Welcome to summer TV.  Collectively, the broadcast networks declined 22% from the same night last year. NBC:  The network can’t get rid of the awful SAVE ME fast enough, as NBC is double-pumping it on Thursdays to make the pain pass quicker.  It debuted last night with twin 0.7 ratings, the same as the […]

  Last weekend, Star Trek Into Darkness was the first boxoffice underperformer of the summer season; this weekend, it appears that THE HANGOVER PART III (Warners) may be the first unmitigated disaster.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, the combination of Wednesday night and Thursday shows was only $11M.  If those numbers hold, it will […]

  From a predicting point of view, Sunday is sort of an anti-climactic end to our week of fall TV ratings forecasts, since the winner is obvious and there are few changes from last fall.  (See our more interesting predictions for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)   Still, here’s how we–that being former head of […]

  We’ve arrived at Friday in our tour of the fall primetime schedule, and former head of NBC Scheduling Mitch Metcalf, former head of NBC Current Programming Ted Frank and I have our predictions ready.  (Here are our predictions for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.)  Friday is the least-watched (other than barely-programmed Saturday) and least dramatic […]

  We’re continuing our survey of the fall primetime schedule (our merry band includes former head of NBC Scheduling Mitch Metcalf, former head of NBC Current Programming Ted Frank and myself) with Thursdays, when CBS will finally do what people have been expecting for the past several seasons and expand to a 4-sitcom night.  (Here […]

  Last night the May sweep and the broadcast season ended with a whimper.  For the season as a whole, (757 prime time hours in the 34 1/2 weeks between Monday, September 24, 2012 and last night), CBS finished at #1 as expected, with a 2.40 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic.  FOX was #2 […]

The 21st weekend of the year is looking like an outstanding $258 million for the top 12 films, over 50% better than typical Memorial Day weekends because three films serving very different audiences should open well in addition to continued solid business from Star Trek Into Darkness and Iron Man 3. Opening at over 3,600 […]

  The booze had been drunk, the party rooms cleaned up, everyone had gone home from last week’s network Upfront presentations–but CBS wasn’t quite done.  After what must have been marathon negotiations with Sony Television (which had an arduous few weeks that also included tough talks with NBC over its pick-ups), CBS has ordered the […]