On Wednesday night, NBC aired a special episode of THE VOICE in the 8-10PM slot, thus giving CHICAGO FIRE a lead-in more than double the one it usually gets from SVU.  Not surprisingly, that perked Fire up more than half a ratings point to its highest number to date, a 2.2 that was a […]

Weekend #46 is on pace to exceed the multi-year average for this weekend by 17% — not as high as we forecast earlier this week but still very good.  The final Twilight film in the series is on pace to open with $135 million this weekend, below our forecast and a shade below the previous […]

  CINDERELLA (Disney) had an enchanted Friday, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, with $23M (that includes $2.3M from Thursday night), and since its target audience is all about weekend matinees, it should be at $70M and perhaps even $75M by Sunday.  That would be better than the $69.4M opening for Maleficent, which had a […]

  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 […]

> Watch It At Home. Were the executives at Warner Bros so desperate to be in business with Russell Brand that they huddled together in a conference room one day, frantically going through their library titles in search of alcoholic lead roles he could play?  (“Days of Wine and Roses… a little dark.  Clean and […]

Scandal shows some heat. ABC:  A dynamite episode of SCANDAL (written by creator Shonda Rhimes) that managed to propel the story both backwards and forwards via flashbacks and a startling episode-ending revelation had by far its best-rated episode of the season, up 0.3 from last week to 2.5 and notching a 10PM win.  This was […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2017 film slates by studio. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is still down -2% from last year and still +1% above the average for this point the past four years ($8.750 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost […]

CBS’s second half of the Sunday NFL doubleheader did a terrific 17.0 HH rating in the metered markets (mostly Pittsburgh at Dallas between 4:30 and almost 8:00 pm). NBC’s Sunday Night Football at 8:30 pm averaged a 15.2 HH rating in the 56 metered markets (San Francisco at New England, briefly interrupted by President Obama’s […]