A brief ratings note:  the bulk of Friday’s network primetime schedule was preempted on the East Coast for live news coverage of the arrest of the suspected Boston Marathon bomber, and reruns were substituted for the scheduled episodes on the West Coast, so there won’t be any meaningful ratings for Friday night (other than […]

  After two episodes proving that even a lead-in from The Voice can’t rescue some shows, NBC’s Eva Longoria-produced READY FOR LOVE is no more, yanked off the Tuesday schedule and with no airing of its remaining episodes currently scheduled.  This is a particularly ugly miss by NBC, which was so high on Love that […]

  GLEE may only be a shadow of the phenomenon it was when it began 4 seasons ago (a 2.3 average this season, compared to 4.0), but it’s still a significant asset for FOX, especially among the younger 18-34 demographic, and it has enormous ancillary value on iTunes and elsewhere.  So it’s no surprise that […]

  With hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, the opening dates for blockbuster movies are carefully calculated months–sometimes years–in advance.  So a last minute change doesn’t come from nowhere, and it’s notable that with less than 2 months to go, Sony has moved its Will Smith/M. Night Shyamalan vehicle AFTER EARTH from its previous […]

  Hannibal‘s appetite wasn’t as strong last night. FOX:  After a slight surge last week, AMERICAN IDOL was back down to 2.9, a 0.3 drop and just slightly above its series low.  (And to add insult to injury, it’s behind a rerun Big Bang Theory on CBS.)  However, it may make up some of that […]

Two ABC sitcoms aired without their usual lead-ins, with mixed results. ABC:  The season finale of SUBURGATORY had to be a self-starter last night, airing as a one-hour without either Modern Family or The Middle as a lead-in.  The 8PM half-hour had a 1.5 that was down half a point from recent Middle ratings.  But the show recovered […]

Only one new opener (Oblivion) and only one decent holdover (42) mean it’s pretty slim pickings at the box office this weekend: less than $100 million for the top 12 films, down 11-22% from the same weekend in recent years. Opening at around 3,800 theaters Friday (a very high number), Oblivion from Universal should average a […]

  Starz has been exceptionally tolerant of ratings that other networks might find discouraging, and without even waiting to see how DA VINCI’S DEMONS will perform without a Spartacus lead-in, the network has already ordered a Season 2.  This is in keeping with renewals for Boss and Magic City after slow starts; the former didn’t […]