> FOX’s 4-sitcom Tuesday excited no one. FOX:  I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER and BREAKING IN made unimpressive returns to the schedule.  Daughter could claim a decent retention of its RAISING HOPE lead-in, and it also won the head-to-head sitcom battle at 8:30PM–but really there’s nothing good about a 1.6 premiere.  Breaking In had less […]

> This morning we anticipated that the season finale of THE WALKING DEAD on AMC would outrate anything on network television last night, but that didn’t do justice to Dead‘s accomplishment.  In the finale’s initial airing (it was repeated later in the evening), it broke Dead‘s own record as the highest-rated cable television drama ever, […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  NBC’s STANLEY CUP FINALS game adjusted to 1.7.           Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  MTV’s DOUBLE SHOT AT LOVE led Thursday cable, up 0.03 to 0.39, with HOW FAR IS TATTOO FAR at 0.16/0.14 compared to last week’s 0.16/0.12.  USA’s QUEEN […]

> Welcome to April:  pilots are being produced and prepared for executive screenings, all but a very few of the 2011/12 series have aired, and we’re only 6 weeks away from the hoopla of the network Upfronts and their attendant announcement of next season’s Fall TV schedules.  Mitch Metcalf and I sat down with veteran […]

> The upcoming MEN IN BLACK 3 centers around a time-travel theme, and with co-star Josh Brolin as host, much of this week’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE seemed to be saluting the movie with sketches that could have been written anywhere between a year and a decade ago.   Thus, after an MIB3 gag monologue that made […]

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). ###

> An off-night if you didn’t have Thrones in your title. HBO:  GAME OF THRONES, airing an episode that started with a gasp-inducing surprise death (one less potential king for Westeros), was the highest-rated show on cable TV Sunday night, even beating the NBA Playoffs on TNT (although Thrones was over when the Clippers launched […]

HBO’s True Blood premiered its new season with a 2.9 rating with Adults 18-49, about where it left off last season.  The final four episodes last year (Aug 21-Sep 11, 2011): 3.1– 2.9– 2.4– 2.8.  At the other end of the scripted spectrum, HBO’s comedies Veep and Girls (airing in the 10 pm hour after […]