AFTERNOON UPDATE:  The WINTER OLYMPICS climbed 0.2 in final numbers, as did  THE BIG BANG THEORY.  AMERICAN IDOL and 2 1/2 MEN were both up 0.1, while THE MILLERS had the only drop, down 0.1. THURSDAY CABLE:  PAWN STARS (History) took the lead at 1.2, up 0.1.  APPALACHIAN OUTLAWS was behind at 0.9, also […]

  For a determinedly noncontroversial guy, there may not have been a television figure in the last twenty-five years more scrutinized than Jay Leno.  He stood at the media epicenter in the 1990s, when he warred with David Letterman for Johnny Carson’s crown, then again when he was both predecessor of and inheritor to Conan […]

  The last pre-Olympics night for a while. FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL reached Hollywood and leveled out, up 0.1 from last week to 3.9. ABC:  THE MIDDLE dropped 0.1 to 2.2, and SUBURGATORY was down 0.1 to 1.7 from its last airing after a new Middle, although up 0.2 from last week when it followed a […]

Wednesday fast national ratings and relevant comparisons:

  NBC was desperate to get Michael J. Fox back on its air, so much so that it ordered 22 episodes of his series before a pilot had even been produced.  But viewers had much less interest in Fox’s return, especially in what turned out to be such a pedestrian vehicle, and the show’s only […]

  CBS has won the competition to carry 8 fall NFL games on Thursday nights.  Price wasn’t disclosed, but the network is believed to be paying in the neighborhood of $300M for the games, or about $37.5M per game.  (All the broadcast networks and several cablers bid for the rights, as reportedly did Google.)  In […]

  AFTERNOON UPDATE:  No good news in the final numbers for FOX, as NEW GIRL and BROOKLYN NINE-NINE stayed as is.  All changes were of the 0.1 variety:  up for NCIS, AGENTS OF SHIELD and THE ORIGINALS, down for NCIS LA, THE GOLDBERGS, TROPHY WIFE and SUPERNATURAL.  TUESDAY CABLE:  MTV’s TEEN MOM was again on […]

  We don’t know how many people actually watch HOUSE OF CARDS, because Netflix keeps that information as close to its corporate vest as Francis Underwood keeps his doublecrossing strategies, but we know that Netflix is pleased with the result, because the streaming service/network has renewed the series for a Season 3 before the second […]