Briefs: CW69 adding ‘The 700 Club’; SCAD’s TV Fest goes virtual again; ‘Cobra Kai’ tops streaming list

"The 700 Club," now hosted by Gordon Robertson, will no longer be on WGCL-TV starting Feb. 1, 2022. It's moving to CW69.

Credit: CBN

Credit: CBN

"The 700 Club," now hosted by Gordon Robertson, will no longer be on WGCL-TV starting Feb. 1, 2022. It's moving to CW69.

The CW69 in Atlanta will take over the broadcast rights to “The 700 Club” starting May 2 at 9 a.m.

Currently, “The Drew Barrymore Show” airs in that slot. Tom Canedo, the station general manager, said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he is moving Barrymore to 10 a.m. and will cut out one of the double runs of judge shows later in the day.

Canedo said Christian Broadcasting Network offered his station a good deal to take the long-running Christian news and talk program.

CBS46, which was recently purchased by Atlanta-based Gray Television, is dropping “The 700 Club” on Tuesday, Feb. 1, in favor of another hour of local news.

“The 700 Club” will continue to air on basic cable station Freeform at 9 a.m. weekdays. You can also watch the program live and on demand on CBN’s website.

After more than 50 years at the helm, Pat Robertson in October 2021 stepped down as host of “The 700 Club,” replaced by his son Gordon Robertson.

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Ellie Kemper at the Four Seasons before receiving the Spotlight Award at the 2019 SCAD aTVfest on February 7, 2019. RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com

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Unfortunately, SCAD’s 10th annual TVFest is going virtual for the second year in a row after originally making plans to do it in person.

It was supposed to happen in person in early February and the school briefly considered moving it to May. Instead, SCAD opted to move TVFest online Feb. 17-19. In a statement, SCAD Theaters and Festivals executive director Christina Routhier said they made this decision “after speaking with industry leaders and studio executives, and in keeping with the revised formats of other leading film and television entertainment events being held this winter season.”

Part of the issue is continuing strict COVID-19 protocols on TV and film sets that run through at least mid-February. TV and film series don’t want key actors coming down with COVID-19, however mild, because it could cause costly delays in productions.

Last year, with the vaccines just rolling out, TVFest went virtual out of necessity. (The festival was previously called aTVFest.)

The programming schedule will be announced on Feb. 11 and tickets go on sale that day at scadtvfest.com.

In past years, actors ranging such as Connie Britton, Kim Cattrall, Ellie Kemper, David Boreanaz and Mindy Kaling have appeared at the festival, which features panel discussions, screenings and Q&A’s with casts and producers.

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Ralph Macchio, left, and William Zabka in "Cobra Kai." (Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix/TNS)

Credit: TNS

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Credit: TNS

The fourth season of “Cobra Kai,” which debuted on New Year’s Eve, was the top streaming show for the week of Dec. 27 through Jan. 2 in the United States, according to Nielsen.

That’s especially impressive considering the Netflix show, shot largely in metro Atlanta, was only available for three of those seven days. It bumped Netflix drama “The Witcher” from the top spot.

Nielsen, by the way, only measures watching on TV screens, not those on portable devices. And it measures only the following streaming services: Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix and Prime Video.

Original Series

1. “Cobra Kai” (Netflix), 2.42 billion minutes viewed

2. “The Witcher” (Netflix), 1.83 billion

3. “Emily in Paris” (Netflix), 1.11 billion

4. “The Wheel of Time” (Prime Video), 630 million

5. “Hawkeye” (Disney+), 539 million

6. “Queer Eye” (Netflix), 466 million

7. “Lost in Space” (Netflix), 452 million

8. “The Book of Boba Fett” (Disney+), 389 million

9. “Stay Close” (Netflix), 349 million

10. “The Great British Baking Show” (Netflix), 338 million