OPENINGS:  LONGLEGS (Neon) captured the zeitgeist, successfully delivering the marketing message that it was the scariest horror movie in recent memory.  The result was  a$22.6M weekend, which set a new Neon record by a wide margin, and also marked the year’s highest non-franchise start for the genre.  Production and marketing costs for Longlegs reportedly […]

>The ratings for the ACM Awards on CBS were understated.  The corrected numbers appear below. CBS took a bit of a hit with the Academy of Country Music Awards, which were down over 20% 9% from last year’s telecast.  The night as a whole was up a tick from last week, leading CBS to a […]

  Craig Ferguson is maintaining that his decision to leave CBS and THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON in December is absolutely, entirely, utterly, completely, totally unrelated to the network’s recent decision to hand David Letterman’s slot to Stephen Colbert when Letterman steps down next year.  No, truly, he never had any interest in […]

>Another win for Katniss Everdeen. THE HUNGER GAMES: In just its 3rd weekend of release, and with plenty left in the tank, THE HUNGER GAMES (Lionsgate/Summit) hit $302.8M, and has already outgrossed every picture in the Twilight series. (Only 5 movies have gotten to $300M faster.) By this time next week, it will also have […]

  BACHELOR IN PARADISE fell from last week’s premiere. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary live+same day 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 […]

  Both of the weekend’s major openings cost too much for the amount they’re currently earning.  MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN (TSG/20th) has production/marketing costs of $225M+, and preliminary numbers at Deadline have its opening day at roughly $9M (including $1.2M from Thursday night).  That suggests a $25-27M weekend, which would be an even […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  THE BIG BANG THEORY only gained back 0.1 of the giant 0.8 it had tumbled this morning, while THE MILLERS lost the corresponding 0.1.  All of ABC’s shows went up, GREY’S ANATOMY by 0.2 and BLACK BOX (and the 8PM GREY’S rerun) by 0.1.  THURSDAY CABLE:  As expected, the NFL DRAFT dominated […]

> THE HUNGER GAMES (Lionsgate/Summit) continues to overperform.  Based on preliminary Saturday numbers at Deadline, it’s headed for a $21.7M weekend and a total so far of $335.7M, a spectacular 35% decline for a blockbuster in its 4th weekend (and even better than it sounds, because last weekend included the Good Friday holiday).  If it […]