Turner Showcases TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN
At TCA’s Summer 2016 Press Tour
Panels Include TNT’s Good Behavior, TBS’s People of Earth and Search Party
truTV’s Billy on the Street and Adam Ruins Everything
And HLN’s New All-Female Star-Powered Dayside Lineup
Turner is firing up the grill at the Television Critics Association’s Summer 2016 Press Tour, where a banquet of stars, producers and executives will help showcase some of programming on tap for four of its multiplatform brands – TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN. The lineup includes TNT’s the seductive drama Good Behavior, starring Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), and TBS’s other worldly comedy People of Earth, starring Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show), and Search Party, starring Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development). In addition, Billy Eichner will take the stage to talk about his truTV hit Billy on the Street, followed by Adam Conover of Adam Ruins Ev erything. And HLN will tout its daytime lineup with its all-female roster of hosts, Robin Meade, Michaela Pereira and Erica Hill.
The day’s events will also include an executive Q&A session with TBS & TNT President Kevin Reilly. In addition, Chris Linn, president of truTV, and Ken Jautz, executive vice president of CNN/U.S., will introduce the truTV and HLN panels, respectively.
Turner is the global content leader across all screens and platforms, with a portfolio that includes worldwide leaders in news and kids programming, powerful drama and comedy brands and premier championship sports. Here are a few stats illustrating the Turner portfolio’s strength:
- Turner engages the entire range of adult and kid viewers through its more than 15,000 hours of premium original content each year, domestically reaching an average of 80% of adults 18+ and more than 76% of millennials each month.
- The Turner portfolio also claims three of cable’s Top 5 networks with millennials in primetime and four of the Top 10 in total day, with Adult Swim leading in both categories. And in social media, Turner boasts 626 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Vine.
- In the second quarter of 2016, Turner claimed three of the Top 5 cable networks in primetime among adults 18-49, with TBS, TNT and Adult Swim ranking #1, #2 and #5, respectively. In addition, CNN was the #1 news network among adults 18-49 in primetime for the third consecutive quarter, and truTV stood alone as the only cable entertainment network in the Top 30 to deliver three consecutive quarters of growth in prime ratings.
- On the social media front, Turner boasts 626 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Vine.
- Earlier this month, Turner networks received 22 Primetime Emmy® nominations, while CNN received an additional 15 News & Documentary Emmy® nominations. And Turner scored three TCA Award nominations, two for the new TBS series Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and a third for the CNN series United Shades of America.
“Turner is in the midst of another banner year as we are seeing success in our efforts to evolve and enhance the overall viewer experience across our portfolio of brands,” said David Levy, president of Turner. “We’ve successfully rebranded TBS, TNT and truTV and launched a range of new shows across all of our networks. We’ve also begun to expand the footprint of our portfolio and content into new growth areas this year, entering the superhot eSports category with ELEAGUE, launching our new Super Deluxe digital studio and announcing the fall launch of Filmstruck, Turner’s first direct-to-consumer product in the U.S. From new programming to new platforms, we’re proving that Turner is the place to be for the very best in television, digital and mobile entertainment.”
Here’s a sampling of what Turner has on tap through the rest of the year:
- TBS, home to four of cable’s Top 10 new comedies this year, is looking to score again with the fall launches of People of Earth on Halloween and Search Party the week of Thanksgiving.
- TNT, which debuted the acclaimed hit Animal Kingdom this summer, will continue its shift toward bolder premium dramas with the launch of Good Behavior on Nov. 15.
- HLN will return to its news roots by expanding its live news programming during the day to cover more national, regional, lifestyle, and entertainment stories, beginning with Morning Express with Robin Meade from Atlanta to Michela in Los Angeles, and Erica Hill’s new show from New York launching in September.
- truTV plans to build on its ratings momentum this fall with new episodes of two of its most buzzed-about shows: Billy on the Street and Adam Ruins Everything, plus the series premiere of Jon Glaser Loves Gear and sophmore season of the network’s first scripted series, Those Who Can’t.
- Adult Swim has a packed slate of returning series, including the late-night antics of The Eric Andre Show, which debuts its fourth season on Aug. 5.
- Cartoon Network will launch the new series The Mighty Magiswords this fall, the first full-length series to emerge from its Cartoon Network Anything micro-network.
- CNN, which recently topped the ratings charts with its coverage of the Republican and Democratic national conventions, will be on the campaign trail for the next three months following the Presidential candidates as they make their case to the American people. In addition, CNN will launch new seasons of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown and This is Life with Lisa Ling, and premiere a powerful new documentary called Holy Hell.
- ELEAGUE, Turner’s new professional eSports organization formed in partnership with WME | IMG, had an amazing launch earlier this year with its Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) championship, which just reached its exciting conclusion last night. Coming in late September, ELEAGUE will present the Overwatch Open – presented in partnership with FACEIT – with the championship televised live on TBS on Friday, Sept. 30. And in October, ELEAGUE is set to debut its second season of CS:GO.
- Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is gearing up for the fall launch of its new video on-demand service for film aficionados, Filmstruck, Turner’s first-ever SVOD service and the exclusive home to the critically acclaimed Criterion Collection.
- Turner Sports will offer extensive coverage of the Major League Baseball Postseason with TBS as the exclusive home of the American League from the Wild Card through the Division Series and the League Championship Series.
- After making strategic investments in partner companies like Mashable and Above Average, Turner will begin collaborating with them on projects in a variety of areas, including content creation, platform distribution and data.
- In late summer, Turner will launch TNT and TBS apps on set-top devices, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Google Chromecast, with other Turner apps to follow.
Below are details on each of the Turner brands to be highlighted during today’s TCA events, as well as a look at what’s in store for the rest of 2016 across Turner. Additional information, panelist bios, video clips and more are available online at Turner’s Summer 2016 Press Tour website – eventpress.turner.com – with frequent updates being made throughout the day.
Turner at TCA’s Summer 2016 Press Tour
Sunday, July 31, Beginning at 3:15 p.m.
HLN
Turner’s HLN is returning to its news roots in 2016 and strengthening its live dayside programming lineup with the combination of three powerful female hosts: Robin Meade, who celebrates her 15th year as HLN’s Morning Express host and is the longest running female host of a morning news show, period; Michaela host Michaela Pereira, who brings personality, heart and an upbeat vibe to her three-hour morning news program, which launched July 11 and is the only national morning program to air live from L.A.; and Erica Hill, the seasoned journalist whose two-hour daily program will cover the news with intriguing guests and special segments, beginning in late September 2016.
Recently, operating more in collaboration with sister network CNN, HLN began simulcasting the entire third season of the hit CNN Original Series The Hunt, a first for two fully distributed cable networks. HLN also launched the network’s three-hour Friday night programming block, HLN Spotlight, showcasing a mix of newly developed original programs and previously aired CNN series that include Death Row Stories and Declassified.
TCA Panel: HLN: Live From NY, LA & Atlanta – HLN’s New All-Female Star-Powered Dayside Lineup
HLN will connect with three locations, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, to bring TCA attendees a panel session on the network’s hot new daytime lineup.
Panelists: Robin Meade (Morning Express), Michaela Pereira (Michaela), Erica Hill (new fall program), Stephanie Todd (VP Programming, HLN) and Ken Jautz (EVP, CNN/U.S.)
truTV
truTV went through an extensive and well-documented rebrand in October 2014 and has since emerged as a comedic network with a passionate, growing fan base of viewers that are younger and more affluent than their predecessors. The new truTV has generated unparalleled momentum, delivering three consecutive quarters of growth among adults 18-34 in both prime time and total day delivery. truTV’s hit series Impractical Jokers and The Carbonaro Effect continue to rank among basic cable’s Top 10 programs in their timeslots with millennials, while new hits like Adam Ruins Everything, Hack My Life and truTV’s first-ever scripted comedy, Those Who Can’t, have consistently outperformed the network’s primetime average. As the first network to announce its commitment to reducing its commercial load, truTV will roll out limited commercial interrup tion across all of its primetime schedule beginning this October.
TCA Panel: truTV’s Billy on the Street
Billy Eichner brings his quick wit to TCA for a Q&A session discussing Billy on the Street. The series follows Eichner as he hits the streets of New York City to test unsuspecting passersby aided by some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Season 5 of Billy on the Street is slated to launch this fall on truTV.
Panelists: Billy Eichner (Host/EP), Mike Farah (EP/CEO of Funny Or Die) and Anna Wenger (VP of Production, Funny Or Die)
TCA Panel: truTV’s Adam Ruins Everything
As the title of truTV’s acclaimed hit says, Adam Ruins Everything. Join Turner’s truTV as Adam Conover discusses his comically inventive yet unrelentingly serious quest to reveal the hidden truths behind everything you know and love. In the upcoming 14-episode backorder of the series’ first season, he takes on topics ranging from football and weddings to drugs and prison, giving you not just fun facts to know and tell your friends, but information that will make you see the world in a whole new way. If knowledge is power, then Adam Conover will have you laughing all the way to the top. Adam Ruins Everything returns with new episodes Tuesday, Aug. 23, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).
Panelists: Adam Conover (Host/Creator), Sam Reich (EP, President, Big Breakfast), Travis Helwig (Head Writer/Co-EP) and Jon Wolf (Co-EP)
TBS & TNT
TBS and TNT are both looking to build on the early success of their brand evolutions with premium content. The two networks are proceeding from a position of strength, with year-to-date rankings as cable’s Top 2 networks in primetime with adults 18-49 and two of cable’s Top 4 networks with millennials.
Since kicking off its rebrand this past January, TBS has successfully launched and renewed Wrecked, The Detour, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and Angie Tribeca, four of cable’s Top 10 new comedies of 2016. The network will keep the momentum going this fall with the new comedy series Search Party, with Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), and People of Earth, starring Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show).
TBS also carries coverage of the recently launched Turner-owned eSports league ELEAGUE, which will be back in August with the regional playoffs and finals in the Overwatch® Open, presented in partnership with Faceit, and a whole new Counter Strike: Global Offensive tournament in October.
TNT’s evolution got started this summer when it premiered Animal Kingdom as the first in a new breed of original programming for the network. The critically acclaimed drama has grown steadily throughout its first season and currently reaches an average of 6.5 million viewers per episode across all platforms.
TNT will follow up Animal Kingdom this fall with Good Behavior, starring Downton Abbey‘s Michelle Dockery in a no-holds-barred performance as a complicated woman trying to regain her life. As with Animal Kingdom, TNT will present this series with a significantly reduced ad load as part of an overall Turner effort to transform the viewing experience. The change means an additional 8-10 minutes of content per episode.
TCA Executive Panel with Kevin Reilly
Kevin Reilly, president of TBS & TNT, chief creative officer of Turner Entertainment, will sit down for a Q&A about today’s rapidly evolving industry landscape and how TNT and TBS are meeting its challenges.
TCA Panel: TBS’s People of Earth
TBS will shine a spotlight on People of Earth, a brand new comedy series with an extra-terrestrial twist. This session will feature Q&A with three-time Emmy® winner Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show), Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live) and Oscar Nuñez (The Office), along with executive producers Greg Daniels and David Jenkins. People of Earth follows a skeptical journalist who investigates a support group for people who have experienced alien encounters. The more he digs into their oddball claims, however, the more he realizes a semblance of truth to their stories and possibly even signs that point to his own alien abduction. People of Earth is slated to launch on Halloween night, Monday, Oct. 31, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).
Panelists: Wyatt Cenac, Ana Gasteyer, Oscar Nuñez, Greg Daniels (EP) and David Jenkins (EP)
TCA Panel: TBS’s Search Party
TBS’s Search Party is a new mystery-comedy hailed by Indiewire as “something truly unique in the TV landscape.” Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) leads a group of self-absorbed 20-somethings who become entangled in a mystery over the sudden disappearance of a former college acquaintance. Search Party also stars John Early, John Reynolds, Meredith Hagner and Brandon Micheal Hall. TBS will launch Search Party by showing all 10 episodes of the first season during the week of Thanksgiving, Monday, Nov. 21 – Friday, Nov. 25, with two episodes airing back-to-back each night at 11 p.m. (ET/PT).
Panelists: Alia Shawkat, John Early, John Reynolds, Meredith Hagner, Brandon Micheal Hall, Michael Showalter (EP), Sarah-Violet Bliss (EP), Charles Rogers (EP) and Lilly Burns (EP)
TCA Panel: TNT’s Good Behavior
This fall, award-winning actress Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) is set to dive into one of the toughest, most challenging characters on television when she stars in TNT’s Good Behavior, a seductive thriller created by Chad Hodge (Wayward Pines) and Blake Crouch (Wayward Pines) based on the books by Crouch. Good Behavior tells the story of Letty Raines (Dockery), a thief and con artist whose life is always one wrong turn or one bad decision from implosion. Juan Diego Botto (Ismael, El Greco), Terry Kinney (Oz, Show Me a Hero) and Lusia Strus (Wayward Pines, Cotton) also star in the new drama, which is slated to launch Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).
Panelists: Michelle Dockery, Juan Diego Botto, Terry Kinney, Lusia Strus, Blake Crouch (EP) and Chad Hodge (EP)
TCA Event: TBS and TNT’s Spectacular Outdoor Lobster Feast
7 p.m. – 10 p.m. at SmogShoppe
At the Winter Press Tour in January, TBS and TNT President Kevin Reilly quipped that he was going to invite everyone to a barbecue at TCA’s summer gathering. True to his word, Reilly will host a spectacular outdoor feast at the SmogShoppe. He’ll be joined by members of his executive team, including original programming heads Brett Weitz of TBS and Sarah Aubrey of TNT, as well as stars from the networks’ current and upcoming series.
Looking Ahead at Turner
In addition to the big happenings at TBS, TNT, truTV and HLN, there’s a lot to look forward to at Turner’s Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, CNN and Turner Classic Movies (TCM), as well as at Turner Sports. Here’s a quick rundown:
Adult Swim
Adult Swim, basic cable’s #1 network in total day among millennials, is looking to continue its reign in the second half of the year. On the programming side, Adult Swim is gearing up for the fourth season premiere of The Eric Andre Show, which is slated to begin Friday, Aug. 5, at midnight (ET/PT). Starring Eric Andre and co-hosted by Hannibal Buress, the most hellish show in late night is completely redefining the television viewing experience as we know it. With more ethically deplorable street pranks and severely offended guests than ever before, there’s no doubt sensitivities will be violated.
The Eric Andre Show joins several other returning Adult Swim originals, including Robot Chicken, Rick and Morty, Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule, Mr. Pickles and Mike Tyson Mysteries.
In the mobile/digital realm, the Adult Swim Keyboard app is a huge hit, recording 85,000 downloads in the first week after its June 22 launch. That propelled Adult Swim’s Mobile App Portfolio to exceed 100 million downloads since the site launched.
Cartoon Network
After the successful launch of the Emmy®-nominated The Powerpuff Girls and being the only top kids network in Q2’16 to improve from Q1’16 with kids 6-11, Cartoon Network seeks to build on that momentum with the fall premiere of its next original series: The Mighty Magiswords. Originally debuting last year as a 15-second interactive series on the Cartoon Network Anything micro-network, this comedy adventure about a brother-and-sister team of warriors will now be a full-length linear series. It will launch as part of a connected content ecosystem, giving fans deeper engagement across platforms with the characters and their quest for swords.
Cartoon Network will also feature the return of several key hits, including Amazing World of Gumball, Adventure Time, Clarence, Regular Show, Steven Universe, Teen Titans Go!, The Powerpuff Girls, Uncle Grandpa and We Bare Bears.
In addition to its linear success, Cartoon Network dominates in the multi-platform space. It currently ranks as cable’s #1 network on VOD, with triple-digit increases vs. last year in video plays. And it continues to be tremendously successful with its ever-expanding suite of mobile apps, including the highly touted Cartoon Network app and the brand new Soundtrack Attack – Steven Universe Rhythm Runner, which ranks second (behind Pokemon Go) in Apple’s App Store.
CNN
CNN is enjoying a remarkable string of success this year that extends beyond the network’s outstanding news and political coverage to include its expanding slate of Original Series. As a result, CNN is registering the triple-digit growth in cable news. CNN also has its largest share of the primetime audience in 16 years and is within two share points of Fox News. In addition, CNN just earned 15 News & Documentary Emmy® nominations, the most in the network’s history, along with nine Primetime Emmy® nominations.
CNN topped the charts as the #1 television network among total viewers and adults 25-54 during the broadcast coverage block of the Republican and Democratic national conventions, beating Fox News, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC. The network also reached the most total viewers in cable news across both conventions in total day and sales prime.
CNN Digital recently set all-time records in delivery of multiplatform and mobile unique visitors and outpaced all news and information competitors in multiplatform views, time spent and video starts. That success continues its 14-month reign as the #1 news source for digital video. And CNN Politics just marked 16 straight months as the #1 online political news destination.
In addition to CNN’s continued political coverage, the months ahead will usher in season eight of the Emmy®- and Peabody Award-winning CNN Original Series Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, premiering in September. The new season includes a trip to Vietnam featuring a dinner with President Obama. Also in September, This is Life with Lisa Ling returns for its third season, covering wide-range of hot topics, from heroin addiction to modern-day brothels to new technologies in policing. And CNN Films will premiere Holy Hell, a revealing and compelling look at life inside Buddhafield, a mysterious spiritual sect that originated in the 1980s in West Hollywood. Directed by Will Allen, himself a member and the unofficial documentarian of the sect for 22 years. Holy Hell is slated to premiere Thursday, Sept. 1, at 9 p.m. (ET) /11 p.m. (PT).
Looking ahead, CNN has a packed slate lined up for next year, with 13 Original Series, including Soundtracks: Songs That Made History (working title), The History of Comedy, The Nineties and the new spiritual adventure series Believer with Reza Aslan. CNN’s 2017 slate also features at least four films.
Turner Classic Movies
The most anticipated event for Turner Classic Movies (TCM) this fall will be the launch of Filmstruck, it’s new video on-demand service for film aficionados and Turner’s first-ever SVOD service. FilmStruck is being developed and managed by TCM in collaboration with the Criterion Collection. It will feature a comprehensive and constantly refreshed library of films comprised of an eclectic mix of contemporary and classic art house, indie, foreign and cult films. FilmStruck will also be the new exclusive streaming home for the critically acclaimed and award-winning Criterion Collection, which will include the Criterion Channel, a new premium service programmed and curated by the Criterion team.
In October, TCM will launch the second season of its Trailblazing Women initiative, which raises awareness of the historical contributions of women working behind and in front the camera. And Nov. 12-19, TCM will set sail for the sixth TCM Classic Cruise, featuring an expanded seven-day itinerary.
Turner Sports
Turner Sports‘ upcoming slate of premium sports content includes the second season of ELEAGUE coming later this fall. It will once again feature the popular Counter Strike: Global Offensive title. ELEAGUE is also preparing its first-ever presentation of the Overwatch Open in late September.
October will be filled with Major League Baseball Postseason action, with TBS as the exclusive home of the American League from the Wild Card through the League Championship Series.
In late October, Turner Sports will tip off its 33rd consecutive year of NBA action, with TNT providing exclusive coverage of Opening Night of the NBA season. The NBA on TNT will also feature an expanded lineup of games for the upcoming season, including a Monday night package over the second half of the season.
About Turner
Turner, a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, sports, animation and young adult multi-platform content for consumers around the world. Turner brands and businesses include CNN/U.S., HLN, CNN International and CNN.com, TBS, TNT, TCM, truTV, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Adult Swim, Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, iStreamPlanet and ELEAGUE.
