What’s worse than shamelessly airing a piece of calculated trash designed to exploit both past and present celebrities, all for the sake of ratings?  Not getting those ratings.  Last night’s LIZ & DICK on Lifetime, despite all the publicity in the world, only managed a 1.0 rating in 18-49s, which is lower than a […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  There were no changes from the preliminary Friday ratings.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  2 networks carried NBA ALL-STAR Weekend events, with TNT’s RISING STARS telecast at 0.69, and ESPN’s ALL-STAR EVENT at 0.60.  Discovery’s GOLD RUSH rose 0.07 to […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  There were no changes from the preliminary Sunday ratings.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  Paramount’s YELLOWSTONE once again led Sunday scripted cable, down a tick to 0.70 (plus 0.08 on CMT, also down a tick).  Adult Swim’s ROBOT CHICKEN jumped […]

  If everyone who wrote a snarky blog post about THE NEWSROOM had a Nielsen box, the show would have outrated the Super Bowl. HBO:  THE NEWSROOM had a 1.0 18-49 rating on 2.1 million total viewers, meaning about 65% of its viewers were under 50.  That proportion is pretty good, considering that Newsroom star […]

> The eagerly-awaited Season 5 of the most honored series on television, an interminable 17 months in the making, contents itself with a single enigmatic image:  Don Draper staring into a department store window, his reflected gaze held by two mannequins, one a naked female, her dress at her feet, the other a seated man […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  There were no adjustments from the preliminary Saturday ratings.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  TBS’s coverage of the Final Four NCAA TOURNAMENT games naturally led Saturday cable at 3.26/2.99, with its sister networks airing the games featuring local team announcing […]

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC:  Reruns at 0.28/0.21/0.21/0.14/0.17. CBS:  BIG BROTHER dropped 0.06 to 0.81, and THE CHALLENGE was down 0.06 to 0.33, followed by a SWAT rerun at 0.17. NBC:  AMERICA’S GOT TALENT fell 0.08 to 0.52, followed by reruns at 0.33/0.30. FOX:  MASTERCHEF was down 0.06 to 0.39. CW:  The season premiere of STARGIRL […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  Again, adjustments were plentiful due to local news coverage.  On ABC, the drops were 0.3 for AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS, 0.2 for CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD, 0.3 for PRESS YOUR LUCK and 0.3 for MATCH GAME.  On CBS, 60 MINUTES dropped 0.1 and the INDIANA JONES movie was down 0.2.  […]