America’s fascination with OJ Simpson continued with ABC’s premiere of the documentary miniseries OJ: MADE IN AMERICA, with a 0.9 rating that was quite good for a summer Saturday night.  The show will now attempt an unusual pivot, switching to ESPN on Tuesday for the rest of its run.  ABC started the night with […]

  Viewers didn’t want to watch TV on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend any more than they wanted to go to the movies. 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+ […]

      NETWORK FINALS:  Game 4 of the STANLEY CUP FINALS adjusted up to 1.5 in final numbers.  In addition, MISTRESSES dropped 0.1.       Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  RIZZOLI & ISLES began its final season on TNT at 0.58/0.52 for back-to-back episodes, down from 0.75 for […]

>  See A Word About Busted Pilots Peter Tolan, who with Denis Leary created Rescue Me, knows something about the comedy that emerges when when men try to assert their masculinity in the most idiotic ways.  So you can understand why FOX developed COUNCIL OF DADS, which was meant to bring that kind of tone […]

  Just in case THE SIMPSONS hadn’t made enough billions for 20th Century Fox Television (the in-house production studio of FOX network), its producers and the larger corporate entity, today the show closed a deal with the fledgling FXX cable network to sell the exclusive cable rights there, for a term reportedly of 8-10 years, […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  CELEBRITY WIFE SWAP gained 0.1 in final numbers. TUESDAY CABLE:  THE HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS (OWN) and THE DEADLIEST CATCH (Discovery) were the highest-rated cable originals of the night at 1.0, steady for both.  RIZZOLI & ISLES (TNT) was down from that level last week to 0.86, while PERCEPTION held at […]

Ricky who? NBC:  Separately, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are stars of ratings-challenged (although beloved by fans) sitcoms.  Together, though, they’re a powerhouse hosting duo, and between the two of them, some wild surprises (Argo for Best Drama) and some sheer wildness (Bill Clinton presenting a clip from Lincoln, and of course Jodie Foster’s Lifetime […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  After adjustment for the NCAA TOURNAMENT runover, 60 MINUTES fell by 0.5 to 2.3, MADAM SECRETARY by 0.3 to 1.4, and THE GOOD WIFE by 0.1 to 1.0.  The other networks were unchanged from preliminary numbers. Ratings in key demos for the Top 25 original cable telecasts (plus a few other lower-rated […]