> GAME OF THRONES:  Sundays 9PM on HBO Bend the knee, everyone:  GAME OF THRONES is back. WHERE WE WERE:  Reeling from the decapitation of Eddard Stark, who until the loss of his head had seemed to be the stalwart hero of the entire saga.  It was sociopathic teenage King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), supposedly the […]

  OPENINGS:  The Presidents Day weekend wide releases were Sundance titles seeking to take advantage of the expanded “2020” Oscar calendar, which includes films released through February 2021.  Both would likely have been platformed releases in a non-pandemic marketplace, and remained niche in their appeal.  JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (Warners, also on HBO Max) […]

  Most films will rise this weekend compared to last week, simply because New Year’s Eve is a bigger moviegoing occasion than Christmas Eve.  Generally, box office should rise 20% or so on Saturday, drop around 30% on Sunday, then jump 30-40% on New Year’s Day.  The first two weekends of 2018 should feature relatively […]

  The early Friday numbers this week are likely to be even less reliable than usual, since weather conditions on the East Coast make estimates very dicey.  That being said, the preliminary numbers at Deadline make it clear that come blizzard or high water, IDENTITY THIEF (Universal) will be the big winner of the weekend.  […]

      NETWORK FINALS:  The finale of THE BACHELOR ran until 10:05PM, and when that 5 minutes was removed from ‘FOR LIFE, that show’s ratings dropped 0.02 from the preliminary numbers to 0.6.           Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart   CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  Note that Pop’s SCHITT’S CREEK isn’t on […]

  Another dim night for most of the networks. NBC:  Last night marked the season’s final Friday airing of GRIMM before it moves to Tuesdays, and its send-off was unpromising, a 1.3 that was down 0.2 from its last new episode 3 weeks ago.  As could be expected after last week’s breaking news in Boston, […]

NOTE: CW numbers below inflated by a pre-emption in New York on WPIX for NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (Bucs vs. Giants, airing nationally on ESPN). In Tampa-St. Petersburg the game aired locally on an independent station, without distorting the numbers below. Precise program ratings for Monday available this afternoon with the cable and broadcast nationals.  […]

  BROADCAST FINALS:  NBC’s primetime WINTER OLYMPICS coverage was at 1.37.  ABC’s NBA game was at 0.92.  CW’s shows were at 0.05/0.06.   Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart   CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  USA’s portion of WINTER OLYMPICS coverage was at 0.39/0.36/0.31/0.29/0.17/0.16/0.15/0.11/0.11.  ESPN’s COLLEGE BASKETBALL was at 0.33/0.31/0.19/0.18, with UFC PRELIMS at 0.31.  Hallmark’s original movie […]