NETworks News

Tickets for the Seattle engagement of the national tour of the Tony Award-Winning Broadway revival of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND are on sale now.

Hall of Fame producer Dick Wolf and Wolf Entertainment have signed a new five-year deal to remain at Universal Television, a division of NBCUniversal Content Studios, his studio home for the past 36 years.

AIRE Radio Networks, the largest minority certified audio network and LaMusica announced today that Urbano music's renowned duo Zion & Lennox present their historic tour: “ICONIC Tour Twenty 20”. This tour will be honoring the longevity of their 20-year run, and it will kick off in Los Angeles at The Forum on Friday, May 15th and will close in Miami at the AmericanAirlines Arena on Saturday, June 27th. Last night they announced the tour through a spectacular marquee in Times Square and revealed dates and that pre-sale tickets go live today, and subsequently, that regular ticket sales begin Friday, February 28, www.ticketmaster.com.

AIRE Radio Networks, the largest minority certified audio network announced today that reggaeton superstar, J Alvarez, is the latest artist to join its newly created marketing partnership platform, Artistas360. Artistas360 is designed to connect Latin artists, of all music genres, with brands for the development and execution of culturally relevant audio, digital and live music campaigns.

ArcLight Cinemas and Slamdance today announced the lineup for their inaugural Emergence Film Festival, taking place March 26th - 29th at ArcLight Cinemas' Hollywood location. The lineup includes both premieres and Slamdance Park City festival favorites and will showcase Features, Shorts, and Episodics along with Slamdance's signature categories Anarchy and DIG. This new partnership is an extension of the two organizations' successful Slamdance Cinema Club screening series. Tickets and passes are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased online and at the theater.

WarnerMedia's truTV has successfully debuted its first-ever feature-length film, Impractical Jokers: The Movie, directed by Chris Henchy (Daddy's Home, Eastbound & Down) and produced by Funny Or Die with an extraordinary debut weekend total of $2,606,873 and per screen average of $7,302.

ATX Television Festival is collaborating with Alamo Drafthouse to expand its footprint beyond Austin for the first time with the new event series 'TV at the Alamo presented by ATX.' United by their Austin roots, the two entertainment powerhouses will bring the small screen to the silver screen by showcasing screenings and panels in cities across the U.S. The events will feature fresh content and personalities from major networks including AMC, The CW and more. 

ABC's “The View” averaged 2.605 million Total Viewers, 349,000 Women 25-54 and 250,000 Women 18-49, during the week of Feb. 17, 2020, based on Live + Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research.

 NBC has tied for #1 for the primetime ratings week of Feb. 17-23 in the key ratings demographic of adults 18-49, as well as adults 25-54 and adults 18-34, according to “live plus same day” figures from Nielsen Media Research.

Three-time Emmy nominee Molly Shannon (The Other Two) has signed on to star in the half-hour comedy pilot BIG DEAL, starring and executive produced by Emmy nominee Vanessa Bayer (Saturday Night Live). If the project is picked up to series, Shannon would appear as a series regular. Bayer co-created BIG DEAL with Emmy nominee Jeremy Beiler (Saturday Night Live, Inside Amy Schumer), who will also executive produce. Emmy winner Jessi Klein (Inside Amy Schumer, BLACK MONDAY, Big Mouth) will serve as showrunner and executive produce along with Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, Wet Hot American Summer, The Lovebirds), who will direct, as well as Annapurna's Megan Ellison and Sue Naegle and Jordana Mollick of Semi-Formal.

Clay Epstein's Film Mode Entertainment is pleased to announce multiple sales on ANTI-LIFE aka BREACH during EFM in Berlin. 

In the latest of intense, acclaimed mystery dramas from Acorn TV, BAFTA and NTA award-winning actor David Tennant (Broadchurch, Doctor Who, Good Omens) and award-winning actress Cush Jumbo (The Good Fight, The Good Wife, Vera) lead a stellar ensemble cast in the darkly gripping British series Deadwater Fell, to premiere exclusively in North America on Acorn TV on Monday, April 6, with a weekly rollout every Monday through April 27. Created and written by Daisy Coulam (Grantchester, Humans) and directed by Lynsey Miller (The Boy with the Topknot, Eve,) this four-part psychological mystery drama explores the cause and aftermath of a horrific crime in a small Scottish community. When a seemingly perfect and happy family is murdered by someone they know and trust, those closest to the family begin to question everything they thought they knew about their friends. After its premiere on UK's Channel 4 on January 10, 2020, Deadwater Fell became the #1 drama for the network's key demos and was Channel 4's second highest rating drama (total audience) in the past year. Called a 'glorious streaming service... an essential must-have' (The Hollywood Reporter), AMC Networks' Acorn TV is North America's most popular streamer focused on British and international television.

Smithsonian Channel is set to kick off Women's History Month with two exciting new projects – first, the second annual WOMEN IN HISTORY social video initiative on March 1, and the following day, the premiere of VIKING WOMEN: THE REAL VALKYRIES. Each aims to shine a light on incredible, pioneering women that may not have gotten their fair due in history books. Connect with Smithsonian Channel on Twitter (@SmithsonianChan), Facebook (Smithsonian Channel) and Instagram (@Smithsonian_Channel) to catch all of the WOMEN IN HISTORY videos beginning March 1, and tune-in to Smithsonian Channel on March 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT for the premiere of VIKING WOMEN: THE REAL VALKYRIES.

Steppenwolf's production of The Minutes by Tracy Letts, directed by Anna D. Shapiro, has announced a digital lottery and in-person rush ticket policy.

In back-to-back events, the African American community comes together for a weekend celebrating Black excellence. On February 22, the 51st NAACP Image Awards airing live on BET Networks is the preeminent multicultural awards show from an African American point of view. It celebrates the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film and honors individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors. The next evening, the American Black Film Festival will host its annual awards season gala, ABFF Honors. The ceremony celebrates Black culture by recognizing individuals who have made distinguished contributions to American entertainment. The honorees being celebrated at ABFF Honors have leveraged their career to carve out a space for people of color in Hollywood helping to create a more diverse landscape. ABFF Honors is an opportunity for the industry to acknowledge how far entertainment has come and thank the individuals who have made it their mission to propel the African American community forward.

NBC has ordered “True Story,” a hilarious new series co-hosted by award-winning actor-comedians Ed Helms (“The Office,” “The Hangover”) and Randall Park (“Fresh Off the Boat,” “Always Be My Maybe”). Helms will also executive produce.

AMC announced today that it has cast Annie Murphy (Schitt's Creek) in Kevin Can F*** Himself in the lead role of Kevin's wife, Allison, a dark comedy about a woman who escapes her confines and discovers her rage.

Dates have been announced for the Waterbury return engagement of the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. The musical will make its much-anticipated return to Waterbury to play the Palace Theater on March 17. Tickets may be purchased at the Palace Theater's Box Office, 100 East Main Street, Waterbury, on line at www.palacetheaterct.org  or by calling 203.346.2000.

A&E Network has greenlit a second season of the poignant documentary series 'Kids Behind Bars: Life or Parole' which tells the stories of convicted juvenile offenders who received mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole. Due to a recent United States Supreme Court ruling that such sentences for minors are unconstitutional, these inmates can now petition the court for a new sentencing hearing. The powerful second season will chronicle eight convicted offenders fighting for a second chance while also giving voice to the families of their victims who must grapple with the possibility that they could soon be released. The series posits the question, can juveniles who committed murder ever truly be rehabilitated? In each episode, viewers will hear testimony from leading psychologists, law enforcement, and legal experts as well as first-person interviews with the inmates themselves and the loved ones of their victims to understand the full scope of the crimes before the judge makes the final verdict. The new season will premiere this Fall.

The Lowry is holding a day-long event to explore some of the essential tools and issues being explored in artist development programmes across the industry.