NETWORK FINALS:  There were no changes from the preliminary Wednesday ratings.           Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  TBS’s MLB PLAYOFFS game was on top of Wednesday cable at 1.80.  FX’s AMERICAN HORROR STORY: APOCALYPSE grew by 0.08 to 1.00.  On Comedy Central, SOUTH […]

> Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 from Warner Brothers will open huge at the box office, propelling the weekend up more than 30% over this weekend last year (when Inception and the Nicolas Cage classic The Sorcerer’s Apprentice opened).  Winne the Pooh from Disney will get lost in the shuffle. Opening at […]

>Last night in the hit summer shows (NBC’s America’s Got Talent and FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen), we took a look at the priorities for new fall series promotion.  The big winners on NBC were the comedies Whitney and Up All Night.  Each comedy received one minute of on-air promotion across the two-hour telecast (one :30 spot […]

  Say what you will about the Golden Globes, on the TV side they’re often more open to acknowledging new talent and shows than the Emmys (let alone this week’s stodgy SAG Award nominations) tend to be.  That’s the case again with today’s nominees, particularly in the acting categories. BEST DRAMA SERIES BREAKING BAD (AMC) […]

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC:  AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS jumped 0.16 to 0.49, CELEBRITY WHEEL OF FORTUNE rose 0.11 to 0.62, SUPERMARKET SWEEP climbed 0.14 to 0.55, and THE ROOKIE was up 0.08 to 0.40. CBS:  The network had an afternoon NFL overrun that pushed primetime by 43 minutes.  Compared to December 12, when CBS had […]

Night 3 of the Democratic National Convention (President Obama, Senator Tim Kaine and VP Joe Biden speaking) attracted 23.7 million viewers 2+ across the three broadcast networks and three major cable new channels, down 1.1 million from Night 2 (but that is a fairly typical decline for the DNC on Night 3).  In contrast, the RNC […]

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC:  After a rerun SHARK TANK at 0.46, 20/20 was down 0.04 to 0.42. CBS:  Returning from a rerun week, SWAT gained 0.04 to 0.50, FIRE COUNTRY ticked down to 0.51, and BLUE BLOODS was down 0.02 to 0.40. NBC:  Back from a week off, LOPEZ VS LOPEZ fell 0.09 to 0.24, […]

  AMERICAN SNIPER (Village Roadshow/Warners):  Depending on how one characterizes Titanic, American Sniper is on track to become the #3 or #4 “serious drama” of all time, behind that film, The Passion of the Christ ($370.8M) and Forrest Gump ($330.3M).  Even if this weekend’s studio estimate of $64.4M turns out to have been tinkered with […]