> $59.99 for home VOD — Genius! Box office normally starts to pick up when the calendar turns to November, moving from $90-100 million per weekend through most of October to $120 million or more per weekend in early November (building toward $185 million or more for the Friday-Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend).  Last year’s first […]

Weekend #20 of 2012 looks like it will be about $156 million for the top 12 films, down 2% from last year’s comparable weekend and down the same amount from the four-year average for this weekend.  Three movies open, with Battleship headed for the biggest opening of the trio (about $42.5 million).  The Dictator starring […]

HBO’s True Blood hit a 2.8 rating with Adults 18-49 Sunday, almost working its way back to the season high (the 2.9 rating for the premiere episode on June 10). And VH1’s Love and Hip Hop Atlanta ended its season on a high note, matching the season high of a 2.0 rating, last seen on July 23.   ESPN’s Monday […]

> The National Board of Review is an organization with a virtually unknown membership that exists in public consciousness for precisely one day per year, and this is their day:  the announcement of their film awards.  Their claim to fame, such as it was, came from being the first ones out of the awards gate–but […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  Game 1 of the STANLEY CUP FINALS adjusted up 0.1.  In addition, THE CODE and the reruns of 9-1-1, BULL and CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD each lost 0.1 in final numbers.       Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  USA’s WWE telecast was at 0.76/0.73/0.67, […]

  UPDATE:  As expected, the WINTER OLYMPICS CLOSING CEREMONY and GROWING UP FISHER adjusted to 3.2 and 2.0.  THE AMAZING RACE fell to an even lower all-time low premiere at 1.5, and 60 MINUTES was also down 0.1 to 1.3. SUNDAY CABLE:  As had been previously reported, THE WALKING DEAD (AMC) was its usual giant […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  20/20 lost 0.1 in final numbers.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  ESPN’s NBA doubleheader was at 0.83 (Golden State vs. Clippers)/0.51 (San Antonio vs. Minnesota).  Discovery’s GOLD RUSH dropped 0.04 to 0.62, with the lead-out hour down 0.09 to 0.42, […]

> There’s been quite a bit written in the last few years about the phenomenon of US films doing much better business overseas than domestically, sometimes more than making up for American disappointment or failure–and rightly so, as a glance at Mitch Metcalf’s chart today confirms.  Indications are that the latest Harry Potter and Transformers […]