Well, bah humbug. OPENINGS:  Start the spin machine:  THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (Warners/MGM) has opened with $31.1M, $6M below the start for last year’s An Unexpected Journey.  That’s more than a 15% drop, and if it continued throughout the weekend, Smaug could end up with a total around $70M.  However, the bulk […]

  Embattled ABC fared the best on a slow night. ABC:  LAST MAN STANDING was down 0.2 from last week to 1.2, but things improved after that, as THE NEIGHBORS held at 0.9, SHARK TANK was easily the highest rated show of the night on any network, steady at 2.0, and 20/20 rose 0.3 to […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #50 of 2013 looks like $144 million for the top 12 films from Friday-Sunday, not as strong as we had forecast but still up double digits in terms of percent increase over comparable weekends the past several years.   Opening at 3,903 theaters Friday, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug from Warner Brothers […]

  Warner Bros and Peter Jackson are very, very lucky that THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG is a significantly better movie than last year’s An Unexpected Journey, which will give it strong word of mouth, because early box office indications are that audiences, burned by Journey, are initially dubious about spending 3 more hours […]

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  As expected, CBS bore the brunt of the final ratings corrections once the NFL game was removed.  THE BIG BANG THEORY dropped 0.2 to 5.3 (still up 0.3 from last week), THE MILLERS fell 0.3 to 2.6 (still up 0.2), THE CRAZY ONES and 2 1/2 MEN both lost 0.2 to 1.9s […]

  CW announced a set of sensible changes for its midseason schedule today, cutting its losses on the shows that aren’t working and trying to save its flailing Mondays. The adjustments will phase in over a month or so.  On Monday, February 17, HART OF DIXIE begins a roughly 5-week hiatus, and the new STAR-CROSSED […]

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  No meaningful changes from this morning’s numbers, as  THE MIDDLE gained 0.1 for a still unimpressive 2.0.  ARROW got no afternoon bump. WEDNESDAY CABLE:  The DUCK DYNASTY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (A&E) was huge, scoring a 3.5 rating in 18-49s, and the network’s DYNASTY episode at 9PM was also hot at 1.7.  DYNASTY was […]

  Say what you will about the Golden Globes, on the TV side they’re often more open to acknowledging new talent and shows than the Emmys (let alone this week’s stodgy SAG Award nominations) tend to be.  That’s the case again with today’s nominees, particularly in the acting categories. BEST DRAMA SERIES BREAKING BAD (AMC) […]