> THE FIRST TIME may be too lovable for its own good.  Jonathan Kasdan’s teen romance, which premiered in the Dramatic Competition at Sundance, couldn’t be more straightforward:  in its opening minutes, it introduces the adorable Dave (Dylan O’Brien) and Aubrey (Britt Robertson), two hyper-articulate sweethearts who meet outside a suburban LA party neither of […]

Updated ratings for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament through the second Friday of March Madness (the second and final night of the Regional Semifinals). Two games have been added to the CBS averages, and two games have been added to the TBS average. CBS is now averaging almost 6.3 million viewers 2+ for the tournament to date […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2019 film slates by studio. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2019 is now -18% below last year’s comparable span (1 point better than last week) and now -16% below the average for this point the past four years ($2.351 billion).  Over the same […]

Weekend #31 of 2015 is looking like $150 million for the top 12 films this weekend, fairly close to the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). Mission:Impossible – Rogue Nation from Paramount should open with a $55.0 million three-day weekend. Early reviews at RottenTomatoes are quite positive: 90% positive overall so far. Despite the strong reviews, the […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  Things got (slightly) better for FOX in final numbers, as both GRANDFATHERED and SCREAM QUEENS got 0.1 bumps, putting them both at 1.2.  (THE GRINDER, however, remained at 1.0.)  In addition, THE MUPPETS and NCIS gained 0.1, but the QUANTICO rerun fell the same. Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart   CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  […]

  The stage is set for next Thursday’s battle royal between ABC and NBC. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age […]

  BURDEN OF TRUTH:  Wednesday 8PM on CW This summer’s crop of original broadcast dramas (Reverie, Take Two, The Outpost) has been notably bad, and in that context, CW’s new Canadian import, the straightforward legal drama BURDEN OF TRUTH, comes as something of a relief. The set-up is a much tamer version of the one […]

  OPENINGS:  The surprise isn’t so much that COCAINE BEAR (Universal) “overdelivered,” but that expectations were so low for a picture that had been the subject of pop culture fascination for months.  The $23.1M weekend seems like a realistic reflection of that fact, and although business is likely to drop quickly now that audiences have […]