NETWORK UPDATE:  The changes weren’t enough to make a significant difference, but the entire ABC line-up adjusted up in final ratings, SELFIE and MANHATTAN LOVE STORY each by 0.2 (leaving them at 1.6/1.5), and AGENTS OF SHIELD and FOREVER by 0.1 (1.8/1.4).  In addition, NEW GIRL and THE VOICE each gained 0.1, while CHICAGO […]

American Idol ended its season down a third from last year’s finale, but still over a 6 rating — enough to win the night handily and put the May Sweep away.  Look for a Sweep ratings update posting soon.   FOX ended its season with the two-hour finale of American Idol, averaging a preliminary 6.1 rating with Adults […]

Weekend #22 of 2014 is looking like a solid $172 million for the top 12 films this weekend, 26% above the norm for this weekend and 7% above the same weekend last year.   Opening at over 3,800 theaters Friday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Maleficent from Disney should average […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  The only change from this morning’s numbers was a 0.1 bump for BIG BROTHER. CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  ESPN dominated with its coverage of the NBA DRAFT, scoring 1.53 for the draft telecast itself (all nearly 5 hours of it–we don’t have an hour-by-hour breakdown), 1.01 for the pre-show, and 0.71 for the post show SPORTSCENTER.  […]

> With the television season at Upfronts minus about 6 weeks, Mitch Metcalf, veteran programming executive Ted Frank and I are continuing our survey of the issues each network may and should be thinking about while strategizing its Fall schedule.  Yesterday we covered FOX, and today it’s ABC’s turn under the spotlight. NOTE:  to the […]

Female-oriented reality stood atop the cable ranking Sunday night.  Real Housewives Atlanta averaged a 1.58 rating with adults 18-49 at 8:00 pm on Bravo.  With the smaller demographic segments, Real Housewives was strongest with women 35-49 (#1 for the day with a 2.54 rating in that demo).  On E! at 9:00 pm, Keeping Up with […]

  Saturday’s box office didn’t bring any major changes to the results indicated by Friday’s, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline.  THE OTHER WOMAN (20th) was fairly flat, rising only 3% Friday-to-Saturday for $9.6M on its 2d day of release, still on track for a $25M weekend that will put it well in front of […]

  NETWORK UPDATE  FOX’s NFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME adjusted up to 10.4 in final numbers. Ratings in key demos for the Top 25 original cable telecasts (plus a few other lower-rated but noteworthy programs): ESPN’s COLLEGE BASKETBALL took the top 2 slots with a pair of afternoon games on a soft Saturday for cable, at 0.59/0.44.  […]