Endeavor Sets First Dividend, Stock Buyback Plan as it Awaits WWE Acquisition and IMG Academy Sale

EXCLUSIVE: Ricky Gervais has directed his first BBC project for a decade as the corporation’s Comedy Director Jon Petrie unveils his debut batch of 11 Short Films since taking on the role last year.

CBS has set premiere dates for its summer slate of reality television programming, including three returning and one new series.  “Secret Celebrity Renovation” kicks off the lineup with a July 28 premiere followed by the Aug. 2 debut of “Big Brother” Season 25. The all-new musical game show “Superfan” will launch on Aug. 9, and finally “The Challenge: USA” returns for its second season on Aug. 10.  “Big Brother’s” 25th season will debut with a special 90-minute episode on Wednesday, Aug. 2 at 8 p.m. ET while a group of new Houseguests arrive at the “Big Brother” house. Following its premiere, the series will air on Sundays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. followed by Thursdays at 9 p.m. featuring live evictions. 

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SAG-AFTRA has struck a deal with celebrity video platform Cameo to cover the brand deals that members make through Cameo for Business (C4B) under a guild contract. The new pact, “C4B x SAG-AFTRA Agreement,” will allow SAG-AFTRA members to count C4B earnings toward health and pension benefits, just as those earnings become a growing concern for out of work actors while the Writers Guild of America’s strike against Hollywood studios and their organization, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), rages on. SAG-AFTRA has been a big supporter of WGA on the picket line over the first three weeks of the strike, with SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher being very vocal ahead of the the actors guild entering its own contract negotiations with the AMPTP on June 7.

A Black Lady Sketch Show” creator and star Robin Thede is working with the show’s editors to put the finishing touches on Season 4 of the half-hour HBO comedy. “First season,” she tells Variety, “I was like, I want every third line to be a joke. Second season, every other line. Now, literally every line is a joke, even the setups to the punchlines. It’s crazy.” With sketches that riff on relatable themes — like hair woes, ashy skin and the politics of the Black church — “A Black Lady Sketch Show” frames the world from a Black woman’s point of view. Even when the subject matter has nothing to do with Blackness, the show’s existence is impactful, a sentiment Whoopi Goldberg underlined during a recent episode of “The View.”

When it was announced the Lovejoy - the Brighton-based four piece indie-rock band formed of Will Gold, Joe Goldsmith, Ash Kabosu and Mark Boardman - were heading for their first-ever UK Top 10 entry on the Official Albums Chart this week, there seemed to be one sentiment across their fans on social media; their 'little band' wasn't so little anymore.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The major broadcast networks are trying very hard this year to do what they do best – create franchise drama series built around the adventures of larger-than-life characters. Kathy Bates, Kaitlin Olson, Carrie Preston and Shanola Hampton are among the female actors hoping to click as distinctive protagonists with new series in the 2023-24 season. Bates will bring to life a next-generation “Matlock,” while Preston limns a new chapter for Elsbeth Tascioni, the attorney character she has played on and off on CBS’ “The Good Wife” and Paramount+’s “The Good Fight” since 2010. This is good news for the hundreds of international television buyers heading to Los Angeles for next week’s LA Screenings market. Another welcome development is that the largest media congloms are now on a big push to reopen their doors to third-party buyers, after a few years of holding back the biggest shows for in-house streaming services.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor On May 12, Variety partnered with Reddit’s Television subreddit to host an Ask Me Anything discussion about the ongoing writers strike. Variety co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton — who has covered the television industry for 25 years and wrote the book “TV on Strike: Why Hollywood Went to War Over the Internet” about the 2007 strike — fielded many smart questions from Redditors, touching on topics like AI, who gets paid during the strike, and how long it could last. Below are key selections from the discussion, lightly-edited for clarity.

Variety Editors If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. BTS may be on a hiatus right now but fans can still celebrate the group with this UNO BTS card set. First released a few years ago, this officially-licensed game quickly sold out online, but Mattel has brought the BTS x UNO game back (and it’s on sale for just $8 here).

EXCLUSIVE: We told you about Ron Howard’s survival thriller Origin of The Species last fall and the project now has a killer cast with Oscar nominee Ana De Armas (No Time To Die), Oscar nominee Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (Tomb Raider) and Golden Globe nominee Daniel Brühl (All Quiet On The Western Front) all attached.

Love Island star Tasha Ghouri has expressed hopes to move abroad with her boyfriend, Andrew Le Page.The pair, who recently met King Charles and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle, have been together since meeting and finishing fourth position on the popular dating show Love Island last year. And while the pair are currently renting together in East London, 24 year old model Tasha, whose dad Tarek lives in Spain and her brother in Australia, is hoping to swap out UK's chilly weather for sunnier climes. Speaking to The Sun during Deaf Awareness Week, Tasha said: "We'd definitely love to move abroad at some point, maybe when we're a bit older, in our late 30s or 40s.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Telemundo will add two starry telenovelas, “El Conde: Amor y Honor” and “Vuelve a Mi,” and a ninth season of its hit drama series “El Señor de los Cielos” to its 2023-24 primetime slate. Telemundo is bringing star Fernando Colunga back to the screen after a multi-year break from novelas for “El Conde,” an established novela format. Telemundo’s spin is a period drama set in the 1930s and ’50s, revolving around a man who is thought to have died in jail but turns up 17 years later to the surprise of his family and associates. Other cast members include Ana Brenda Contreras, Marjorie de Sousa, Chantal Andere and Sergio Sendel. It was shot stages and on location

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Disney is going on a diet — but Hulu is still on the menu. Disney CEO Bob Iger and chief financial officer Christine McCarthy delivered a clear message on Wednesday to Wall Street and to Hollywood during Disney’s quarterly earnings call. Disney will cut the overall volume of content produced for its streaming platforms — primarily Disney+ and Hulu — as it deals with a much tighter macroeconomic environment, not to mention the uncertain impact of the writers strike that began May 2. After spending just under $30 billion on content in Disney’s 2022 fiscal year (which ends in September), Iger has targeted $3 billion in savings for 2023. Of that $30 billion, about 30% is devoted to sports rights for ESPN and ABC Sports.

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Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Ellen Stutzman, the Writers Guild of America West’s chief negotiator, was out early Monday morning taking part in the family-themed picket that drew big crowds of striking writers and their children — including a few furry family members — to the sidewalks outside Netflix headquarters at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue in Hollywood. Stutzman’s presence at the location that has been one of the most heavily trafficked picketing sites was praised by WGA members who feel that guild leaders are going the extra mile to provide support and communication on the strike that began May 2. Stutzman, who brought her young son Mateo in a stroller, said the next steps in the process of coming to agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are self-evident.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor David Zaslav and his team could be forgiven for sounding a little stressed on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q1 earnings call. The company’s numbers were pretty grim for a CEO who prizes his free cash flow. The Warner Bros. Discovery chief was fired up about a number of issues affecting the studio behind the shield, and he fired off verbal volleys, pop culture quotes and metaphors, invoking everything from military terminology to Formula 1 racing to “The Blues Brothers.” But the liveliest moment of the hourlong conference call with Wall Street analysts was Zaslav’s discussion of subscriber churn rates and how they differ between HBO Max and Discovery+, the two streamers that are set to be married and relaunch as a joint product dubbed Max on May 23.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor It’s deja vu all over again for Patric Verrone, the former WGA West president who led the guild during the 2007-08 writers strike. Verrone, who spoke to Variety while picketing outside Fox Studios in West Los Angeles, sees a number of parallels to the dynamic that led to the work stoppage in November 2007 but also a number of important differences. He is a member of the negotiating committee that has been wrangling this latest three-year contract with executives at the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. “I would say the chief similarity is that in 2007, and in 2023, the management didn’t believe us, when we said we were going to strike and that our demands were genuine, and that we had the full support of our membership,” Verrone said. “There was skepticism on the part of the companies that this would actually happen.”

Kate Bush has reacted to the news that she is (finally) going to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, and hinted that she could make her first public appearance in over a decade at the ceremony. 

Married at First Sight Australia will probably go down in the history of 2023 as one of the most explosive series yet. From cheating scandals to controversial characters, it was bursting with drama which saw more couples than ever decide to call it quits before final vows.

Amazon Freevee has greenlit its own reality series “The GOAT,” which will feature veteran reality stars from “The Bachelor,” “The Circle,” “Vanderpump Rules,” “Love Is Blind” and more.“The GOAT” comes from the producers of “The Bachelor” and “FBoy Island,” and the series will test fan favorite reality celebrities from other popular shows through challenges that range from mental and physical to social. Fourteen alums of other reality competitions will enter “The Goat,” but only one will come out on top to win a cash prize, and the title of GOAT (greatest of all time) along with America’s respect.Daniel Tosh (“Tosh 2.0) will host the series, which began production in Atlanta last month.Season 1 will feature the celebrity cast of Tayshia Adams from “The Bachelor,” Joe Amabile from “The Bachelor and “Dancing with the Stars,” Kristen Doute from “Vanderpump Rules,” Reza Farahan from “Shahs of Sunset,” CJ Franco from “FBoy Island,” Wendell Holland from “Survivor,” Teck Holmes from “The Real World” and “The Challenge,” Justin Johnson/Alyssa Edwards from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Paola Mayfield from “90 Day Fiancé,” Da’Vonne Rogers from “Big Brother” and “The Challenge,” Joey Sasso from “The Circle” and “Perfect Match,” Jason Smith from “Holiday Baking Championship,” Lauren Speed-Hamilton from “Love Is Blind,” and Jill Zaren from “The Real Housewives of New York City.”“The Goat” is executive produced by Elan Gale and Bill Dixon, who have previously executive produced “The Bachelor” and “FBoy Island.” Anthony Anderson, Lee Eisenberg, Michael Friedman, Howard T.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix’s upcoming 3D animated series, Mech Cadets will be released globally on August 10. Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), Ming-Na Wen (The Mandalorian), Brandon Soo Hoo (Teen Titans: The Judas Contract) and Debra Wilson (MADtv) will star in the Boom! Studios and Polygon Pictures production.