Latest news with #DanaAbraham
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Office' Alum Anthony Q. Farrell Boards Cricket Comedy ‘Strikers' as Showrunner (Exclusive)
The Office alum Anthony Q. Farrell has boarded the indie feel good cricket comedy Strikers as a showrunner and executive producer. Farrell, who recently completed production on his new Paramount+/GameTV comedy Hate the Player, joins Strikers as it eyes a summer 2026 production date and a potentially global TV audience, especially in South Asia. Cricket is set to make a return at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. More from The Hollywood Reporter Israel, Gaza, Iraq, Lebanon, Korea: Political and Dystopian Films in the Locarno Spotlight Writer Steven Knight Teases His Plans for Amazon's James Bond: "Better, Stronger and Bolder" British Tough Guy Ray Winstone to Receive Sarajevo Festival Award Strikers is created by Red Hill Creative founder Dana Abraham, whose credits include Orphan Black: Echoes and Neon Lights, and Emmy-winning producer and Queer Eye host Bobby Berk. Abraham will also play Amar Farooqi, a former baseball MVP candidate whose career crashes after an injury. With no prospects in sight, his manager Micky (Berk) lands Farooqi a job with a failing pro cricket club desperate to win and sell tickets based on a comeback story. Farrell, who is based in Toronto, knows his way between the wickets in cricket, a bat and ball game like baseball that is popular outside of North America, especially as a billion-dollar TV entertainment juggernaut via the Indian Premier League. 'Growing up on the beautiful island of St. Kitts, I picked up a cricket bat way before I got into baseball. The sport has adapted and grown so much in the last 25 years and a series like Strikers is long overdue. I'm grateful to be joining Dana and Bobby on this hilarious and heartwarming show that they've created,' Farrell said in a statement. Additional casting will be announced at a later date. Abraham and Berk added in their own statement: 'It's an absolute privilege to welcome Anthony to Strikers. His award-winning resume speaks for itself, but it's his ability to execute at the highest level while finding the heart and humor in every story that makes him the perfect fit for our series.' Range Media and WME are shopping Strikers to international buyers, with initial broadcast and streaming partners being sought to license the series ahead of production. Additional territories will then be sold after the series is completed. Farrell is repped by Sheree Guitar Entertainment, Ambition Talent and Lichter Grossman Nichols Feldman Rogal Shikora & Clark. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
India's Champions Trophy Cricket Triumph Delivers Record Numbers for JioHotstar
JioHotstar has cemented its position as India's streaming powerhouse, revealing staggering viewership numbers for the recently concluded ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 cricket tournament. The tournament culminated in a nail-biting final where India triumphed over New Zealand, delivering eye-popping metrics that underscore the platform's dominance in the world's largest cricket market. The streaming service reported a total of 5.4 billion views across the tournament, with viewers logging a cumulative watch time of nearly 110 billion minutes. The India-New Zealand final alone generated an unprecedented 1.24 billion views and reached a peak concurrent viewership of 61.2 million users. More from Variety 'Queer Eye's' Bobby Berk, Dana Abraham, Nazanin Mandi, Shaun Majumder Set for Cricket Comedy 'Strikers' (EXCLUSIVE) Venkatesh's 'Sankranthiki Vasthunam' Powers Indian Box Office to $116 Million in January - Global Bulletin 2025 ICC Champions Trophy Livestream: How to Watch the Cricket Tournament Online Hindi-speaking regions drove over 38% of the platform's total audience, with states including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Goa, Punjab, and Haryana leading consumption patterns. JioHotstar also flexed its technical muscle by achieving more than 80% penetration in WiFi-enabled connected TV households, with Maharashtra recording the highest viewership in this segment. 'The overwhelming response to the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 marks a leap toward the billion-screen opportunity, where seamless access and immersive engagement are now the expectation, not the exception,' said Kiran Mani, CEO of digital at parent company JioStar. 'The tournament also saw the highest-ever single-day subscriptions since launch, during the India vs Australia match, further underscoring the scale at which audiences are embracing digital streaming.' JioHotstar's ambitious coverage included 16 different feeds across nine languages: English, Hindi, Marathi, Haryanvi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. The platform supplemented these options with four multi-camera feeds, an Indian Sign Language feed, and audio descriptive commentary to ensure accessibility for diverse audiences. A vertical feed option (MaxView) in both Hindi and English catered to mobile viewers consuming content on the go. Sanjog Gupta, CEO of sports at JioStar, positioned the tournament's success as a cultural moment transcending sport: 'The Indian team's campaign in the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 was more than just a victory – it was a demonstration of cricket's influence on the collective consciousness and culture of the country. With peak concurrency of 61.2 million for the final and sustained levels of concurrency around 50 million for the tournament, JioHotstar became the digital heartbeat of this celebration.' JioStar was formed through the $8.5 billion merger of Disney's Star India with Reliance's Viacom18 and streaming platforms JioCinema and Hotstar. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Oscars 2026: First Blind Predictions Including Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, 'Wicked: For Good' and More What's Coming to Disney+ in March 2025
