> Before reality television, there was the Jerry Lewis Telethon.   Back in the 1970s, if you lived on the East Coast and turned on your TV early in the morning of Labor Day, it was still dead of night in Las Vegas, where the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon was based.  At that point, the telethon was […]

  BROADCAST FINALS:  The day was dominated, of course, by NBC’s WINTER OLYMPICS coverage which hit 1.79 in primetime, but that was again down more than 60% from the parallel night in 2018.  ABC’s NBA game was at 0.67.  FOX’s PBC FIGHT NIGHT was at 0.19.  CW’s GREAT CHOCOLATE SHOWDOWN dropped 0.04 to 0.05.   […]

  An even quieter Friday than usual on the networks. 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). Ratings analysis […]

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques shouldn’t be taken as full reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content of the […]

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC:  THE GOLDBERGS ticked up to 0.57, THE WONDER YEARS dropped 0.05 to 0.33, THE CONNERS slipped 0.02 to 0.46, and HOME ECONOMICS was down 0.08 to 0.25.  A MILLION LITTLE THINGS fell 0.07 to 0.21. CBS:  The season finale of THE AMAZING RACE was at 0.66, up 0.12 from last week […]

> On a night without a lot of movement, sometimes standing still works out for the best. FOX:  Zooey Deschanel may not be a mainstream movie star, but her Manic Pixie Dream Girl charms are definitely making her one on TV:  NEW GIRL (see our Pilot + 1 Review) is just a hair behind 2 […]

  BROADCAST FINALS:  Even by Saturday standards, it was an extremely quiet night on the networs.  CW’s original was at 0.06.   Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart   CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  On TBS, however, the NCAA TOURNAMENT games were at 2.82/1.88, and the network’s “sneak preview” lead-out of RAT IN THE KITCHEN was at 0.37.  […]

  There was bad news for just about everyone last night. 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). Ratings […]