The Hollywood Reporter

Could Netflix’s pain be someone else’s gain? A number of entertainment companies are counting on exactly that. As consumers grapple with higher subscription costs, and with more subscription video offerings than ever, those companies in the free, ad-supported streaming space (usually referred to as FAST, in industry jargon) think their time is now. In fact, many of the biggest players in the FAST space will be familiar to close followers of the entertainment business. There’s Pluto TV, owned by Paramount; there’s Tubi, owned by Fox Corp.; there’s Freevee (formerly IMDb TV), owned by Amazon; there’s Peacock’s free tier, owned by NBCUniversal; and there’s Roku Channel, owned by, well, Roku. All of the services combine a wealth of licensed TV and movie content (in some cases from the libraries of their corporate parents)…

FREEVEE Bosch: Legacy Judy Justice America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation Hollywood Houselift PEACOCK (free tier) NBC News Yellowstone NBC shows (The Office, Parks and Recreation) Bel-Air PLUTO TV Professional Bull Riders CBS shows (Survivor, NCIS, The Late Show) Classic TV (Sanford & Son, Three’s Company, Perry Mason) Paramount content (Star Trek, Degrassi, Hot in Cleveland) ROKU CHANNEL This Old House Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse programming Kevin Hart’s Die Hart Most Dangerous Game TUBI The Freak Brothers TMZ Gordon Ramsay programming Fox shows (Lego Masters, The Masked Singer)…

ABC Is it still safe to describe ABC as female-skewing? The Craig Erwich-led network will usher Monday Night Football into its schedule in the fall, with four NFL games set to displace the female-leaning Dancing With the Stars (heading to Disney+) after a 16-year run. How will the network fill the remaining Monday-night block without the reality staple? Grey’s Anatomy continues to be ABC’s crown jewel, and The Rookie is poised to get the franchise treatment after strong ratings for its not-yet-titled Niecy Nash-led spinoff. And while Abbott Elementary and The Wonder Years were clear breakouts, the rest of ABC’s freshman crop is on the bubble. CBS Inasmuch as broadcast TV works in 2022, CBS has its formula figured out: episodic dramas where the good guys prevail and broad-based comedies, sprinkled…

Former This American Life editor Ben Calhoun is joining The New York Times’ The Daily as an executive producer, the latest sign of the newspaper giant’s growing audio priorities. Radio giant Cumulus Media rejected a $1.2 billion takeover offer from a consortium reportedly led by Connoisseur Media CEO Jeff Warshaw, saying the offer “undervalues” its business. While Mark Zuckerberg builds his metaverse, Facebook podcasts are getting the boot. The company is shuttering its podcast platform June 3 and moving audio under Facebook Live.…

When the pandemic began in early 2020 and sweeping lockdowns went into effect, insurance firms were facing a catastrophe. Billions of dollars’ worth of claims — many from Hollywood companies, including those involved with the live-event business — were pouring in across the country. But instead of paying out, insurance companies looked to the fine print and started to deny claims en masse. Most insurers found that policies for lost revenue because of business interruptions excluded coverage for closures forced by the pandemic and required physical loss or damage to property. A legal war erupted over COVID-related insurance claims, and more than 2,300 lawsuits challenging coverage decisions have been filed, according to a COVID-19 insurance litigation tracker created by Penn Law professor Tom Baker. After two years and 1 million COVID-19 deaths…

James Corden’s decision to leave CBS’ The Late Late Show in 2023 likely won’t upend the late night TV landscape. His show, after all, draws the smallest audience of the five broadcast network talk shows that air in the wee hours. Corden has, however, been among the leaders in making digital content during his tenure as host of The Late Late Show and has built up a huge social media following that far outstrips his on-air audience — and those of most of his fellow late night hosts as well. Like most of linear TV, late night viewing has been trending down in recent years. This season, CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert leads the network pack with an average of 2.72 million viewers, including a week of delayed viewing (down…