NETWORK UPDATE:  BACKPACKERS adjusted down to a truly horrifying 0.1 rating, which would get it canceled on most cable networks. MONDAY CABLE:  An even bigger night than usual for VH1, where LOVE & HIP-HOP ATLANTA and HIT THE FLOOR were both up 0.2, to 2.1 and 1.2 respectively.  (The former’s re-airing added another 0.8.)  […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  BIG BROTHER, WIPEOUT and the FAMILY GUY rerun each gained 0.1 in final numbers. SUNDAY CABLE:  Lifetime’s THE LOTTERY premiered at 0.4, 0.1 behind its WITCHES OF EAST END lead-in (which was down 0.1 from last week).  HBO took the night, with TRUE BLOOD in the lead, up 0.2 to 1.9.  In […]

  A TO Z:  Thursday 9:30PM on NBC starting October 2 – If Nothing Else is On… PLAYERS:  Series creator Ben Queen (he wrote the script for Cars 2).  Non-writing producers Rashida Jones and Will McCormick.  Stars Cristin Milioti and Ben Feldman.  Supporting performers Henry Zebrowski, Lenora Crichlow and the voice of Katey Sagal.  Pilot director […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  CROSSBONES can’t seem to hold onto a 0.6 rating, as it dropped again to a timbers-shivering 0.5.  20/20 climbed 0.1. FRIDAY CABLE:  Syfy’s WWE led the cable evening, up 0.1 to 0.8 amid the many FAMILY GUY and ROBOT CHICKEN reruns.  Its leadout THE ALMIGHTY JOHNSONS held onto very little of that at […]

The ratings below are household ratings from the 56 television markets with local Nielsen meters for Saturday July 19 and Sunday July 20, 2014. The 56 markets (out of 210 total) cover about 70% of the US television population.   Golf: PGA British Open 1.3 rating ESPN 7:00 am Saturday 3rd Round (+8% from 1.2 […]

  Strong holds by Dawn of the Planet Of the Apes and some longer-running titles made this weekend look less terrible than it was. OPENINGS:  THE PURGE: ANARCHY (Universal) topped the newcomers with $28.4M, but that was 17% below the $34.1M opening weekend for last year’s Purge.  While Purge 2 will turn a profit, it […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  20th Century Fox has pushed past $2.9 billion worldwide in 2014 to date, as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes gets rolling overseas.  Paramount is the other studio with more than $100 million this past week (thanks to continued strong overseas receipts for Transformers: Age of Extinction) now past $1.5 billion worldwide for the […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #29 of 2014 now looks like $135 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, -27% below the norm for this weekend and still below our forecast ($147 million).  This is the fifth really sub-par weekend in a row. Opening at 2,806 theaters, The Purge: Anarchy from Universal grossed $13.0 […]