Hollywood doesn’t typically open strong titles on Oscar weekend, when moviegoing is likely to fall sharply on Sunday.  So although the superfans and curiosity-seekers have already had their fill, and 50 SHADES OF GREY (Universal/Focus) wasted no time in diving from last week’s remarkable heights, the kinky romance is having no trouble with this […]

  NBC:  AQUARIUS edged up 0.1 to match HANNIBAL’s steady 0.3, after 0.2 for a RUNNING WILD rerun. ABC:  BOSTON EMS dropped 0.2 to 0.4, putting it behind the night’s AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS rerun (but ahead of the BACHELOR IN PARADISE rerun). CBS:  48 HOURS topped the night with 2 episodes at 0.7/0.8, after […]

>The official nationals for Monday show that ABC came down three tenths of a rating point, to a 2.9 Adult 18-49 rating for the evening, and NBC dropped two tenths of a rating point to a 1.2 rating.  Both adjustments are due to the local broadcast coverage of ESPN’s Monday Night Football game between the […]

> The past week (seven days ending Sunday) is up 4% versus last year’s comparable week.  Year-to-date box office is now down 3.9% versus last year.  Contagion opened in first place and is headed for $72 million domestic.  Warrior opened below forecast and is on track for $24 million in North America.  Despite falling to second place, The […]

  OPENINGS:  Despite a bounty of new titles, nothing touched the holdover at the top of the weekend box office.  The newcomer with the closest claim to “success” in the US was THE POPE’S EXORCIST (Screen Gems/Sony), with $9.2M.  The horror movie also reported $27.4M in overseas release, which would put it on a road […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  THE LAST DAYS OF MICHAEL JACKSON and the YOUNG SHELDON rerun gained 0.1 in final numbers, but the LIFE IN PIECES rerun lost the same.           Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  It was TNT’s turn with an NBA PLAYOFFS game at […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #15 of 2013 is looking like $104 million for the top 12 films, down just a few percentage points from the same weekend in prior years.  Two films opened this weekend.  A sports drama period piece (not a guaranteed success) exceeded expectations and will be a strong #1, while a […]

      Sometimes a win can also be a disappointment. FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL was the highest rated show on the air last night, and gave FOX the nightly win.  But… its 4.4 was a series Wednesday low, down 0.3 from last week at exactly the point in the season where it should be climbing […]