Asian American Journalists In The Spotlight; New ABC News President; Amazon Prime Passes 200M Subs

[The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment APRIL 15, 2021 What's news: Asian American journalists find themselves — and their cultural identity — in the spotlight, Kim Godwin named ABC News president amid larger TV news executive shakeup, Amazon Prime passes 200 million subscribers, Cannes moves its market, Televisa-Univision want to become a streaming giant, can the streaming content boom last? Plus: Colton Underwood goes to Netflix, Warrior finds new life, and how the Cinerama Dome became a Hollywood landmark. --Alex Weprin [Asian American Journalists Speak Out] Asian American Journalists Speak Out ►Asian Americans in media: "You can’t extricate the humanity of yourself from the journalist." Reporters are trained never to become the story, but as newsrooms cover violence against Asian Americans, journalists of Asian heritage find themselves — and their cultural identity — in the spotlight, Rebecca Sun reports. --"[The shootings] capped a year of racialized attacks, many of which went unreported," says Nightline anchor Juju Chang, who, like many if not most or all Asian Americans, is no stranger to being the target of racial slurs; she was the victim of one such incident last summer. "I didn't report it; I did what everyone who grows up in this country feeling somewhat othered does, which is swallow it and keep going. That has been the silent pain of Asian Americans for so long. This last year there were so many other pressing events going on: a worldwide pandemic, an election, a giant racial reckoning." --"It's not commonplace for AAPI journalists to talk frankly about how they're feeling and why they're feeling that way. They have an aversion to it because they're journalists, but also because [attention to mental health] is not a cultural thing," says AAJA president Michelle Ye Hee Lee. "But they've spent the past year covering the violence against people who remind them of their parents and grandparents. At a certain point, you can't extricate the humanity of yourself from the journalist. It's all intertwined." [The story](. Meanwhile... ►The Walt Disney Company has named Kimberly Godwin president of ABC News. Godwin, a longtime producer and executive at CBS News, will become the first Black woman to lead a broadcast news division. She succeeds James Goldston, who [stepped down as president of ABC News]( earlier this year. Godwin will start at ABC in early May, and report to Peter Rice, chairman of Disney general entertainment content. --A top deputy to CBS News president Susan Zirinsky, Godwin was most recently executive vp of news at CBS, overseeing all newsgathering worldwide for the venerable broadcast news division. She also had oversight of newsrooms at all the CBS owned and operated TV stations. [The story](. +Also: As it happens, Zirinsky is expected to announce her departure from the top perch at CBS News as soon as this week, shifting to a production role at ViacomCBS. A new CBS News president is expected to be announced in short order. +Why now? Being the president of a TV news division was, for decades, one of the most prestigious jobs in journalism. While TV news programs still have an enviable scale (the evening newscasts are still viewed by more than 20 million Americans every night, and the morning shows average around 10 million every day), top corporate executives are now focused on digital, increaingly direct-to-consumer news offerings, and synergies across their operations. So at CBS News, CBSN and Paramount+ are of, well, paramount interest. And at NBCUniversal, new news chairman Cesar Conde is interested in bringing together the company's news brands in a more symphonic way. --A perfect example: Thursday morning Conde wrote in a memo to NBC staff obtained by THR that the Nightly News segment "Inspiring America" "will now become a multifaceted editorial franchise extending across the entire News Group," culminating in a primetime event that will air on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo and Peacock, and featuring the likes of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bubba Wallace. "[W]hile the news cycle has certainly reflected the darker moments, there are also incredible, uplifting stories that deserve to be told," Conde wrote "And our News Group has the tremendous opportunity – harnessing our unparalleled portfolio – to do so in an impactful way across multiple networks and platforms." [Amazon's New Prime Number] Amazon's New Prime Number ►Amazon now has more than 200 million subscribers to its Amazon Prime service, CEO Jeff Bezos wrote in his annual letter to shareholders Thursday. Amazon Prime Video programming is included in the larger Prime subscription, making it one of the most widely-available premium streaming services in the world. Prime passed 150 million subscribers in January 2020. --For comparison, Netflix had about 204 million worldwide subscribers at the end of 2020, with Disney+ now above 100 million. Of course, not every Amazon Prime member watches the company's video content, which includes series like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and films like Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. +One other bit of relevant data for Hollywood: Amazon says it spent $11 billion on video and music content in 2020, up from $7.8 billion in 2019. That includes content for Amazon Prime Video, as well as royalties from Amazon Music. Still, stark rise tracks with the company's increased video output, with sequels to Coming To America and Borat being released in recent months, and the number of original series and overall deals rising. [The story](. ►The rationale for the Televisa-Univision deal: To build a Spanish-language global streaming giant. "I feel confident we have the assets and expertise to set us up with a huge competitive advantage to attack the last meaningful open lane in the world in streaming video," Univision CEO Wade Davis told analysts a day after unveiling the transaction merge the two Spanish-language media giants. "While the streaming marketplace is becoming more cluttered and competitive, we believe that the Spanish language streaming market is underserved, and the last significant lane of streaming opportunity," Davis reiterated. [The story](. +In other streaming news: Disney+ [has revealed its first slate]( of U.K. scripted shows as it continues its significant push for European productions, and has teamed with award-winning writers such as Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, Gentleman Jack) and producers behind shows including Killing Eve... Netflix has [unveiled a new slate for Spain](, including three dramas, a couple of original features, and some non-scripted formats, among them a new docu-reality show focused on Instagram star Georgina Rodríguez. ►MIPTV: How long can the content boom last? The global streaming wars are driving unprecedented investment in TV production, with new outlets like Disney+ betting big on international content, but one executive says: "It's make hay while the sun shines." [The story](. [Colton's Next Move] Colton's Next Move ►Former Bachelor star Colton Underwood is returning to reality television, this time for Netflix. Underwood, who [came out as gay]( in a Wednesday interview with ABC's Good Morning America, is in production on a reality series that will focus on Underwood living his life publicly as a gay man. The project is weeks into filming, according to a source, and will feature multiple episodes. Olympian Gus Kenworthy will also appear in the show. [The story](. +Former Cinemax series Warrior is getting a new life at HBO Max. The WarnerMedia-owned streaming service has picked up a third season of the drama, which is based on the writings of Bruce Lee and is set during the late 19th century Tong Wars in San Francisco's Chinatown. The series was the last original show to air on Cinemax, with its second season wrapping in December 2020, and both seasons began streaming on HBO Max earlier this year. [More](. +CBS is nailing down more Tough as Nails. The network has handed out a two-season renewal to the competition series, hosted and co-created by Phil Keoghan. The renewal, which will take the show through its fourth season, comes hours before the season two finale airs on CBS Wednesday night. [More](. +Netflix is back in business with the team behind The Order. The streaming giant has handed out a 10-episode, straight-to-series order for The Imperfects, a sci-fi drama starring Italia Ricci. [More](. +Netflix's new docuseries will attempt to teach its subscribers how not to watch Netflix. The streamer has teamed with the popular meditation app Headspace for a show titled Headspace Guide to Sleep. [More](. ►Karen Olivo not returning to Broadway's Moulin Rouge! in protest over industry silence on Scott Rudin. Olivo says she's not returning to the Broadway production as a form of protest against Scott Rudin, the prolific theater and film producer who former employees accused of bullying behavior in the workplace in a recent [THR story](. --Olivo, who played Satine in the Broadway production that began in 2019, announced her departure from the role in an Instagram video on Monday. "Social justice is more important than being a sparkling diamond. Building a better industry for my students is more important than me putting money in my pockets," the Tony-winning performer said in the video. [The story](. ►How the Cinerama Dome became a Hollywood landmark. Constructed in 1963 by Pacific Theatres' parent company, the Decurion Corp., and designed by Welton Becket & Associates — also the architect of the Beverly Wilshire and Beverly Hilton hotels — the one-of-a-kind structure was built to house what was then a new widescreen Cinerama system, which employed a 70mm single-projector process of displaying images on a huge curved screen (rather than the original Cinerama system, which used three synchronized projectors). The Dome opened on Nov. 7, 1963 with the world premiere of Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. [The story](. ►Cannes has moved its market. Again. On Wednesday, the Marché du Film, Cannes' film market, said its all-digital prescreening event, initially planned for late May, would be moved to late June. The 2021 Pre-Cannes Screenings are now planned for June 21-25. [More](. +Meanwhile, in Venice: Two-time Oscar-winning actor-director Roberto Benigni will receive this year's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 78th Venice International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 1- 11, organizers announced Thursday. [More](. ►TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews the AMC+ drama Spy City, calling it "a monotonously twisty — or twistily monotonous? — assemblage of espionage clichés and paper-thin characters wafting through a potent historical backdrop." [The review](. Casting roundup/revolving door: Judy star Renee Zellweger is [set to star]( in The Back Nine, a golf comedy to be directed by Michael Patrick King for Landline Pictures... Robin Thede [is staffing up]( her Warner Bros. TV-based production company, recruiting Meghan Cheek to serve as vp development at her For Better or Words banner... Bob Iger, executive chairman of the Walt Disney Co. and chairman of the Board of Directors, [has been tapped]( to receive an honorary award at the 2021 Clio Awards... In other news... --Eros STX Global Corp. [has picked up]( the Dave Bautista-starring sci-fi adventure pic Universe's Most Wanted for the U.S., the UK and India. --For the second straight year, the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner [has been canceled]( due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. --With COVID-19 cases surging in Toronto, organizers of the 2021 Juno Awards [have postponed]( their virtual awards celebration. --Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez [have confirmed]( they are breaking up after weeks of speculation. --John Malone's Liberty Media — which owns audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, the Atlanta Braves baseball team and the Formula One racing circuit — [disclosed that]( president and CEO Gregory Maffei's 2020 compensation amounted to $47.1 million, up from $44 million in 2019 and $20.1 million in 2018. --Space is the final frontier in the new F9: The Fast Saga trailer, which after years of speculation, confirms the franchise is going where it has never gone before. [Justin Lin breaks it down](. What else we're reading... --"The soul of Bravo" [[Vulture](] --"How Amazon strong-arms partners using its power across multiple businesses" [[WSJ](] --"Taylor Swift has no regrets" [[The Atlantic](] --"Nigella Lawson wants to talk to people" [[The New Yorker](] Today's birthdays: Emma Watson, 31, Linda Perry, 56, Seth Rogen, 39, Emma Thompson, 62, Maisie Williams, 24. [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2021 The Hollywood Reporter, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. 11175 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA, 90025 All rights reserved. APRIL 15, 2021 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](