IDOL‘S RATINGS: BANGED AGAIN

The first half hour of Fox’s American Idol vied with CBS’s The Big Bang Theory Thursday night, and it appeared that — like last week — ratings results for the two shows among adults 18-49 would come down to a photo finish when final numbers are counted, with actual differences statistically insignificant. According to preliminary [...]

CHINA BLOCKS ALL FOREIGN SHOWS IN PRIMETIME

A new Great Wall is being built around Chinese television shows. China’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television on Tuesday banned all foreign-produced television programs during primetime and limited them to no more than 25 percent of a TV station’s lineup at other times. The official China Daily said that the rules were intended [...]

TV REVIEWS: SMASH

Pinning its recovery hopes on a show about a Broadway show, NBC is launching Smash tonight (Monday) with a $7-million pilot that will be followed by a weekly series costing $4 million per episode. (The network has also reportedly spent as much as $25 million to promote the series.) If the public’s reaction is anything [...]

IDOL RATINGS FALL AGAIN

Fox’s American Idol drew 18.19 million viewers Wednesday night. That was more than all of the other broadcast networks drew combined, but it was still way off previous seasons’ numbers. Among adults 18-49 ratings were down 9 percent from last Wednesday and down a whopping 34 percent from the comparable week a year ago, according [...]

REPORT: NETWORKS USING TRICKS TO BOOST RATINGS

Television networks often resort to chicanery and devious manipulation to boost the ratings of some lackluster shows, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing as a flagrant example the decision of ABC to label Good Morning America a “special” and identify it to ratings researcher Nielsen as Good Morning Amer during the final week [...]

VIACOM’S PROFITS NOSEDIVE

Viacom, whose media companies include Nickelodeon and the MTV and Turner cable channels as well as Paramount Pictures, said today (Thursday) that its profit plunged 65 percent in the last quarter, attributing the fall to a one-time $379-million charge to cover an arbitration award to shareholders of “Rock Band” videogame maker Harmonix. Excluding the Harmonix [...]

SUPER BOWL ADS ATTRACT SUPER BUYERS

After Super Bowl XLV attracted the biggest audience in television history last year, it was probably inevitable that the prices for commercial time on this year’s telecast would rise, and according to MediaPost, they have — by 13-29 percent. Actual prices paid for 30-second spots on Sunday’s game, the trade publication said, range from $3.5-4.0 [...]

LIST OF SAG AWARDS TV WINNERS

Top SAG awards in the television categories: Drama Series Cast: Boardwalk Empire (HBO); Comedy Series Cast: Modern Family (ABC); Actor in a Drama Series: Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire (HBO); Actress in a Drama Series: Jessica Lange American Horror Story (FX); Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC); Actress in a Comedy Series: [...]

CHINESE CRACKDOWN ON TV SHOWS BENEFITS WEBSITES

The decision by Chinese cultural authorities to eliminate two-thirds of the country’s television entertainment programs in favor of “programs that promote traditional virtues and socialist core values” could turn out to be a boon for operators of advertising-supported video websites in the country, the Wall Street Journal indicated today (Wednesday). Many websites are offering content [...]

TV REVIEWS: THE GOLDEN GLOBES

In the end, the TV critics concluded, Sunday night’s Golden Globes telecast amounted to yet another letdown, not so much because of the choice of winners — best drama: The Descendants; best comedy or musical: The Artist — but because of the commonplace performance of host Ricky Gervais. All of the critics had sharpened their [...]

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