The race is officially on, with Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel (both from Fox Searchlight) tied for the lead with 9 nominations (The Imitation Game has 8, while Boyhood, not so much a technical showcase, has 6), and although with just a couple of exceptions (not even an Animated Film nomination for The […]

  This is why studios love franchises. OPENINGS:  TAKEN 2 (20th) almost doubled its closest competition (even though that $50M weekend estimate, like all round number estimates, may come down a bit when final numbers are released tomorrow).  Plus the movie earned an additional $55M overseas in only 27 markets, which means the sequel will […]

Note: CBS, NBC and CW numbers below inflated by local pre-emptions for NFL Preseason games: CBS (in Miami and Jacksonville), NBC (in Philadelphia) and The CW (in Charlotte).  As we’ve been doing on other NFL Preseason Thursdays, we’ll hold our ratings analysis for final numbers this afternoon. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #4 of 2015 now looks like $142 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well above the norm for the fourth weekend of the year, which usually struggles to get above $100 million.  (See complete weekend track below.)  All credit goes to American Sniper, which is truly extraordinary. […]

  Zombies take over the world. AMC:  As yesterday’s numbers had promised, THE WALKING DEAD was a monster in more ways than one.  With a 5.8 18-49 rating in its 9PM airing and an additional 1.9 for the 10PM rebroadcast, its primetime total of 7.7 was equal to the primetime rating for Sunday Night Football, […]

  Marginal changes from last week. 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 comparisons follow the […]

  Marvel continues to lag behind its comic-book TV nemesis. 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 […]

NBC is on track to win its third Tuesday in a row according to the preliminary fast nationals.  Last week was a bit of an aberration because of the presidential debate but October 9 and 23 were more normal weeks in which CBS’s erosion has allowed NBC to sneak ahead.  FOX and ABC continue to […]