> DISCLAIMER: These initial impressions are based on the clips (usually 3-5 minutes) released by the networks to use in their Upfront presentations and for promos.  They’re chosen to sell the show, not to accurately represent it.  So take the reactions below with a large satchel of salt–we may well feel differently about these shows […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #16 of 2015 now looks like $112 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, better than it looked yesterday ($105 million) but still slightly below the norm for this weekend. Opening at 3,633 theaters Friday, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 from Sony is on track for a $24.0 million opening three-day weekend […]

  They deleted Massacre from its title, but it’s still mowing down the competition. OPENINGS:  Why does Hollywood make ultraviolent movies?  Because they sell tickets.  TEXAS CHAINSAW (Lionsgate) is overperforming its way to a surprisingly strong weekend win, with $10.2M on its first night.  Horror movies are hugely front-loaded, so it’s unlikely to be higher […]

>The fourth Pirates of the Caribbean opens just below forecast, although not quite at the higher end of expectations that Disney was rooting for.  Bridesmaids has a very good second weekend Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides should open with $92 million this weekend and is on a pace to finish with $260 million […]

Weekend #18 of 2015 is looking like $263 million for the top 12 films this weekend, well above the norm for this weekend, as the next Avengers film kicks off summer early and gets Disney into the game for 2015 in a big way. Opening at around 4,200 theaters Friday (well above to the 2,886 average theater count […]

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). Note: The fast affiliate-based ratings below measure what aired on […]

> THE HANGOVER PART II seems to be headed for the 4th highest Memorial Day opening of all time, behind only Pirates 3, Indiana Jones 4 and X-Men 3–and at less than half the budget of any of them.  Unlike all 3 of those, it should have good word of mouth, being a classic example […]

The ratings below are household ratings from the 56 television markets with local Nielsen meters for Saturday May 9 and Sunday May 10, 2015. The 56 markets (out of 210 total) cover about 70% of the US television population. Click here for a look at sports ratings from the same weekend last year. NBA Playoffs […]