Author Archive
 

 

BEHIND THE FRIDAY BOX OFFICE – 10/18/13

  OPENINGS:  When Paramount pushed the next Paranormal Activity to 2014, it seemed to give CARRIE (Screen Gems/Sony/MGM) an open field to own the Halloween movie season.  But audiences weren’t interested, and Carri...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Series Finale Review: “The White Queen”

  Although Starz was a co-financier of THE WHITE QUEEN, the show was produced by the BBC predominantly for a British audience, so it helped to have a working (or at least a Wikipedia) knowledge of 15th-century English hist...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SERIES PREMIERE REVIEW: “Dancing On the Edge”

  DANCING ON THE EDGE:  Saturday 9PM on Starz Starz’s latest British import, DANCING ON THE EDGE, seems on the basis of its first double-length episode to be intended for viewers who enjoy the jazzy millieu of Board...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

BEHIND THE WEEKEND BOX OFFICE – 10/20/13

  OPENINGS:  There was nothing supernatural about the blah $17M opening for CARRIE (Screen Gems/Sony/MGM), on the low end of Halloween horror openings, and with Bad Grandpa targeting a similar audience next weekend, there...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/20/13

  Even more than usual, it was football’s night. NBC:  Peyton Manning’s return to Indianapolis was relentlessly hyped all week, especially when the Colts owner appeared to criticize him publicly.  The result was ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

NIELSENWAR Week 4: Sweeps Decision Time

  As a rule, broadcast network schedules are released to the media about two weeks in advance, so as the fall season moves toward the beginning of November sweeps on Halloween night (ooooh, scary!), any  network that want...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

UPDATED: THE SKED NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/21/13

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  As expected, adjusted numbers leveled much of the day’s playing field.  HART OF DIXIE and BEAUTY & THE BEAST reverted to last week’s 0.4/0.3 ratings, while at CBS, HOW I MET YOUR MOTH...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SUNDAY CABLE SCORECARD – 10/20/13

  AMC:  THE WALKING DEAD couldn’t hold at last week’s premiere mega-numbers, but it didn’t fall off much, with a still-gigantic 7.1 for the 9PM airing (down from 8.2 last week), plus 1.6 from re-airings....
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

UPDATED: THE SKED CABLE/NETWORK SCORECARD – 10/22/13

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  Not a lot of change in the adjusted numbers.  THE GOLDBERGS AND CHICAGO FIRE both held onto their ratings, despite starting 1 minute after the hour, while AGENTS OF SHIELD gained 0.1 (but was still down ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

OSCARLAND: The Battle Between Good and Evil Begins

  Over the weekend, this year’s Oscarland acquired its first helping of Conventional Wisdom, thanks to the initial release of 12 YEARS A SLAVE (Fox Searchlight) in theatres and the unveiling of SAVING MR. BANKS (Disn...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

UPDATED: THE SKED NETWORK/CABLE SCORECARD – 10/23/13

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  WORLD SERIES GAME 1 ended up adjusted to 4.2, a bit below where we anticipated but still 0.6 above last year’s Game 1.  Nothing else moved more than 0.1 from the morning numbers, but it’s...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY FILM REVIEW: “Blue Is the Warmest Color”

  BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR:  Buy A Ticket – A 3-Hour Deep Dive Into A Character’s Soul BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR is relentlessly, sometimes suffocatingly intimate.  By that I don’t mean its celebrated,...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “Reign”

  REIGN:  Thursday 9PM on CW Previously… on REIGN:  Before there were vampire teens or telekinetic teens or alien or witch or werewolf teens, there were royal teens.  In 1557, 15-year old Mary Queen of Scots (Adel...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

UPDATED: THE SKED NETWORK/CABLE SCORECARD – 10/24/13

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  WORLD SERIES GAME 2 ended up at an adjusted 3.6, just where we expected and slightly above last year’s Game 2.  There weren’t a lot of additional adjustments, but a couple of them were si...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED: Ratings That Mean Something… and Ratings That Don’t

  Every Sunday now, the networks issue press releases to celebrate the giant gains made by shows during the full week following their initial airing, ratings known as “L7.”  Armed with numbers from a couple of...
by Mitch Salem