> PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 continues Paramount’s license to print money–it’ll soon be in profit even with worldwide marketing costs calculated in.  Yesterday will probably prove to be by far the biggest day of its front-loaded run, but at those prices, who cares? Sometimes it’s not about the marketing–it’s about the movie.  It would be difficult, […]

Thursday preliminary broadcast ratings:

This weekend is looking incredibly strong: over $250 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, up 27% from a typical third weekend in November.  The final Twilight (12-34 females), Lincoln (35+ adults), and the second weekend of the strongest Bond yet (young adults) make for a powerful combination.   Opening at over 4,000 theaters Friday […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Universal’s year to date versus last week is negative despite the addition of Crimson Peak this weekend.  The overseas total for Everest was over-stated last week and has been corrected in the studio table below and the individual film ranking at the bottom of the post.  Still, Universal remains a dominant #1, with a lead of […]

>Now 12 full weeks into 2012, year-to-date domestic box office is running 26% ahead of last year’s worrisome pace, and the year-to-date total is now fully 15% ahead of the comparable period’s average for the last several years.  The Hunger Games lived up to the hype and played like an early summer tentpole in March. […]

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC:  Reruns at 0.32/0.24. CBS:  SECRET CELEBRITY RENOVATION dropped 0.04 to 0.21, followed by a CBS FALL PREVIEW promo special at 0.18, and reruns at 0.15/0.19. NBC:  COLLEGE BOWL was at 0.24 compared to last week’s 0.24/0.25.  The season premiere of DATELINE followed at 0.31. FOX:  WWE SMACKDOWN lost 0.07 to 0.50. […]

In case you are staring at an Oscar ballot this afternoon or this evening and have no idea what to select, especially in the “down ballot” categories such as documentaries, foreign language film, or the technical awards, never fear.  Lean on the professional oddsmakers to help to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Instead of […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  ONCE UPON A TIME and SECRETS AND LIES each gained 0.1 in final numbers, as did A.D. THE BIBLE CONTINUES, but AMERICAN ODYSSEY lost 0.1, putting it at a truly woeful 0.5.  Ratings in key demos for the Top 25 original cable telecasts (plus a few other lower-rated but noteworthy programs): GAME […]