Also: Fox re-ups Animation Domination as White Sox voices Jason Benetti and Steve Stone get reneweals, too; DirecTV adds a NewsMax replacement; Blackhawks’ ratings sag as does the rest of the NHL Even though it’s a ratings period most radio stations not playing Christmas music ignore, the “Holiday” book for iHeartMedia’s 93.9 FM The Lite dominated to no one’s surprise […]
Awful presentation leads to lowest-rated Emmy show of all time When Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane had a disastrous stint hosting the Academy Awards in 2013, I noted: “There’s nothing like seeing Hollywood in smarmy, self-congratulatory mode while the public is abandoning broadcast prime-time network television and terrestrial radio for alternatives with movie attendance declining thanks to media consolidation, which […]
Blockbuster deal includes 20th Century Fox film studio and programming library, cable and sports networks, and more In a history-making deal, The Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire much of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion. The deal was speculated about for the last few weeks on this blog and elsewhere, as 21st Century Fox owner Rupert Murdoch was looking […]
Poor writing, poor acting dooms Orville’s mission As one who used to watch Family Guy way back when, yours truly was a Seth MacFarlane fan. I even attended a live reading for the show ten years ago. But oh my, how times have changed. Outside of the brilliant Cosmos remake from a few years ago, he hasn’t done anything of […]
Plus: Seth MacFarlane chats up The Orville; Fox execs try to explain their screw-ups; and more With TCA finally winding down, the last two networks presented this week was Fox and its cable siblings, FX and FXX. In the Fox executive session, Fox entertainment co-president Dana Walden defended the decision to drop American Idol, only to see it cross the […]
Struggling network goes heavy on sci-fi, picks up Seth MacFarlane show Fox released its 2017-18 schedule this morning in advance of its upfront presentation Monday afternoon and has considerable changes throughout the schedule. The biggest move, Wednesday night sees the once-hot Empire move an hour earlier to accommodate the return of Star, the show that temporally replaced it last winter. […]
The “biggest Oscar flub in history” made history of another kind – one on the wrong side of the ratings ledger Cubs’ World Series victory drew more viewers locally and nationally The 89th Academy Awards wouldn’t be best known for boffo ratings – but for an epic screw up at the end. Many expected La La Land – a musical […]
With the upfronts a little over a week away, reports are surfacing on not if Supergirl is coming back next season but where: The Wrap is reporting Warner Bros. Television is discussing a plan to move the freshman drama from CBS to The CW next year, where CBS and Warner Bros. have a 50/50 interest. There are concerns if the […]
Attendees were still jackin’ it in San Diego as the 2015 Comic-Con extravaganza continued with more costumes, more cosplay (whatever that is), and more panels of your favorite TV shows, movies, and comics. More highlights: – Even though Marvel Studios’ film studios sat out Comic-Con, its television division held plenty of panels – including Marvel Television Presents on Friday, with […]
Announces end to American Idol in May 2016. Break out the Belvedere! Fox announced its 2015-16 schedule Monday during its upfront presentation and as you would have guessed, the show centered around Empire, the hottest TV show ever. The central cast made an appearance, including a performance from Chicago’s own Jennifer Hudson, who played a gospel singer in a few episodes. […]
The 2015 Oscars telecast declines from last season Mirroring the film industry, The 87th Academy Awards saw some major ratings declines from a year ago. According to Nielsen, the Neil Patrick Harris-hosted extravaganza drew 36.6 million viewers and a 10.8 rating among adults 18-49. While any network or TV station would kill for those numbers, the Oscars were down considerably from […]
* The Academy awards telecast on ABC Sunday night with Ellen DeGeneres as host scored the biggest ratings in fourteen years: the gala drew 43.74 million viewers and a 13.1/33 among adults 18-49, easily ranking as the highest-rated entertainment program of the year, up 0.7 percent from the 13/33 final numbers last year, and was up 8 percent in total […]
Fox and its cable sibling FX Networks took the Monday and Tuesday sessions of The Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. Fox began its Monday at TCA with network president Kevin Reilly addressing the troops. He defended moving Bones to Fridays and said the cast is in discussions for a tenth and likely final season. Reilly also went to bat […]
– Seth MacFarlane teaches fans a lesson – but it’s not the one you think – A test of fan loyalty – Jumping With The Sharks Yours truly was in the process of writing a Think Tank about Brian Griffin, the dog who died on Family Guy recently, and how it would affect the program going forward, both creatively […]
But still beat by Da Bears. Despite going up against a Sunday Night Football game whose teams have one of the most rabid fan bases in the NFL, the Primetime Emmy Awards still managed to snare a 4.9 adult demo rating (18-49) and 17.36 million viewers, the largest total audience in eight years; and the highest-rated adult demo in six […]