Now 20 full weeks into 2012, year-to-date domestic box office is running 19% ahead of last year’s pace and 15% ahead of the comparable period’s average for the last several years.   Marvel’s The Avengers turned in another terrific weekend, officially $55.644 million for its third weekend (down a decent 46% from last weekend and the second-biggest third weekend of all time).  […]

The ratings below are household ratings from the 56 television markets with local Nielsen meters for Saturday June 14 and Sunday June 15, 2014. The 56 markets (out of 210 total) cover about 70% of the US television population.   NBA: Playoffs Finals 11.7 rating ABC 8:00 pm Sunday Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs […]

  The Chinese water torture that has been NBC’s announcement of its renewals and pick-ups continues with the glad tidings that PARKS & RECREATION has at long last received its (albeit 13-episode) order, as well as news that UP ALL NIGHT has survived to see another season.  The latter, while not a sure thing, isn’t […]

Ratings for Wednesday’s matches on ESPN and ESPN2 have arrived and the two on ESPN2 are the lowest-rated matches of 2014 so far (ranking #43 and #44), while the 3:30 pm telecast on ESPN (Ecuador and France in a fascinating 0-0 draw) was halfway respectable, ranking at #27.  Of course, the big numbers will be […]

      No one expected DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES to end with the revelation that the housewives had been dead all along, and Wisteria Lane existed in a Sideways alternate dimension.  (Although that might’ve been interesting.)  The show, which exited tonight after 8 seasons, always knew its audience, and it left the scene with a satisfying […]

  OPENINGS:  MIDWAY (AGC/Bona/Lionsgate) was mildly ahead of expectations with $17.5M in the US, and it should perform well on Veterans Day Monday.  However, with around $150M in production and worldwide marketing costs, a $60M US total would leave it with a steep uphill climb to reach profitability.  Early overseas results weren’t particularly promising at […]

The ratings below are household ratings from the 56 television markets with local Nielsen meters for Saturday July 5 and Sunday July 6, 2014. The 56 markets (out of 210 total) cover about 70% of the US television population.   Soccer: FIFA World Cup: The Knockout Round Continues (Quarterfinals) Friday 3.3 rating ESPN2 11:30 am […]

      BATTLESHIP:  Not Even For Free – Watch a Transformers DVD Instead   For about half an hour, BATTLESHIP could fool you into thinking it’s not the movie you were expecting it to be.  It begins as the story of Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch), a good-looking, unmotivated screw-up who lives with his straight-arrow […]