OPENINGS:  IT ENDS WITH US (Wayfarer/Columbia/Sony) roared past expectations with a remarkable $50M.  That studio estimate comes with a couple of asterisks–it includes an unspecified amount from wide Wednesday screenings, and assumes an extremely strong Sunday hold–but even so, it’s a great start for a drama that may not even have $75M in production/worldwide […]

> The second-season finale of Showtime’s SHAMELESS was unusually low-key for the rambunctious series, the result of having to deal with the aftermath of last week’s Thanksgiving dinner, where bipolar mom Monica (Chloe Webb) very graphically attempted suicide, and of Karen (Laura Wiggins) giving birth to a baby who turned out to have Downs Syndrome.  […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  NBC’s NFL HALL OF FAME GAME adjusted up 0.1 to 1.5 in final numbers.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  Neither the NFL nor SHARK WEEK could stop TLC’s DR PIMPLE POPPER, on top of Thursday cable albeit down 0.07 to […]

  We’re just about 24 hours away from the US arrival of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the kick-off of the summer movie season, and in our survey of each studio’s schedule and prospects, we’ve already taken a look at Sony, Universal and Warner Bros.  Today:  the House of Murdoch, aka 20th Century Fox. LAST […]

> GCB can’t capitalize on a lack of competition. ABC: GCB was virtually the only original scripted show to air in network primetime last night, and ABC chose the evening as the show’s opportunity to show what it could do in Desperate Housewives’ 9PM slot. The result was a 1.7 that was more than 30% […]

  BH90210 plunged. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary live+same day 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 of 2). Ratings analysis and comparisons follow the chart. […]

  OPENINGS:  The studio-reported $28.5M weekend for Tim Burton’s MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN (TSG/20th) is below the $29.7M opening for Burton’s flop Dark Shadows.  Miss Peregrine cost less than Shadows, which will help (reportedly by about $40M), but this is still not much more than a breakeven proposition on a fairly large investment […]

  NBC has perfected the art of releasing bits of information each day throughout pre-Upfront week, and today’s nuggets introduced a trio of additional new sitcoms.  It appears that at least 2 of these will be given small midseason runs of 6 episodes to see if they catch anyone’s fancy before potentially expanding. MISSION CONTROL:  […]