This weekend is looking like a battle of the family films, with no clear victor at this point.  THE BOSS BABY (DreamWorks Animation/20th) is performing quite a bit better than expected, with preliminary numbers at Deadline giving it nearly $15M on Friday (including $1.5M from Thursday night), which should lead it to a $50M […]

      NOTE TO READERS:  For the remainder of this week (4/17-19), our afternoon cable posts, which usually go up around 1:30PM PDT, will likely be posted around 5PM PDT, with text to follow.   NETWORK FINALS:  Live sports meant adjustments, with ABC’s NBA PLAYOFFS game ending up at 1.5, and NBC’s NHL PLAYOFFS […]

  The AMERICA’S GOT TALENT finale won the night, but is showing its age. 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 […]

> VENUS IN FUR exists, at this point in its Broadway life, as two overlapping but not identical entities:  it’s a deft new play by David Ives, but also, and more prominently, it’s become the Star-Is-Born vehicle for its lead actress, Nina Arianda, who’s currently giving about as dazzling a performance as you’re likely to […]

  AMERICAN CRIME wasn’t quite up to Shondaland standards. 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 and […]

>Updated international figures follow.  Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol is surging, as Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and especially Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is just getting going. Click “read more” for the complete chart.

Apparently ABC viewers are unimpressed by superheroes. ABC:  On a night when the other networks were mostly down (were viewers at the multiplex to see the near-record Avengers opening?), all of ABC’s shows were up, and the network took the night across the board.  SHARK TANK and PRIMETIME, in particular, rose a strong 0.3 for […]

  The Television Critics Association gatherings are taking place over the next few weeks, which means a steady flow of scheduling updates amidst the press conferences promoting upcoming shows.  Today was HBO’s day at the podium, and its major announcement was that the upcoming 5th season of BOARDWALK EMPIRE will be its final one, likely […]