HOMELAND is the first Showtime drama to earn serious (which is to say HBO-level) acclaim (and very likely Emmy consideration) beyond the acting categories, as well as strong ratings, and the network is hoping to build on that success with its latest ambitious series orders. MASTERS OF SEX is based on the real lives of […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2017 film slates by studio, including early 2018 dollars for films released later in 2017. We will start tracking the 2018 studio slates in a few weeks. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2018 to date is now +10% above last […]

  A lot of returns. 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 analysis and comparisons follow […]

  OPENINGS:  DON’T BREATHE (Screen Gems/Sony) had an unusually strong Saturday for a horror movie, down just 1% from Friday (which, remember, these days includes Thursday night).  By way of comparison, Lights Out fell 22% on its 2d day of release.  That propelled Don’t Breathe to an exceptional $26.1M weekend, the biggest opening for a […]

> STAR WARS EPISODE I:  THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D, to give it its fully identifying title, has the distinction of being the most successful movie ever made that is generally agreed to be terrible.  Over $900M in tickets have been sold for Phantom Menace since its opening in 1999 (that number will go over $1B […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  The BLUE BLOODS rerun gained 0.1 in final numbers, with 0.1 declines for 20/20: IN AN INSTANT and the 10PM 48 HOURS.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:   On BBCAmerica, after DOCTOR WHO fell 0.04 to 0.17, the final season of […]

  The other notable story of the day was contained in Netflix’s 1st Quarter 2013 financial report, which showed that the company grew by 3 million subscribers during that period (2M in the US and 1M more internationally).  That gives the company 29.2M US streaming subscribers, plus 7.1M overseas.  (DVD subscribers are shrinking, but that’s […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  UFC FIGHT NIGHT gained 0.1 in final numbers, but the rerun of SUPERSTORE fell 0.2, and DATELINE as well as the entire CBS line-up were down 0.1.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  NFL Network’s Saturday NFL doubleheader that’s branded with […]