Jonathan Katz: Celebs Rumors

Free TV Networks (FTN), the new company with a portfolio of national, ad-supported over-the-air networks and FAST channels, is launching another national broadcast network called Dare that will feature unscripted series from A+E Networks.

When Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) delivered her State of the Union response on Thursday, it was so dramatic and over the top that it was quickly compared to a Saturday Night Live skit.

Free TV Networks, a new programming entity with a presence in both over-the-air broadcast and streaming, has enlisted Warner Bros. Discovery, Lionsgate and Gray Television as partners and suppliers.

Phil Oppenheim, who has held senior exec posts at Epix, Lionsgate and Turner, has been named chief content officer at Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the streaming entertainment company named after the best-selling series of self-help books, hired Phil Oppenheim as chief content officer. In the newly created role, Oppenheim will lead physical and streaming platform content strategy for all Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment properties, including Redbox — which CSSE bought this year for $370 million — and Crackle, the streaming service acquired from Sony Pictures Television. He starts at Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment on Nov. 1, reporting to president Jonathan Katz. Most recently, Oppenheim was senior VP of program scheduling at MGM’s Epix Networks, where he also was responsible for the streaming content and branding of the company’s ScreenPix suite of ad-free channels. Prior to joining Epix in January 2020, he worked as a consultant and was Lionsgate’s chief curator and pop culture officer (SVP of programming), leading the content launch of the Comic-Con HQ subscription VOD service and Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud (LOL) ad-supported VOD service.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, which earlier this month closed its $375 million acquisition of Redbox, has set the combined company’s new senior management roster.

Mónica Marie Zorrilla Tom Zappala, a TV industry veteran with over 30 years of programming and production leadership experience under his belt, has been tapped as the head of programming for Scripps’ national networks business. Effective Jan.