OPENINGS:  As is frequently the case these days, the biggest opening numbers are outside the US.  DOCTOR STRANGE (Marvel/Disney) won’t arrive here until Thursday night, but it’s already racked up $86M in 33 overseas territories covering less than half the world, and not including China or Japan.  It’s a particularly impressive start since Strange […]

> Amid multiplying online reports, spearheaded by New York Magazine’s Vulture site, that Paramount’s SUPER 8 is tracking for a very soft opening this weekend at the box-office, the studio has decided to launch a “secret” (by which I mean “highly publicized“) pre-opening day:  the movie will now screen on Thursday in about 325 theaters […]

  A night of entrances and exits. ABC:  The Spring premiere of DANCING WITH THE STARS hit a season high 3.1, but that was down 0.4 from last year’s spring launch (even though that one had to face The Voice, as did this season’s fall cycle).  Despite the better lead-in, CASTLE was down a tick […]

  ABC’s hopes for AMERICAN IDOL diminished. 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).   ABC:  AMERICAN IDOL fell […]

  CBS and NBC numbers below inflated by local pre-emptions for NFL Preseason games: CBS (Pittsburgh and Kansas City pre-emptions) and NBC (New York and Tampa). 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 […]

>If you haven’t heard that NBC’s biggest hope for its lost season, Smash, premieres the Monday after the Super Bowl, you don’t watch television or listen to the radio or look at billboards or go online or read magazines.  The marketing for this show has been relentless.  The network is counting on an enormous Super […]

The ratings below are household ratings from the 56 television markets with local Nielsen meters for Saturday July 18 and Sunday July 19, 2015. The 56 markets (out of 210 total) cover about 70% of the US television population. Click here for a look at sports ratings from the same weekend last year. Golf British […]

  DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK – Not Even For Free:  No, Really–Don’t Be Afraid     FilmDistrict has gone out of its way to identify co-writer/co-producer Guillermo del Toro with DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, to the extent that from the marketing, one could easily fail to realize that the movie is […]