To pilot or not to pilot has been a question broadcast networks have been asking themselves for more than a decade and are increasingly answering "no" to, especially when it comes to the traditional pilot season in the months leading to the May upfronts. We haven’t gotten a single pilot order in 2025 so far.
While that is about to change with a handful of orders coming up, the pilot drought has been persistent amid an industry contraction and linear viewing decline, especially as the networks are still dealing with the backlog caused by strike-related delays.
Broadcasters these days often opt for economically efficient planted spinoffs that shoot as regular episodes of existing drama and comedy series or for development rooms and straight-to-series orders, primarily on the drama side. That is ironic because most of the biggest new drama hits of the last two seasons, CBS' Tracker and Matlock and ABC's High Potential, all originated as standalone pilots.
Deadline surveyed where the Big 4 broadcast networks stand at what would’ve been the halfway mark of pilot season. >>>Network-By-Network Update |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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Hulu's Oscar-Night Woes Explained - A fix of the initial login programming flaw contained code that caused a number of logged-in subscribers to get booted off the stream about 15 minutes before the show ended, one source familiar with the snag told Deadline. >>>Live Events "Incredibly Hard" State Of The Divided Nation - Donald Trump‘s address to a joint session of Congress was about what you would expect it to be: full of boasts and grand pronouncements, laced with long-debunked claims and sprinkled with moments for reality TV attention spans. In the chamber, where Deadline's Ted Johnson watched the speech, the atmosphere was much more caustic this time around. Trump chided and taunted Democrats, and many members of the opposition party booed and brandished signs calling out the president and Elon Musk. >>> Contrast Between Trump Terms
Pay-TV Pact - TelevisaUnivision and DirecTV have reached a multi-year carriage renewal, expanding their distribution agreement to encompass new pay-TV packages, Deadline was first to report. The deal not only ensures the roughly 11 million customers of DirecTV continued access to Spanish-language networks including Univision, but it adds TelevisaUnivision flagship streaming service to DirecTV's $35-a-month MiEspañol package at no extra charge. >>> Turbulent Environment
'Showman' Curtain Going Up In 2026 - The stage adaptation of musical movie The Greatest Showman, which starred Hugh Jackman portraying the early life of entertainer P.T. Barnum, will have its world premiere in the British West Country city of Bristol, around March 2026, ahead of its launch in the West End and on Broadway. >>>Audiences Go Giddy
A Survivor's Story - After a UK judge sentenced Sex Education actor Alexander Westwood to a 15-and-a-half-year jail term for sexual assault and rape, Deadline spoke with one of his victims, who was a teen-ager at the time of Westwood's crimes. >>>A Startling Interview
Avalanche Drama - Convergence Entertainment will produce and fully finance Wall of White, a narrative adaptation of the documentary by Jared Drake and Steven Sig about a woman who is the only survivor of a ski resort avalanche. They will produce with Randall Emmett and Martin Scorsese, latter of whom sparked to the documentary based on the bestselling book by Jennifer Woodlief. >>>Out To Directors
Reality TV Row - The challenges of working in TV production, particularly in the unscripted sector and in 2025, have been laid bare in a new row that has enveloped custom-car build series Ride of Your Life with Courtney Hansen. The series, which airs on the MotorTrend channel as well as on Discovery+, has become embroiled in controversy over non-payment to a large group of post-production workers and editors. >>> Producers Pointing Fingers
George Lopez Goes Off Script - Comedian George Lopez, who is currently starring in the third season of NBC’s Lopez vs. Lopez, has partnered with Truly Original, the production company behind series such as The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Ink Master, to develop a number of unscripted projects. >>>Charlie Murphy Doc On Deck
Deadline’s Doc Talk - The long and winding road to the Oscars culminated in triumph for No Other Land as Best Documentary Feature and The Only Girl in the Orchestra as Best Documentary Short. On the new episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, hosts John Ridley and Matt Carey react to the Academy Awards and also turn attention to one of the most acclaimed documentary festivals in the U.S: True/False, headquartered in Columbia, MO. >>> Listen |
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Dan Fogelman’s political thriller Paradise starring Sterling K. Brown wrapped its eight-episode first season March 4 with some much-needed answers to several burning questions. But it also promised more mysteries to come in Season 2, like how Julianne Nicholson's character may not be the show’s only villain. Here, Fogelman talks about the origin of that episode's title, why he felt confident about writing a cliffhanger for Season 1 before he had a renewal from Hulu, and what to expect when Season 2 drops sometime in 2026. >>> Read The Interview |
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More News 📺 The Walt Disney Co. is going through a round of layoffs today. Nearly 200 employees are leaving the company, representing almost 6% of the workforce in the ABC News Group and the company’s entertainment networks. The majority of the impact will be felt at ABC News, which has most of its workforce based in New York, sources familiar with the plans told Deadline.
📺 The Television Academy revealed six appointees named to the Board of Governors Executive Committee last May will return in 2025 to work with the officers and the board of governors to guide the Academy throughout the year. 🎬 Werner Herzog has confirmed he is working on an animated feature adaptation of his 2021 novel The Twilight World about real-life Japanese solider Hiroo Onoda who refused to surrender for some 30 years after the end of WW2.
✒️ Element Pictures is gearing up for the second year of Storyhouse, its Dublin-based screenwriting festival. This year’s event, which will be held at the Irish capital’s Light House Cinema on April 3rd and 4th, will see Oscar and BAFTA winners Peter Straughan and Kenneth Lonergan among the festival’s guests. Laurie Nunn and Nia DaCosta will also both speak. |
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BY THE NUMBERS
19.69M - Revised viewership for Sunday's Oscars telecast across ABC and Hulu after accounting for mobile and PC viewing |
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Obituaries
🕯️ Veteran voice actor and comedian George Lowe, best known as the voice of Space Ghost on Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and many others, died Sunday, March 2, his representative confirmed to Deadline. He was 67. 🕯️ Peter Engel, who executive produced Saved by the Bell, its spinoffs and 2020 reboot, Last Comic Standing and many other series, died Tuesday at his Santa Monica home. He was 88. His family confirmed the news to Deadline.🕯️ Veteran talent agent Judy Page, whose clients included Penny Johnson Jerald and CCH Pounder, died February 24 at Kindred Hospital in Los Angeles after a brief illness. She was 76. 🕯️ Robert “Bobby” Meyers , a founding member of the American Film Market whose half-century-plus career in indie movies, sales and distribution included stints at Columbia, Lorimar, Orion and Village Roadshow, died Sunday at his New Jersey home. He was 90. 🕯️ 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries |
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On the Radar
Wed - A+E Networks upfront
Fri - SXSW begins
Sat - Lady Gaga hosts SNL |
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A House Divided - President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in the nearly half empty House chamber of the U.S. Capitol. Just about everyone on the Democratic side of the aisle walked out before Trump's speech was finished. |
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