As we approach the start of November sweeps on Halloween night, most of the networks are locking in their back order/cancellation plans, with one conspicuous exception. First, some big-picture numbers: Network Weekly Averages  –  1st 5 Weeks of Season NBC:  3.07/2.81/2.66/2.97/2.44 FOX:  2.16/1.75/2.42/1.85/3.26 CBS:  2.24/2.46/1.86/2.19/1.89 ABC:  2.29/2.08/1.81/1.90/1.75 CW:  0.27/0.53/0.68/0.77/0.67 (Note:  a fair amount of the […]

The ratings below are household ratings from the 56 television markets with local Nielsen meters for Saturday October 26 and Sunday October 27, 2013. (The 56 markets out of 210 total cover about 70% of the US television population.)   College Football Week 9 Top Games on Saturday 2.81 rating 7:00 ESPN #12 UCLA at #3 […]

  For viewers not watching sports or zombies last night–however few of them there were–TV offered a gangbusters episode of The Good Wife and a superb hour from Masters of Sex (although the less said about Homeland, perhaps, the better).  Note:  we’ve adjusted the NBC and FOX sports numbers to where we think they’ll end […]

  OPENINGS:  BAD GRANDPA (Paramount) romped to 1st place at the multiplexes this weekend with $32M, but perhaps more notably, it also made $8.4M in just 16 overseas territories.  That’s the same level as Jackass 3D, which ended up making $54M internationally, a tremendous success for such a low-budget franchise.  Bad Grandpa 2 seems all […]

STUDIO SCORECARD. In the worldwide studio rankings for 2013 to date, only moderate changes for each studio.  The biggest gainer this week was Paramount, which released a film from its tiny slate: Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. However, it shows just how slow the box office environment is right now when a $93 million weekly gain is tops among […]

Updated international box office chart:

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #43 of 2013 now looks like $95 million for the top 12 films, a shade under yesterday’s estimate but still up 11% to 17% from the same weekend in recent years. Opening at 3,336 theaters Friday, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa from Paramount grossed $12.6 million Friday and $11.5 million Saturday, […]

  Considering its genre and target audience, BAD GRANDPA (Paramount) did very well in its second day, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, slipping just 4% to $12M.  By comparison, the three Jackass movies went down 20%/14%/24% on their first Saturdays, suggesting strong word of mouth and possibly a longer stay in theatres than one […]