Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #14 of 2014 looks like $159 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, up 40% from the four-year average for this weekend.  All credit goes to the second Captain America, as Disney has succesfully transformed April into the new May on the evolving movie release calendar.   Opening at 3,938 […]

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  Nothing moved by more than 0.1 from this morning, although there were a few shifts that accomplished points of pride.  Thanks to the last-minute lift, NASHVILLE avoided its low with 1.3, while an upward move for AMERICAN IDOL (2.7) and a downward one for SURVIVOR (2.4) widened their gap to 0.3.  However, […]

  Modest gains from last week’s holiday eve. 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 […]

NETWORK UPDATE:  THE EMMY AWARDS gained 0.4 in final numbers to 3.6, and SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL adjusted up to 9.7.  After football adjustment, 60 MINUTES fell 0.4 to 1.2, and the MADAM SECRETARY rerun was down 0.2.   CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  AMC’s FEAR THE WALKING DEAD was once again on top of Sunday cable, although down […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  There were significant adjustments (to the next tenth) for THE BACHELOR and 9-1-1.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  USA’s WWE telecast was at 0.61/0.57/0.55 compared to last week’s 0.57/0.51/0.47.  Bravo’s BELOW DECK ticked up to 0.48.  Discovery’s STREET OUTLAWS was […]

  OPENINGS:  THE INVISIBLE MAN (Blumhouse/Universal) had a 12% Saturday bump, evidence of extremely strong word of mouth in the horror genre (among recent uncommonly leggy horror releases, Get Out rose 17% on its 2nd day of release, and A Quiet Place was up 1%).  That brought it to a strong $29M weekend, and with […]

  ABC:  On another dull summer Friday, WHAT WOULD YOU DO and 20/20 each fell 0.1 to twin 0.9s, after 0.7 for a SHARK TANK rerun. NBC:  Following 0.7 for an AMERICA’S GOT TALENT rerun, DATELINE dropped 0.2 to 0.9. CW:  MASTERS OF ILLUSION and THE MESSENGERS were steady at 0.3/0.2, with a WHOSE LINE […]

 Not At Any Price:  “Art” More Than Art   The name Monte Hellman doesn’t mean much to the vast majority of moviegoers, but Hellman is among the cultiest of American cult directors.  He came up the Roger Corman path in the 1960s with Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper (his films from that era include The […]