Every year, the pundits shake their heads dourly about the future of the broadcast networks, and every year, Les Moonves stands up and proclaims CBS the best of all possible networks in this best of all possible worlds.  And to an extent, he’s right.  Thanks to the Super Bowl, CBS will win this season […]

  A WRINKLE IN TIME (Disney) has likely taken the only box office title it will ever have.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Wrinkle had a narrow victory on Friday with $11.3M ($1.2M of that from Thursday night).  But the general front-loadedness of new openings, combined with the likely dim word of mouth here […]

  ABC:  WHAT WOULD YOU DO followed a 0.9 SHARK TANK rerun with 1.0, up 0.2 from last week’s holiday weekend.  20/20 also benefited from the additional eyeballs watching TV, up 0.3 to 1.0. CW:  MASTERS OF ILLUSION was at 0.3, and then after a 0.3 WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY rerun, THE MESSENGERS gained […]

> Click below for a quick summary of some notable numbers from this past weekend overseas: THE SMURFS reached $141M overseas with the help of a tremendous $60M weekend.  Like other recent 3D animated films, it has a good chance of doubling its US gross overseas.   RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, still […]

  OPENINGS:  ADRIFT (H Brothers/STX) was at the top of a very low hill with $11.5M (plus $350K in 9 overseas territories).  STX, which only has domestic rights, is claiming to be on the hook for only around $30M in limited production and marketing costs, but even at that number, it may not break even, […]

  Just a week after a new September mark was set, Ridley Scott’s THE MARTIAN (20th) is going to compete for the highest-ever October opening.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Martian had an opening day that matched or even slightly topped the $17.5M for Gravity, which set the current October record at $55.8M.  ($2.5M […]

> The third week of a network season is a critical one.  Ratings erosion after a series or season premiere is expected and even acceptable, because it’s understood that not every viewer drawn by hype and marketing will be a satisfied customer.  But a continued fall in Week 3 can be a sign of trouble, […]

Here are the weekend sports ratings for Saturday and Sunday August 4-5, 2018.  Eligible programs include sporting events on broadcast and cable networks (minimum audience size 300K P2+).  Programs are grouped by sport and ranked within each sport by P2+ audience size. For comparison, here is the same chart for the same weekend last year, August 5-6, […]