New partnership covers Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Keralam, Zee Alwan and Zee Aflam

ATL Media, the commercial arm of Zee Entertainment Middle East has appointed DigiNet Arabia, a Choueiri Group company, to take charge of its commercial advertising sales across the MENA region. 

The tie-up which commences April 1, 2021 will run across to December 31st, 2025 and covers Zee Entertainment’s premium media assets, namely Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Keralam, Zee Alwan and Zee Aflam. 

The agreement is aimed at furthering Zee’s growth and expansion plans in the MENA region and will be focused on promoting their TV Channels to regional advertisers and brands. 

Present at the signing ceremony were Senior Management and Executives from both ATL Media and Choueiri Group. Speaking on the occasion, Manoj A Mathew, Territory Head Zee Entertainment MENAPT stated that “Zee has been operating in MENA for over 25 years, it continues to lead the South Asian TV space and competes aggressively with local Arabic mainstream TV networks. Our new partnership with Choueiri Group is aligned with our strategic expansion plans, which will witness us taking our TV offerings to new heights of innovation and excellence, in doing so, we hope to meet the most discerning demands of both viewers and advertisers across the Arab world and beyond. Furthermore, it will also allow us to expand our other areas of investment like Arabic movies and local content production”.

He went on to state that “Choueiri Group’s proven track record and continued commitment to innovation made them the ideal choice of partners, as we are all looking forward to Zee’s transformation and success in the digital age”.

Also stating his views on the latest appointment, Choueiri Group’s Chairman and CEO, Pierre Choueiri said that “We are very excited about this collaboration with the flagship TV channels from Zee Entertainment. Our partnership will be focused on unlocking the fullest commercial potential of these assets, as highly effective advertising platforms for regional brands. We will also be building upon Zee Entertainment’s existing strengths while adapting to the changing media landscape, to ensure that their TV platforms become the best that they can be”.

“Zee’s strength lies in its ability to transform and adapt to the markets it operates in; Our large global presence in 170+ countries and touching the lives of over 1.3 billion people reflects our determination and position as an international media leader. The Zee portfolio spanning linear, OTT, movies, music and events has something for every stakeholder. We have some exciting plans ahead and this collaboration with Choueiri Group will allow us to further increase our investment in the region to focus on other content and digital opportunities.” said Ashok Namboodiri – Chief Business Officer, International Business at Zee Entertainment.

The disruption and uncertainty that the global COVID-19 pandemic has created has been particularly harrowing for global sports, which is consequently changing the value of sponsorship. Yet as the health crisis remains a notable factor for most businesses and industries around the world, China’s economy was recovering broadly at the end of 2020, and that will bleed into the country’s involvement in sports sponsorships.

A new wave of COVID-19 cases has since clouded the country’s economic growth, but Asian economic indicators, including the stock markets, have bounced back more quickly than others after the first vaccine was announced. This has brands looking east as they pivot, adapt and recalibrate their business and marketing models to meet the changing needs of consumers.

Global economies will recover at different rates, but the World Bank expects China’s economy to expand by nearly 8% this year, and this will affect where sports sponsorships come from as well as their values. In fact, an analysis of data from Nielsen Sports Sponsorglobe found that Chinese brands will be responsible for one-third of all growth in the global sponsorship market over the next decade.

The global sponsorship market will also diversify from an industry involvement perspective. By 2025, payment solutions and money transfer providers will account for 16% of the sponsorship value that comes from global financial services. The shift isn’t surprising, given the shift in consumer behavior away from traditional banking. As a result, non-traditional business models will begin to emerge in this established sponsorship sector. We see a similar shift in the travel and delivery sectors, as brands like Airbnb and Takeaway.com have already challenged the traditional sponsorship model—and new categories will continue to materialize.

And while the move from physical to digital for categories like fashion and clothing could help shape the future of sponsorships, few sponsorship shifts have been as notable as what we’ve seen in the esports realm. Importantly, a recent Nielsen Sports analysis found that sponsorship revenue from esports could reach $842 million by 2025.

In addition to filling some of the void of live sports in mid-2020, esports represents the opportunity to connect with new and young audiences. Additionally, its online nature safeguards it amid a pandemic environment that is still subject to shortened seasons, cancelled events, fan-free stadiums and sporadic lockdowns. These factors should make esports more attractive to brands looking for robust sponsorship platforms as well as traditional rightsholders looking to unlock brand marketing spend.

Understanding the sponsorship investors of the future—who they are, where they come from, what their spend capacity is, and having a viable platform for them that’s in line with consumer behaviors and brands’ commercial strategies—is step one for every rightsholder plotting future development in light of the latest global events.

Source:Nielsen Sports

Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) announced the global launch of Nielsen Market Lift. Market Lift falls within Nielsen’s Audience Outcomes solution, which is focused on helping marketers maximise their return on investment and move with velocity.

Nielsen Market Lift is a cloud-based campaign measurement tool that unlocks the ability to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing campaigns on both a large national scale as well as on small scale test and learn advertisements.  

Nielsen Market Lift brings together Nielsen’s trusted analytics powered by automated and scalable cloud based modeling to quickly deliver results across a range of tactics including markets, categories, media types and channels. With Nielsen Market Lift, marketers can now quickly answer day-to-day questions on their targeted campaign initiatives and make informed decisions on their strategic rollouts.

Nielsen Market Lift will be available in 37 markets around the world spanning Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, enabling marketers around the world the power to rapidly provide the impact of their investments, with greater coverage across campaign size and geography.  The initial launch includes the following markets, in which Nielsen Market Lift is available today: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Chinese Mainland, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, U.K. and U.S.. Throughout the remainder of 2021, Colombia, Denmark, France, India, Japan, Peru, Philippines and Vietnam will be included. 

Lana Busignani, Nielsen Executive Vice President, International Planning & Outcomes said, “As digitisation and technology continues to accelerate, there is an expectation from executives for marketers to be accountable for the investments they are making and have the ability to deliver hard evidence, in-market, of business outcomes.”

“Advertisers must deliver outcomes, publishers want to prove the value of their platform and agencies are asked to deliver results. The need for ROI outcomes is exponentially increasing and Nielsen has the unique data assets and analytics to help our clients quantify effectiveness,” Busignani added.

Jacob Goethals, Nielsen Market Lift Product Strategy Lead added, “Nielsen Market Lift offers speed, quality, automation and global reach. Nielsen has an unmatched global footprint that measures sales lift across media channels around the world. No two markets are the same, and our global experience enables marketers to optimise their advertising spend strategically.

“Nielsen Market Lift is engineered to bring agility and flexibility to users with a data agnostic design that allows users to leverage Nielsen’s trove of syndicated data in FMCG or for clients to use their own data to measure across verticals with the same trusted methodology,” concluded Goethals.

Nielsen Market Lift is part of Nielsen’s mission to deliver outcome measurement around the world so marketers can maximise their ROI, move with velocity and be budget friendly. With Nielsen’s actionable and comprehensive metrics media buyers and sellers can evaluate ad performance and make smarter decisions. 

While residents’ spending across most shopping categories is unlikely to change, their expenditure on charity is likely to increase this year as compared to the pre-pandemic times

Nearly half of UAE residents who look forward to Ramadan this year (46%) intend to celebrate the festival by giving to charity. Among all the respondents, Arab expats and married respondents with children were most likely to choose this as their preferred way of celebrating the festival amidst the pandemic (at 56% and 53%, respectively).

Almost as many as those who intend to make monetary contributions plan to donate food/ essentials to the needy (43%), although the government has now urged the public to pay zakat and/or any donations digitally.

The survey was conducted before the guidelines came into force but it is worth bearing in mind what people would have liked to do during Ramadan in the absence of restrictions.

As per the new guidelines around Ramadan, home visits and family gatherings are banned in the UAE, with families encouraged to gather online instead. Keeping in mind the current situation, almost a third (31%) intend to celebrate the festival online with their loved ones.

Although many residents look forward to celebrating Iftar at home with their immediate family (44%), a quarter said they were planning to celebrate Iftars with extended family (25%), a plan that may have to wait for Ramadan 2022 given current restrictions.

Slightly over a third (36%) would like to offer prayers at the mosque, which is currently allowed with some restraints.

Females as compared to their male counterparts were more keen to gather for Iftar (51% vs 41%). Men on the other hand were more likely to offer prayers at the mosque (40% vs 27%).

Even though there are fewer restrictions on shops and restaurants staying open, few plan to go shopping or eat at food courts or restaurants during Ramadan (21% and 16% respectively). Travelling to one’s hometown (12%) is not commonly considered by UAE residents this year.

In 2020, as Ramadan coincided with the spread of the pandemic, people stayed inside and spent a lot of time online. Fortunately, this year the market has opened up, giving an opportunity to business owners to revive sales.

When asked how their spending pattern is likely to change this Ramadan compared to the pre-pandemic years, UAE residents claimed it is unlikely to change across most of the listed categories. This is especially true for spending on data plan/ internet, where 52% of the respondents said they will spend the same amount of money as they were before the pandemic hit the country.

Similarly, residents’ spending on food & beverage (51%) and medicines (50%) is also likely to remain the same as before. Household appliances is a category where consumers are evenly split, with 38% saying they will spend the same amount of money on these products but 35% intend to spend less on this category this year.  

Purchase of fashion and electronic products/ gadgets is likely to take a hit- with 43% and 39% respondents saying they are likely to spend less on these categories this Ramadan.

The only area that is likely to see an uptick in spending is charity as two in five UAE residents (40%) plan to spend more than usual on donations this year.

Data collected online for 1010 respondents in the UAE by YouGov’s Omnibus between March 15th – 21st 2021 using YouGov’s panel of over 6 million people worldwide

STARZPLAY subscribers can watch a breadth of Turkish content dubbed in Arabic with the BluTV add-on, free for first three months

STARZPLAY, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s leading subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, has announced the launch of a new add-on in partnership with BluTV, Turkey’s first and largest local subscription video-on-demand service, which is globally available for all Turkish and Arabic speaking audiences.

With this new partnership, STARZPLAY subscribers in MENA will have access to BluTV’s most sought-after Turkish catalogue featuring popular local drama series, all dubbed in Arabic. The add-on will be available as a dedicated branded area across all STARZPLAY’s existing platforms. Offering additional value as part of the launch, STARZPLAY subscribers can enjoy BluTV’s spectacular Turkish portfolio free for the first three months anytime, anywhere and from any device.   

The partnership accelerates STARZPLAY’s expansion strategy to deliver diversified content for its growing subscriber base. Earlier this year, the streaming service launched two add-on services in partnership with global brands, discovery+ and UFC.

Danny Bates, CCO and Co-Founder, STARZPLAY, said: “In the highly competitive SVOD sector, it is important to update our content offering continuously and provide diversified entertainment choices that are relevant to our subscribers. Our partnership with BluTV is an extension of our business strategy for 2021 as we continue to make inroads in content aggregation. BluTV’s portfolio offers a wide breadth of compelling programming driven by family-oriented storytelling and we are confident that these Turkish series will be enjoyed by all.”

Aydin Dogan Yalcindag, founder and CEO of BluTV, said: “We are excited to partner with Middle-East’s leading streamer service provider which offers us a fantastic opportunity to bring compelling stories for fans of Turkish entertainment in the region. Turkish programming has a massive following in the Arab World and as pioneers of Turkish SVOD market, we are thrilled to extend our offering for fans in the region. Our investor, US TV giant Discovery, has an established partnership with STARZPLAY in the MENA region, which presented a great opportunity to expand our services into new markets and offer true value to customers. We look forward to working with STARZPLAY and taking Turkish entertainment to a whole new level.”

The shows available via BluTV on STARZPLAY, all of which fans can enjoy free for the first three months, include:

Yarım Kalan Aşklar

Idealist journalist Ozan is about to marry Elif who is a journalist like himself. The couple, who love each other insanely, suffer loss with a terrible event as Ozan loses his life through a traffic accident. However, through a new body, Ozan finds his lost life and on his return has two challenging tasks: find out who killed him and to tell Elif all the facts. 

Gürkan Chef

Twelve contestants try to impress well-known celebrity chef and meat connoisseur, Chef Gürkan Sef with their barbecue skills. They must plan and combine the right skills and knowledge to create a menu which Chef Gürkan is looking for and they only get 30 minutes to prepare. 

Aşk-ı Memnu

Having lost his wife 11 years ago, Adnan devoted all his attention to his daughter Nihal and his son Bülent. Adnan, who lives in one of the most prominent mansions along the Bosporus in Istanbul with a relative's son Behlül, and his children's nanny, meets Bihter who is also a socialite couple's daughter. Bihter is elegant, beautiful and anyone who meets her is mesmerised – as is Adnan who falls in love with her. Bihter, on the other hand, meets passion while looking for peace, trust, and happiness in Adnan’s mansion as she and Behlül drift towards each other. However, their forbidden love affects everyone in the family. 

Yeşilçam

Yeşilçam tells a story of a producer who is reborn from his ashes in the golden age of Yeşilçam (Turkish Hollywood era) under the shadow of 1960s Turkey. The show promises to be a drama, full of action and intense emotions. 

Meryem

Meryem is the story of a woman who takes the blame for a crime she did not commit for the man she loves. Oktay is the prosecutor who can do anything for the sake of career and power and Savaş is blinded by the desire for revenge after losing the woman he loves. An accident on a rainy night changes the lives of these three people. 

TBWA\RAAD has announced the appointment of Jim Robbins as its new Executive Creative Director, tasked with leading the creative discipline across the agency.  

Robbins joins TBWA\RAAD with an extensive experience of over 13 years, throughout which he has worked on major brands such as Coca-Cola, Google, MINI Cooper, PlayStation and Snickers across North America, Australia and now the MENA region. 

Over the span of his career, Robbins has been awarded 24 Cannes Lions, three Webbys and one Emmy nomination, and has helped three agencies win agency of the year accolades: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne (2017 Cannes Lions Agency of the Year), BBH New York (2012 Webby Awards Agency of the Year) and Crispin Porter + Bogusky Boulder (2010 Cannes Lions Interactive Agency of the Year). 

Under his creative leadership, the Snickers Hungerithm campaign was included as one of Australia’s best campaigns of the decade by Campaign Brief in 2020. His Google Chrome “Jess Time” film was named the No. 1 Tear-Jerker Commercial of All Time by Mashable, and his BooneOakley website redesign was named No. 1 among the Most Innovative Website Design of All Time by Huffington Post. Robbins was also ranked 8th globally among writers in the 2017 Cannes Lions Global Creativity Report. 

Robbins began his professional journey in 2007 after graduating from VCU Brandcenter with a master’s in advertising copywriting. 

Walid Kanaan, Chief Creative Officer at TBWA\RAAD said: “We are delighted to welcome Jim on board to co-lead our creative department. Jim will play a critical role in shaping disruptive, business-building creative campaigns and ensuring unconventional thinking that will help deliver deliver future growth for brands.” 

Commenting on his appointment, Robbins said: “I have always admired TBWA’s culture and its focus on Disruption®, which has never been more necessary. I am looking forward to partnering with the team to create groundbreaking, disruptive work that drives brands and businesses forward.” 

Eros Group, the largest electronics distributor and retailer in the UAE since 1968 has appointed Dubai-based independent communications agency, ALISA PR to manage its PR operations in sync with the Group’s vision and business objectives. ALISA PR takes up the post with immediate effect to create awareness of the brand’s portfolio and activities in the region.

With a world-renowned brand portfolio of Samsung, Hitachi, TCL, Midea and much more,

Eros Group is a 53-years reputed organization specializing in the distribution and retail of consumer electronics, mobility, IT, Home Appliance and convergence products. The Group serves customers in the UAE and select markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region. The Organization proudly partners with over fourteen international brands, operates fifteen retail stores and has three service centers across the UAE. 

Mr. Deepak J Babani, Executive Vice Chairman, Eros Group said, “As we assessed PR agencies, ALISA PR by far demonstrated a clear understanding of our brief and was the exceptional choice to enhance Eros Group’s brand image. I am very excited about the prospect of working together and anticipate a highly successful collaboration.”

Ms. Alisa D’souza, Founder and PR Consultant said, "We help our clients evolve, promote and protect their brands. Eros Group is one of the leading players and fastest growing electronics distributor and retailer. We are excited and privileged to represent them and look forward to continue to build its credibility in the region.”

Economic analysis shows Channel 4 generated £274m of GVA in the UK Nations & Regions and supports nearly 3,000 jobs outside London

A new independent report from EY, commissioned by Channel 4, has revealed that the broadcaster contributed nearly £1bn to the UK economy and supported more than 10,000 jobs across the UK in a single year.

The report, published in full today, shows that Channel 4 generates £274m of GVA (Gross Value Added) through its supply chain in the Nations and Regions – and supports nearly 3,000 jobs as a result of Channel 4’s activities in the Nations and Regions.

Overall, EY’s economic impact assessment finds that Channel 4 generates £992m* of GVA for the UK economy and supports just over 10,600** jobs in the UK.

All data is calculated based on Channel 4’s 2019 financial results – the most recently published by the organisation.

The EY report anticipates that Channel 4’s economic impact to the Nations and Regions is expected to increase further over time as a result of its 4 All The UK strategy.

Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon said: “It’s heartening to see the impact Channel 4 has above and beyond our work and spend within the broadcast industry. It reinforces the important role Channel 4 can play in helping to level up regional inequalities of income and opportunity across the UK.

“Additionally, our commitment to the Nations and Regions through our 4 All The UK strategy will also help us achieve our vision to become even more representative of the UK.”

The 4 All The UK strategy saw the opening of three new regional centres across the UK, two of which only officially opened towards the end of 2019. Its national HQ in Leeds and a Creative Hub in Glasgow both opened in October 2019. A creative hub also officially launched in Bristol in January 2020.

At the heart of its 4 All The UK strategy is a commitment by Channel 4 to increase its main channel content spend in the Nations and Regions from its current quota of 35% to a new voluntary target of 50% by 2023, worth up to £250m in total.

Channel 4 also now has senior, creative decision makers at Channel 4’s offices across the UK as part of its 4 All The UK plan. When fully implemented there will be up to 300 Channel 4 jobs in the Nations and Regions.

The report also noted that Channel 4 makes a wider contribution to the British ecosystem through its support of emerging talent and diversity through a number of training initiatives and investments.

These activities supported opportunities for people and business across the UK’s Nations and Regions but also focused on supporting diversity more widely including people with disabilities, from BAME communities and from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

In addition to the economic analysis, the report explored some of the Channel 4’s initiatives in more detail including: the recently launched 4Skills training initiative; the Production Training Scheme; Growth Fund; Emerging Indie Fund; Creative Diversity Fund; and the Indie Accelerator.

Notes to Editors

Channel 4 commissioned EY to assess its economic, social and cultural contribution to the UK and its Nations and Regions.

To conduct this assessment, EY carried out quantitative economic analysis of Channel 4’s economic contribution to the UK and its Nations and Regions in terms of its contribution to the economy (measured as gross value added or GVA), and jobs; and case study analysis of Channel 4’s social, cultural and economic contribution to the UK and its Nations and Regions.

The analysis is based on a mixture of data and information provided by Channel 4, publicly available data and information, and interviews with relevant experts.

The analysis considered three types of economic impacts:

Direct impacts: EY analysed the economic impacts driven directly by Channel 4, such as Channel 4’s GVA (or contribution to the economy) and the number of employees hired by Channel 4. The direct impact consists mainly of the income received by Channel 4’s employees (including wages, benefits, employment taxes, national insurance and pensions) and profits made by Channel 4.

Indirect impacts: Channel 4 purchases goods and services from other companies in its supply chain, which in turn have their own suppliers. EY estimated the indirect economic impacts of Channel 4’s activities across its whole supply chain.

Induced impacts: Each entity involved in Channel 4’s supply chain pays compensation to its employees. Those employees spend part of their salaries on goods and services, driving additional economic impacts. These impacts are referred to as induced impacts.

*EY assessed Channel 4’s economic contribution to the UK and its Nations and Regions in terms of its contribution to the economy (gross value added or GVA) and jobs.

** Channel 4’s activities supported around 10,600 jobs in the UK economy in 2019. Of these jobs, 993[1] (9%) were people directly employed by Channel 4. A further 6,220 (59%) were supported indirectly through Channel 4’s supply chain. For example, this indirect employment includes jobs in the production sector, as well as agency staff that Channel 4 outsources certain functions to. The increased consumer spending as a result of Channel 4’s activities supported a further 3,403 (32%) jobs as induced effects.

CBS News and CBS Television Stations Integrated Into One Divisional and Leadership Structure

New Structure to Harness the Power of National, Local and Digital News Operations To Serve Audiences Across All Platforms

CBS announced plans to combine the journalistic and business resources of CBS News and the CBS Television Stations into one divisional and leadership structure. Hearst Newspapers, Cable Networks & Digital Media Executive Neeraj Khemlani and former ABC Owned Television Stations Group President Wendy McMahon have been named presidents and co-heads of the newly formed division. The announcements were made today by George Cheeks, President & Chief Executive Officer of the CBS Entertainment Group, to whom McMahon and Khemlani will report.

The unified division will bring under one management structure the broadcast resources of CBS News, the 24/7 streaming news service CBSN, 10 CBSN Local platforms, cbsnews.com and 28 CBS-owned stations in 17 major U.S. markets. It will maximize the power of CBS’ newsgathering and production operations to serve audiences across all national, digital, local and global platforms.

Ms. McMahon and Mr. Khemlani, who will each assume their roles as presidents and co-heads of the new group early next month, will partner on managing all aspects of the division, bringing their wide range of broadcast, local and digital experience to their positions. This marks a homecoming to CBS for both executives – Khemlani as a producer on 60 MINUTES and “60 Minutes II” for eight years while McMahon served seven years at WBZ Boston and WCCO Minneapolis.

Susan Zirinsky will continue as President of CBS News until the new leadership has started and will assist with the transition. The Company is in discussions with Zirinsky for a significant role at a new CBS News Content Studio to be launched later this year.

“This is an opportunity to create a news and information structure that positions CBS for the future,” said Cheeks. “It speaks to our ability to scale newsgathering, production, technical and operational resources to serve both national and local, linear and digital, with the agility to deliver trusted information to every platform. Wendy and Neeraj have the leadership background and cross-platform accomplishments that cover all these important areas, and they share our commitment for supporting superior journalism, optimal delivery platforms and the strongest of organizational cultures.”

“I’m excited to return home to CBS and work with George and Neeraj to build out a unique and inspired structure that brings together the best in journalism, digital innovation and collaboration, to serve audiences at a time when trusted news and information – the hallmark of CBS – has never been more needed,” said McMahon. “Driven by the ingenuity, experience and dedication of the storytellers and teams at CBS News and our local stations, we are committed to reflecting the communities where we operate while cultivating a culture grounded in trust.”

“My time at 60 MINUTES and the values of CBS News were formative parts of my career, so the opportunity to return and partner with George and Wendy to lead this storied CBS brand is a privilege of the highest order,” said Khemlani. “I’m excited for us to embrace this transformative moment in journalism, culture and technology with a structure and product set that will amplify the importance of the original reporting and storytelling at CBS News and our local stations on all platforms, including the premiere global streaming news network. And I also want to acknowledge the journalistic force that is Susan Zirinsky for positioning the brand for great days ahead.”

“Z has an incredible legacy of making CBS News stronger in every role she served over almost five decades, including meaningful accomplishments as its president,” added Cheeks. “Z took the reins in March 2019 at a moment of turmoil in the division, creating stability and renewing passion for the brand internally and externally. She elevated the powerful journalism and competitiveness of our flagship broadcasts, led the important coverage of the pandemic and historic election in 2020, established our Race & Culture Unit and most recently created brand extensions for 60 MINUTES, 48 HOURS and CBS SUNDAY MORNING with Paramount +.”

Mr. Khemlani was most recently executive vice president and deputy group head at Hearst Newspapers, overseeing 3,000 employees who publish print and digital subscription products for 24 dailies and 52 weeklies in cities across the country. He has held senior positions since joining the company in 2009, including president and group head of Hearst Entertainment & Syndication, the operating group responsible for Hearst’s cable network partnerships at ESPN and A+E Networks, digital video entertainment and music streaming businesses. Previously, he led business, product and editorial efforts across News & Information verticals at Yahoo! Khemlani is also an award-winning journalist and has been honored with the Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Journalism and an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for coverage of the war in Bosnia. He began his career as a newspaper reporter, and after graduating from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, transitioned into television, producing for the late Peter Jennings at ABC News from 1993-1996, and then for Dan Rather, the late Bob Simon and other correspondents at 60 MINUTES and “60 Minutes II” from 1998 to 2006.

Ms. McMahon was named president of the ABC Owned Stations in 2017, with direct responsibility for the Walt Disney Company’s eight broadcast stations, local newsrooms and streaming assets, as well as oversight of the 1,500 team members who collectively achieved their 12th consecutive year of local television news leadership in 2020. She had consistent success in driving audience growth via the introduction of innovative content initiatives, including the digital-first brand Localish; the creation of a Race and Culture team as well as the multi-cultural series, Our America; and a first-of-its kind data journalism unit that powered exclusive investigations across the network and stations. As senior vice president of ABC Digital, she led the pivot to streaming and launched the group’s first connected TV apps. Previously, she served as vice president of marketing at KABC in Los Angeles and as a creative services director at CBS-owned stations WBZ in Boston and WCCO in Minneapolis. She was named the 2019 Digital Leader of the Year (NAB), and throughout her career has received numerous Emmys as well as Promax, Telly and Broadcast Design awards.

Drama Series Based On The Writings Of Martial Arts Legend Bruce Lee

The drama series WARRIOR will come to HBO Max for its third season, it was announced today by Casey Bloys, Chief Content Officer, HBO and HBO Max.

Logline: A gritty, action-packed crime drama set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late 19th century, and based on the writings of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, the first two seasons, which premiered on Cinemax, are now streaming on HBO Max via HBO platforms.

WARRIOR was created by and is executive produced by Jonathan Tropper (“Banshee”) under Tropper Ink Productions, executive produced by Justin Lin (director of “Star Trek Beyond” and “Fast & Furious 9”) for Perfect Storm Entertainment, and executive produced by Shannon Lee for Bruce Lee Entertainment.

Season two cast included: Andrew Koji, Kieran Bew, Celine Buckens, Olivia Cheng, Dianne Doan, Dean Jagger, Langley Kirkwood, Maria-Elena Laas, Hoon Lee, Christian McKay, Dustin Nguyen (also directed episode 6), Miranda Raison, Chen Tang, Joe Taslim, Jason Tobin, Joanna Vanderham, Tom Weston-Jones and Perry Yung.

Casey Bloys, Chief Content Officer, HBO and HBO Max quote: “’WARRIOR’ introduced viewers to a distinct world from the past, executed with dynamic action and relevant storytelling, with a brilliant cast led by Andrew Koji. We can’t wait to see what Jonathan, Justin and Shannon will bring to the next chapter of this series on HBO Max.”

Shannon Lee, Executive Producer, Bruce Lee Entertainment quote: “Justin, Jonathan, and I were thrilled when Warrior was put on HBO platforms to be discovered by a whole new legion of fans. Now we are excited and grateful for the opportunity to do another season, and we applaud HBO Max for understanding the importance of telling this story and for continuing to support this level of representation in our industry. I just know that my father is grinning right now to see this show he dreamed of so long ago continuing to beat the odds.  We have every intention of delivering the same high level of meaningful storytelling and Gung Fu action in season 3!”

The series returned for its ten-episode second season October 2, 2020 on Cinemax.  Hailed as “the most underrated action series of the century” by Inverse, Vanity Fair called it a “handsome, adrenalized ride” that “breathes vivid life into aspects of America’s past,” and The Ringer highlighted it as a “supremely kick-ass” series with “impressively choreographed fight sequences.” 

Credits: Season two of WARRIOR was produced for Cinemax by Perfect Storm Entertainment, Tropper Ink Productions and Bruce Lee Entertainment; created and executive produced by Jonathan Tropper. Justin Lin, Danielle Woodrow and Andrew Schneider executive produced on behalf of Perfect Storm Entertainment. Shannon Lee executive produced for Bruce Lee Entertainment. Executive produced by Brad Kane and Richard Sharkey. Co-executive produced by Kenneth Lin, Evan Endicott and Josh Stoddard.