> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques shouldn’t be taken as full reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content of the […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #17 of 2013 is looking like a very weak $80 million for the top 12 films, down 34% from the average the past few years for this weekend and down 18% from the same weekend last year.  Michael Bay’s Pain and Gain opened fairly quietly — not a total disaster but […]

    NOTE TO READERS:  Starting tomorrow, SHOWBUZZDAILY will be heading to the Sundance Film Festival.  That won’t affect the daily ratings charts, which will be posted as usual, but for the rest of the week, there will be little if any text, and probably few responses to comments/requests.  However:  Sundance reviews! NETWORK UPDATE:  DATELINE […]

Weekend #25 of 2014 is looking like a limp $146 million for the top 12 films this weekend, 10% below the norm for this weekend and 37% below the same weekend last year, which featured two strong openers (Monsters University and World War Z).  This year’s two major openers are not the stuff of commercial greatness. Opening […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  ABC’s COLLEGE FOOTBALL game adjusted to 1.2, and FOX’s game held at 0.9.           Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  COLLEGE FOOTBALL was the story on Saturday cable, too, with ESPN’s games occupying 4 of the Top 7 slots at 1.12/0.67/0.55/0.38, Fox […]

> The probable effect of Irene is most evident in the weekend’s limited releases, where loss of NY business would have been most damaging.  HIGHER GROUND, seemingly headed for a per-theatre average of $12K, could only manage $7600, while CIRCUMSTANCE, on track for a $8K average, made it to only $6200.  Similarly, some expansions were […]

      NETWORK FINALS:  THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL adjusted up to 4.1 in final numbers, quite a bit higher than this morning’s preliminary rating, but still considerably lower than the 6.1 for the last CBS primetime game 2 weeks ago.  Elsewhere, the entire ABC line-up lost 0.1 across the board, while SUPERSTORE gained 0.1.   […]

        NOTE: Because of the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the next post for cable & broadcast nationals will be on Monday December 2 with ratings for Wednesday November 27. Click here for a summary of all the upcoming holiday delays. Fast affiliate-based broadcast ratings for the prior night will continue each morning […]