TNT have announced the cancellation of their legal comedy-drama Franklin & Bash, with the cable network not pursuing any further episodes of the show.

Having recently ended their fourth season with the cable network, the series was confirmed as having aired its finale (an episode titled “Red or Black”) on 22 October having attracted around 975,000 viewers.

Following 4 annual seasons of 10 episodes each, fans of the series will be left hoping that another network might consider picking up on the stories of Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar starring as best friends who are also legal partners, but episode performances were not a good indication in its 4th run, with the final stretch beginning with a premiere to just under 1.25 million people, a drop of 60% on their previous season opener.

Believed to have been a possible part of the move to cut the show was ex-Fox chairman Kevin Reilly, who has recently been hired by Turner broadcasting to manage both the TNT network and TBS.

Speaking to Deadline, Turner Broadcasting’s president David Levy said of his company’s future intentions for the networks: “We are going to get edgier, we are going to get louder, and we are going to get more dual [male-female], but we also have an existing audience, we have an existing fan base with a lot of our very popular show. It’s an evolution, a bridge-type process that will take place as opposed to a turnaround. You are going to see shows like Legends and Public Morals that are going to bring us on a path to a more edgier type of shows; this is a path we are taking.”

So to retain their core audience but with a particular new ‘edge’, what will Turner be able to come up with regarding content next year? Who could Turner partner with to make it happen?

Like any major premium cable network, Showtime will do whatever they can to retain their most prized original content, and right now have moved to secure their leading shows Homeland and The Affair into the schedule for another year each.

Network president David Nevins claimed that Homeland in particular deserves the renewal on account of having ‘brilliantly reinvented itself’ in its ongoing fourth season, whilst newcoming drama series The Affair has performed strongly in ratings as the Sunday night lead-out to the Claire Danes-led drama.

The longer-running show, which focuses on a bipolar CIA agent, is set to broadcast a a 12-episode-length 5th season in 2015, whilst The Affair is to show a 2nd season of ten episodes long.

Nevins said of the currently more-popular of their recommissions: “In its fourth season, Homeland has brilliantly reinvented itself. It continues to capture the attention of a devoted fan base, and has provided an enviable platform for the successful launch of The Affair. With thought-provoking, relevant and addictive storylines, both series have been embraced, dissected and much debated week after week. We’re excited to see more from these complex shows in 2015.”

Just how long Homeland will continue for looks set to be in the hands of the producers at their current rate, but will their first-ever renewal be the springboard that the creators of The Affair need to be able to step out of the former’s shadow and claim likewise one day?

With a major new expansion on the way, it would be thought that HBO would be on the lookout for new staff members to help develop their existing service into an additional online-only streaming option, but even if they do that it appears as though premium cable channel HBO will be making staff cuts in the near future, according to a leaked email from the company’s CEO.

Richard Pleper, reacting to a number of other recent redundancies made within parent company Time Warner, Pleper issued a circular e-mail to his staff in order to inform them that some of them will soon be without a job. Naturally, someone not-so-delighted with that news has revealed it to the press.

Variety re-published the e-mail soon after receiving the information and copy of source material, with an extract reading: “We have a long history of tightly managing our overhead so that we’re able to maximise investment in the creation, distribution and marketing of content. We also shift resources when necessary toward areas with the greatest potential to drive revenue growth and to enhance our brand.

“We reviewed 2015 budgets and staffing plans with this in mind and reduced cost and redundancy wherever possible to preserve our ability to invest in our future. This will unfortunately include the elimination of some positions. Where relevant, your department head will share details with you in the weeks ahead. I understand that the news of staff reductions is unsettling. Rest assured that we will manage this difficult process with the fairness and respect you would expect from our company.”

Since launching in 1972, HBO has been one of the biggest names in premium subscription entertainment in the USA, and as of next year will look to have a similar status in the developing market of subscription internet streaming, but it appears as though some of their current staff won’t be along for that journey…

The dominance of Netflix in the online streaming industry is now spilling over a little, as whilst names such as CBS, HBO and ESPN prepare to enter that market with their own dedicated streaming services, Netflix themselves are making a high-profile expansion to cable TV… or at least a streaming part of it.

Telecommunications giants Verizon (pictured), looking to enhance their overall entertainment package, have revealed their intention to roll out a service that incorporates Netflix with an eye towards enticing users to sign on for the overall package.

Verizon FiOS’s newest marketing ploy will see them bundle a year’s worth of free Netflix into their newest package, a ‘triple play’ of Internet, TV, and phone, according to BTIG Research. It is noted, though, that the deal is currently limited to the New York area, with residents able to sign up for this test run over the next 11 days, though presumably anyone signing up in this period will receive all the advertised benefits of it.

It is by far the biggest third-party streaming deal to appear on such a contract, and BTIG note that it is also the first time Netflix has been offered at all in such a capacity in the USA, though Netflix themselves claim that they have sold rights to their service for a number of European telecommunications providers.

BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield said of what could be a mutually beneficial deal between Netflix and Verizon: “Investor confidence in Netflix’s subscriber growth prospects is clearly shaken after Q3 2014 results, yet as we see aggressive promotion from ISPs such as Verizon, we are increasingly confident in Netflix’s ability to achieve our 2017 100 mm worldwide subscribers target.”

Though the background to the deal might not be the most harmonious, with this year witnessing the first-ever drop in American pay TV subscription figures and cable companies now carrying greater numbers of broadband subscribers than for cable TV, not to mention Verizon’s dispute with Netflix over the latter causing Internet traffic jams, this latest deal appears to be one that each party could gain from in their subscriber counts should the trial go to plan, so could it end up paving the way for similar combinations to flood the cable and streaming markets?

The broadcasters of The Walking Dead and its spin-offs are well and truly alive when it comes to making business deals, after an announcement by AMC that they have bought all you could possibly buy of the BBC’s BBC America brand without actually owning it.

The cable TV giants, who have in their time brought other high-profile shows such as Breaking Bad and Mad Men, have now spun up a different meaning of ‘B.B.’ in their offices after purchasing 49.9% of the BBC America network, at a price of $200m (£122m).

The network, a commercial station that generates funds both for itself and its public service parent in the UK whilst giving the brand a foothold in the USA, completed the deal last Thursday (23 October), after negotiations between the two parties believed to have been held across several months.

Josh Sapan, the president of AMC Networks, said of the largest minority deal in an official statement on the matter: “A combined AMC Networks-BBC America channel group creates a powerful collection of networks that are among the most critically-acclaimed, with distinct dramas and other potent content that creates a deep connection with viewers. Our content rises to the top on many levels and is particularly well-suited to an era of on-demand viewing and expanding consumer choice.”

By way of owning the remaining 50.1% of the network, BBC America will retain control of their own operations and branding, though the deal will enable them to quickly slip into partnerships with their new co-owners and take advantage of AMC’s promotional skills, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

Home to American broadcasts of popular UK programming such as Doctor Who, The Musketeers, and Top Gear (along with a range of non-BBC shows), and original network-focused content including Intruders and Orphan Black, will the not-quite-orphaned BBC America be able to take a step up in American perception with the help of their intruders?

The deal has already made headlines by way of stretching 0.9% under the famous theory of business that the entertainment industry thought to be true: