and outside of Disney are asking what reaction Iger was looking to provoke by announcing Disney’s intention to “open-minded and objective about the future of those businesses,” which include broadcast network ABC as well as cablers FX, Disney Channel, Nat Geo and Freeform, among others. (Not ESPN, which is run by Jimmy Pitaro under a separate segment of Disney’s business from its other TV and streaming assets.)

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer HGTV is ordering more from network darling Christina Hall: The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned cabler has renewed the “Flip or Flop” alum’s docuseries “Christina on the Coast” and “Christina in the Country” for additional seasons. From real estate and design star Hall, “Christina on the Coast” has received an additional 12-episode pickup, while “Christina in the Country” got another six-episode order. Per HGTV, the new episodes of each of Hall’s series “will continue to spotlight Christina’s cross-country adventures,” while “in both Southern California and Tennessee, the busy mom of three, author and entrepreneur will expand her growing design business alongside fellow designer and project manager James Bender as well as spend quality time with her children and husband Josh Hall.”

Netflix’s longest-running Spanish scripted series Elite has landed an eighth season.

Peyton Manning and Netflix are searching for more quarterbacks to profile in a second season of their NFL docuseries.

Bachelor Nation is proving love is ageless with the debut season of The Golden Bachelor.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The CW network has nabbed the exclusive broadcast rights to 50 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) college football and basketball games each season. The deal is good through 2026-27. The Nexstar-owned broadcast acquired the rights from Raycom Sports, who sublicenses the rights from ESPN. Raycom Sports will produce all games for The CW. Per the CW, the first of its 13 ACC football games, a face-off for the Pittsburgh Panthers and Cincinnati Bearcats, will air on on Saturday, Sept. 9. Games will continue airing every Saturday throughout the season in the afternoon and in primetime.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The X Games is welcoming one of its alums into the corporate fold: snowboarder Scotty James has joined the company as an investor and a brand advisor. While James is still scheduled to compete in X Games Aspen Men’s Superpipe competition in 2024, and beyond, he will now also “liaise with X Games on how to continue to strengthen the competition moving forward and serve as a brand steward to build the X Games business and external X Games partnerships.” Founded in 1995 by ESPN, the X Games’ controlling stake was old to MSP Sports Capital last October, with the new parent company committing to expanding digital livestreaming of the event. The upcoming 2023 games are set for July 21-23, with coverage to be broadcast on ESPN and ABC.

Bravo has renewed Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard for a second season.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Unpack your knives and stay: Kristen Kish has been named the new host of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” following the exit of longtime staple Padma Lakshmi after the recently concluded “world all-stars” Season 20. Kish, who was the winner of Season 10 and has served as guest judges multiple times since, will begin her hosting duties with the upcoming Season 21, which Bravo has revealed will be set in Wisconsin. Head judge Tom Colicchio and judge Gail Simmons will both return for Season 21. Lakshmi announced her decision to step away from “Top Chef” just ahead of the Season 20 finale, which saw Buddha Lo take the title of world all-star in the special international season held in honor of the show’s 20th anniversary. Having hosted the show for 19 seasons, Lakshmi said she now needs to “make space” for her Hulu series “Taste the Nation,” her books and “other creative pursuits.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Celebrity chef David Chang has signed a production deal with Brent Montgomery and Jimmy Kimmel’s Wheelhouse. Previously under a production agreement with Vox Media, Chang’s banner, Majordomo Media, has set a pact with Wheelhouse, a producer on Chang’s latest Hulu series, “Secret Chef,” to exclusively develop and produce unscripted programming across food, home and lifestyle, among other genres. Wheelhouse and Chang are also focused on creating original content and developing new talent for his new FAST channel, MajordomoTV, co-developed with LG Electronics.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Vernā Myers will be stepping down from her role as Netflix’s head of inclusion strategy at the end of September. Myers, who was the first to ever serve in the position for the streamer when she joined in 2018, will remain as an advisor to Netflix while returning to her self-titled consulting company, The Vernā Myers Company. Upon Myers’ departure, Netflix’s vice president of inclusion strategy Wade Davis, who has worked under Myers for the past four years, will be promoted to oversee the team. Former NFL player Davis has previously consulted on inclusive corporate culture for companies including Google, Procter & Gamble and Viacom (now part of Paramount Global).

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fans spent a lot of the time out of the kitchen and in front of the TV over the weekend, saying “Yes, chef,” to the second season of FX’s “The Bear.” On Tuesday, FX and Hulu announced “The Bear” Season 2 had seen a 70% increase in total hours streamed in the first four days following its June 22 launch — when compared to the FX comedy’s first season stats over that same post-premiere time period. While FX and Hulu did not reveal the actual streaming figures behind that data point, the Disney-owned brands did confirm “The Bear’s” second season debut was the most-watched premiere of any FX series on Hulu.

Selome Hailu “Leguizamo Does America” has been renewed for a second season at MSNBC. The docuseries follows John Leguizamo in a travelogue format as he explores and highlights different Latino communities across America. Season 1 saw him visit New York City, Miami, Washington D.C., Chicago, Puerto Rico and Los Angeles, joined by guests including George Lopez and Robert Rodriguez. Locations for Season 2 have yet to be announced. Season 1 premiered on April 16 at 10 p.m., and went onto achieve a higher number of viewers in the adults age 25-54 demographic than any other MSNBC Films series. It also beat CNN in terms of total weekly viewers during its six-week run, and was Peacock’s most viewed MSNBC original in over two years. Hispanic viewers made up 13% of the audience of “Leguizamo Does America.”

John Leguizamo’s got legs. His docuseries Leguizamo Does America has been renewed for a second season on MSNBC.

Peacock is bringing back Pete Davidson comedy Bupkis.

Selome Hailu Pete Davidson’s Peacock series “Bupkis” has been renewed for a second season. The semi-autobiographical series stars Davidson as himself as he attempts to work through unique family dynamics and the complexities of fame to form meaningful relationships. Edie Falco and Joe Pesci also star. Season 1 guest stars included Machine Gun Kelly, Steve Buscemi, Charlamagne Tha God, Al Gore andJohn Mulaney, among others. Davidson writes the series with showrunner Judah Miller as well as Dave Sirus. All three serve as executive producers alongside Lorne Michaels, Andrew Singer and Erin David. Universal Television is the studio, and Michaels’ Broadway Video produces.

has been renewed for a second season, ET has learned. The Hulu resort drama starring Nicole Kidman and adapted from Liane Moriarty's novel of the same name will be back for a second installment, this time with a whole new cast led by the Oscar winner.The news of a second season comes almost two years after first debuted in August 2021, with the premiere becoming the most watched Hulu original at the time.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, Vice Media is set to be acquired by its lenders Fortress Investment Group and and Soros Fund Management. Vice representatives declined Variety‘s request for comment Thursday, however, an internal memo was sent out to employees confirming the deal with its own backers, as first reported by the New York Times, is slated to close July 7. A court hearing is scheduled for Friday during which Fortress’s winning $225 million bid (Vice was valued at $5.7 billion in 2017) for Vice is set to be approved. At that point, the sale will still need to clear a regulatory approval process to be finalized.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The livestream for Netflix’s third annual Tudum fan event garnered 78 million views across all of the streamer’s social platforms Saturday, marking this version — presented in front of 11,000 people in São Paulo, Brazil — as up 86% in viewership from last year’s 41.8 million views, and more than 203% from 2021’s initial 25.7 million. Netflix likely didn’t set out to bring the in-person Tudum crowd to tears during the three-hour event — but once they started flowing, it was a fortunate side effect the streamer proudly displayed on social media. “I wish you could have been there to convey the electricity of the audience and capture those moments,” Netflix chief marketing officer Marian Lee told Variety Tuesday about the streamer’s first attempt at pulling off Tudum as a real-time presentation with an in-person audience, following two years of the virtual-version of the event. “We posted on Twitter crying fans in the audience because it was just like that sort of Beatles moment every time one of their favorites came on stage, there were just sobbing tears in the audience.”