TV News Roundup: HGTV Renews ‘Flip or Flop Atlanta’ for Season 2

In today’s roundup, Major League Baseball has joined ESPN for their “Shred Hate” anti-bullying initiative, and HGTV renews “Flip or Flop Atlanta” for a second season.

RENEWALS

HGTV has renewed “Flip or Flop Atlanta” for a 14-episode second season after airing only five episodes of the first season. The second spinoff of the “Flip or Flop” franchise, “Flip or Flop Atlanta” has attracted more than 7.9 million viewers since it premiered on July 20. John Feld, senior vice president of programming for HGTV, DIY Network, and Great American Country, said the show “is inspiring to anyone who has ever thought of flipping a house” and its performance was “exactly what we anticipated.” Season 2 is scheduled to premiere in 2018.

ADVOCACY

Major League Baseball has announced that it will partner with ESPN to work on the “Shred Hate” bullying prevention initiative that launched in January at the X Games in Aspen, Colo. The program’s “No Bully System,” which emphasizes a nondisciplinary, leadership-based approach between school leaders, teachers, and parents, has reportedly reduced 94% of bullying cases in the Colorado schools where it was implemented. The program will expand into Chicago, Washington D.C., and Minneapolis during the 2017-2018 school year and will continue to expand to other cities in the future.

SPECIALS

Television turns 90 this September and to celebrate, television producer and historian Phil Savernick will host a live webcast on that day via his website www.thehistoryoftv.com on Sept. 7 at 3 p.m. PST with reruns at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. The celebration will occur at the original laboratory of television’s inventor, Philo Taylor Farnsworth, at 202 Green St. in San Francisco and will feature pieces from the Farnsworth family archives like pictures, videos, rare and historic television sets, and pages from Farnsworth’s journal.

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