We noted yesterday that one of the useful things a pre-Oscars awards group can accomplish is mixing new titles and talent in with the conventional wisdom pool of front-runners, and the National Board of Review did that today.  A full list of its winners is here, but the headline is that the group (which […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  There were no changes from the preliminary Wednesday ratings.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  ESPN’s NBA doubleheader led Wednesday cable at 0.61/0.51.  MTV’s THE CHALLENGE jumped 0.17 to 0.50, with the AFTER-SHOW at 0.23, and the lead-in RIDICULOUSNESS at 0.21/0.20.  […]

  OPENINGS:  MONKEY MAN (Universal) walked an odd path to theaters, originally being targeted for a Netflix release.  While the result earned strong reviews (87% on Rotten Tomatoes), there was no storybook ending at the box office, as Dev Patel’s film was below expectations at $10.1M.  Nor did Monkey Man stir much excitement overseas, with […]

AMERICAN IDOL underscored why next season will be its last. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2). Ratings analysis […]

        NETWORK FINALS: ABC’s STILL STAR-CROSSED may soon have company on Saturdays, as SOMEWHERE BETWEEN fell 0.1 in final numbers to a deadly 0.3.   In addition, WORLD OF DANCE and the rerun of BROOKLYN NINE-NINE lost 0.1.  And as expected, both CW reruns were adjusted for their NY preemption and dropped […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #33 of 2014 looks like a modest $124 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, below our forecast ($140 million) and 7% above the norm for this weekend ($116 million). Playing at 3,094 theaters, Let’s Be Cops from Fox grossed $5.6 million Friday and is on track for a $17.1 million opening […]

  AMERICA’S GOT TALENT more than doubled the next-highest rated broadcast. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2). Ratings […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #44 of 2014 looks like $76 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down a big 38% the norm for this weekend ($123 million), which admittedly does not usually have Halloween ruining it by falling on Friday. Opening at 2,766 theaters, Nightcrawler from Open Road Films grossed $3.2 million Friday and […]