Tag Archives: ratings

Nickelodeon ’90s programming block is back!

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Did you grow up on ’90s Nick? If so, and like me, I’m sure you’ve been waiting with bated breath for the retro programming block dubbed “The ’90s Are All That” to premiere on TeenNick. On Monday, July 25 at midnight classic Nick shows All That, Kenan & Kel, Clarissa Explains It All, and Doug returned to the airwaves. TeenNick allots four hours to the retro shows; from midnight-2AM four episodes air, and from 2AM-4AM the same shows repeat. The block so far has been a ratings boon; across basic cable it averaged 555,000 viewers (that’s up 114 percent from last year). Viewers have been sharing their nostalgic memories on Facebook and Twitter; all last week the Trending Topics have been buzzing about the block. In addition to the programming, the network has spruced up the commercial breaks with classic Nickelodeon signage and animations. Except that everything’s been remixed. Nick called up DJ Steve Porter to create a music video of sorts that mashes up a bunch of retro Nick shows and plays around with all the theme songs. Look after the break to watch the clip that previews all of the shows ready to make a return to television. Following the current lineup lead by All That, you can expect animated toons like Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Rugrats and live action shows like The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Salute Your Shorts, and The Secret World of Alex Mack to make major comebacks. So far, my favorite sketch brought back to life is the scene from Kenan & Kel: “I…dropped the screw…in the tuna!”

Relive your childhood memories weeknights from midnight-2AM on TeenNick. Continue reading Nickelodeon ’90s programming block is back! →

HBO renews ‘Game of Thrones’ after a decent debut in the ratings

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Well that was quick. Just two after its series premiere, HBO has gone ahead and renewed fantasy series Game of Thrones for a second season. The next season will bow next year (a specific timeline has not been worked out yet), and it will be based on George R.R. Martin’s next book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Clash of Kings.

Michael Lombardo, president of HBO: “We are delighted by the way David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have brought George R.R. Martin’s amazing book series to the screen, and thrilled by the support of the media and our viewers. This is the continuation of an exciting creative partnership.”

No matter how the show did in the ratings it was destined to return for at least second season. Adapting Martin’s vast world of Westeros is a huge undertaking, there’s no way it all would have been squandered after just one hack at it. It did, however, fare decently in the ratings. 2.2 million viewers tuned into the 9PM premiere; for comparison’s sake this is down 54% from the Boardwalk Empire premiere which drew 4.8 million viewers in September. HBO was smart to air the premiere in three time-slots and across their various channels Sunday night. They picked up an additional 1.2 million and 800,000 viewers for the second and third telecasts, respectively. All together, a solid 4.2 million people watched the Game of Thrones premiere that night, and we’ll have to wait and see how these numbers hold up come next Sunday. Whatever the case, fans of the book series can rejoice in knowing that so much more is in the works.

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9PM on HBO.

[Via EW, here & here]

TV Reminder: ‘The Event’ returns tonight on NBC [Update: Low ratings]

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After an extended three month hiatus, NBC’s sci-fi drama The Event returns to the airwaves tonight. After a promising start (remember–what happened to that plane?!), the mysteries started piling on top of each other with no cohesive plot thread tying them together and this resulted in contrived, lackluster plotlines that failed to challenge the viewer intellectually (or in any way for that matter). Save for the handful of character-driven episodes the first half of the season was dominated by run-of-the-mill action sequences, cheesy dialogue, and lots of running (Sean and Leila need more to do!). As the show’s creativity lost its touch early on, viewers dropped in significant numbers. The long hiatus provided the show’s creators plenty of time to retool things; I have faith that the show can transform itself from a rollercoaster of good-decent-filler episodes into a reliable mystery drama that’ll make me want to tune in every week. But first things first–they’ve got to tell us what the event IS! Perhaps episode 15 will provide some answers.

The Event returns tonight at 9PM on NBC. It’s a 2 hour, erm, event, so set your DVRs accordingly. Check out photos from “And Then There Were More” and “Inostranka” in the gallery below. Beware of minor spoilers. Need a refresher? Jump after the break to watch a brief recap.

Update: To the surprise of no one The Event returned not with a bang but as a bust. Though the two-hour return was (for the most part) fast-paced with some fun action segments, the writing is still poor and the story is, well, uneventful. The ratings agree: the show drew a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 demo and 5.2 million total viewers. That’s down 26% from its last original airing back on November 29. If these numbers don’t start to steadily increase and stabilize between now and April, you can kiss this thrill-less sci-fi thriller goodbye.

[Images via IGN; Deadline]

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Continue reading TV Reminder: ‘The Event’ returns tonight on NBC [Update: Low ratings] →

Reminder: ‘Breakout Kings’ premieres tonight on A&E [Update: Strong ratings!]

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I consider the 2005-2009 FOX series Prison Break to be one of the most thrilling and entertaining serialized programs produced for television. The Break writer/producer team Matt Olmstead and Nick Santora is ready for a second outing in a familiar setting. Tonight is the series premiere of Breakout Kings, an ensemble drama following an unconventional partnership between the U.S. Marshals’ office and a group of convicts as they work to catch fugitives on the run. “It takes a con to catch a con” is the show’s slogan–sounds like a fun concept. If you’re a loyal Break fan then obviously you know what to expect from Olmstead and Santora; namely edge-of-your-seat action sequences and smart, witty dialogue. Though Kings will play out more like a procedural (the show will focus on a new criminal each week), it is being described as a character-based show so the relationships and personalities that form amongst the ensemble cast of cops and convicts will play an integral part in the show’s development. If you need a solid reason to tune in each week here it is: Break’s Robert Knepper will be reprising the brilliantly sinister Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell later this season in a four episode arc!

Breakout Kings begins its 13-episode season tonight at 10PM on A&E. Check out stills from the pilot below, and click here to read more about show.

Bonus! Click here to watch the producers discuss the round table writing process.

Update: The Breakout Kings premiere received the highest demo numbers for an A&E drama series–1.5 million adults 18-49 and 1.6 million adults 25-54. That’s up 25% and 14%, respectively, from the network’s previous ratings record holder The Glades (which premiered in July 2010). In terms of total viewership, Kings‘ 2.9 million viewers did not beat out The Glades‘ undisputed record of 3.6 million. Says Bob DeBitetto, President and general manager of A&E and BIO: “Breakout Kingsis a smart, action-packed drama with great storytelling and authentic well-drawn characters. Clearly the series has struck a chord with the younger viewers.” Yes, yes it has.

[Images via IGN; Deadline]

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TV Reminder: Jeopardy champs face off against Watson supercomputer this week! [Update: results]

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Here’s a healthy reminder that Jeopardy champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter will face off against each other and the supercomputer known endearingly as Watson this week. The man vs. machine 3-night competition begins tonight and will run through Wednesday the 16th. Jeopardy airs at 7PM ET on ABC. Fill your brain with knowledge about Watson’s abilities before tuning in tonight, then let Judgment Day the games begin!

Update: No surprise here; Watson dominated and destroyed the species that created it. After the three-day, two game competition the scores tallied like this:  Rutter scored $21,600; Jennings $24,000; and Watson a whopping $77,147. In the end, these amounts were wiped away and replaced by fixed scores of $200,000, $300,000, and $1 million, respectively. The two human contestants agreed to share half their winnings with their charity of choice. All of Watson’s earnings will find their way to a charity selected by IBM called Skynet World Vision and World Community Grid.

With Watson on board, Jeopardy received its biggest jump in ratings since May 2005’s Ultimate Tournament of Champions (which featured Jennings and Rutter). It’s being reported that Monday night’s show posted an 8.8 rating and that spiked 9% on Tuesday to a 9.6 rating. All in all, Watson proved that machines are certainly getting smarter and more sophisticated. But at least we don’t have to expect world domination just yet; it thought Toronto was a U.S. city! Side note: How cool was it to watch Watson’s avatar “sweat” during the heated competition? When it was confident about a response green swirls swooped to the top of the display, and when it was unsure about one (or–gasp!–answered incorrectly) the swirls would change to a yellow hue and sink to the bottom. Watching the computer “think” was fun to watch.

2011 Grammy winners: Lady Antebellum rules the night, Arcade Fire takes home top prize

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Last night’s Grammy Awards proved to be an exciting night filled with some stellar performances and surprise wins. The most memorable performances include the opening ode to Aretha Franklin (performed by Florence Welch, Christina Aguilera, Martina McBride, Yolanda Adams, and Jennifer Hudson), Lady Gaga’s high energy rendition of her new single “Born This Way,” Muse’s flashy “Uprising” performance (what a fantastic song, they deserved the win), the unofficial rap group comprised of Bruno Mars, B.o.B., and Janelle Monae, Mumford and Sons with the Avett Bros., Eminem and newcomer Skylar Grey welcoming back Dr. Dre, Mick Jagger (he’s still got it), and Arcade Fire not one but two performances. In the end, though, my favorite performance of the night has to go to Cee-Lo’s “Forget You” duet with Gwyneth Paltrow and a whole bunch of muppets. The man was dressed as a colorful armored peacock, props! From egg hatching to peacocking, all in all it was an entertaining show to say the least. It also happened to be the highest rated Grammy broadcast since 2004 attracting 26.7 million viewers with a 10.0 adults 18-49 rating.

Now let’s cover the night’s big winners. Lady Antebellum took home five Grammys including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Country Album; “Need You Now” was all over the place. Though Eminem headed into the show with a whopping 10 nominations, Recovery only nabbed him two wins (Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance for “Not Afraid”). Lady Gaga, John Legend, and Jay-Z each took him three trophies, while Esperanza Spalding pulled off the night’s biggest upset to steal Best New Artist from Justin Bieber, Mumford & Sons, Florence & the Machine, and Drake. Alt. rock band Arcade Fire also surprised many by taking home Album of the Year against big names like Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and the night’s shiner Lady Antebellum. Their encore performance at the end of the telecast solidified their highly deserved win.

Jump after the break to view more winners, or simply head over to the official Grammy site to see them all. Continue reading 2011 Grammy winners: Lady Antebellum rules the night, Arcade Fire takes home top prize →

‘Fringe’ producers hint at epic season 3 finale [Updates: Ratings slip, FOX prez speaks]

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Fringe fans, the move to Friday hasn’t been too bad now has it? Ratings are holding steady (actually they’re not, see below), and it appears that the loyal hardcare fanbase is sticking with it. And according to FOX execs that’s all they need to confidently renew the fantastic sci-fi series thereby granting it a fourth season. This week producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman shared some intriguing thoughts about the near-term future of the show. “Largely this season has been about the march to war, and it will continue to be so, driven equally by the relationship of Peter and the two Olivias,” Pinkner tells TVLine. “But we’ve got more stuff coming.” Wyman teases, “We can definitely guarantee that the last stretch [of episodes] is going to be very complicated, because you’re going to understand our show in a different capacity. It’s going to stretch your mind and make you think, ‘I never saw that coming.’ We have a few cards to lay down that I don’t think anybody expects. That’s what we feel we owe the fans.”

If you couldn’t process this before, they clearly they have another season on their collective mind. The May finale “will be as much as anything about setting up next season,” says Pinkner. Adds Wyman, “It’s like when you read a great novel and you finish a chapter, you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, something happened that’s going to propel me forward!’ That’s something we desire to emulate.”

Bring it. Fringe airs Fridays at 9PM on FOX.

Update: Looks like Fringe isn’t exactly maintaining viewers like I had previously thought. Let’s take a look at the trend since it moved to Friday. “The Firefly”, Fringe‘s Friday debut, attracted 4.8 million viewers (1.9/6 in 18-49 demo); that was up 12% from its last original Thursday airing. Great start. The following week FOX aired “Reciprocity” and the ratings held steady at 4.6 million viewers (1.9/6 in 18-49 demo). The next episode “Concentrate and Ask Again” started the rocky spiral descent; viewership dropped 16% to 4.2 million viewers (1.6/5). And that brings us to last night’s episode; “Immortality” garnered 3.7 million viewers (1.4/6)–that’s a 13% drop from the previous ep. This is certainly a cause for concern when it comes to thinking about season renewal. The hardcore fanbase needs to stick with this show if FOX is going to pick it up for another season. Obviously these early numbers do not take into consideration DVR numbers (Fringe typically picks up the slack in time-shifted viewership), so these low figures may increase over the next few days. The bottom line is this: if Fringe wants to see another year to live, YOU have to tune into the show when it airs Fridays @ 9PM. Plain and simple. If you must, DVR it and watch it later. Tell your friends about it. The producers have promised they have “years of story left to tell” so it would be nothing short of a catastrophe if FOX eliminated it from its schedule prematurely.

Update 2: Recently FOX entertainment president Kevin Reilly shared his thoughts on Fringe‘s early surge when it first moved to Friday nights. He said, “I’m so psyched about it. It does go to show you the loyalty of the genre audience, when you get the right show. I’m so grateful to that audience, I’d like to shake their hands. We have a lot of passion for that show here.” Even though Reilly released this statement before last Friday’s dip in ratings, it does go to show his massive amount of support behind the show. If ratings can pick up again and begin to level out, I have no doubt in my mind Fringe will return for another season next fall.

[Via TVLine 1, 2; EW]

This year’s Super Bowl is now the most-watched show, ever

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Does that post title sound familiar? Well that’s because you saw it last year right around this time.  Super Bowl XLV attracted 111 million viewers last night, besting last year’s viewership of 106.5 million people to become the most-watched program in TV history. In case you were wondering, the M*A*S*H series finale had already been dethroned by Super Bowl XLIV since it attracted a slightly smaller audience in 1983 (106 million). Super Bowl viewership has climbed every year since 2005 and this year’s marks the fourth consecutive “big game” to set a viewership record. And as Deadline points out, last night FOX became the first network to exceed 100 million viewers (100.9 million) for a night of primetime. Impressive stuff.

And how did the post-Super Bowl Glee episode fare in ratings? Compared to previous years, not that great. Glee garnered 26.8 million viewers, significantly less than what the series premiere of Undercover Boss received last year on CBS (38.7 million). However it did manage to best NBC’s The Office from two years ago (22.9 million). Comparisons aside, this was unmistakably the highest rated Glee episode to date and the most watched scripted series since 2005’s post-Bowl House episode (29 million viewers). Taking a look at the big picture, Glee attracted the third largest audience for a post-Super Bowl scripted series in the past twelve years after a 2006 Grey’s Anatomy (37.9 million) and the aforementioned House ep.

Too bad the commercials and half-time show were nothing to call home about. Needless to say, history was made last night…again.

[Via Deadline]

‘Fringe’ returns tonight at 9PM on FOX [Update: Solid ratings!]

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Great Scott!  Fringe returns tonight with a brand new episode.  In “The Firefly” Christopher Lloyd (Back from the Future) guest stars as Roscoe Joyce, an 80s keyboardist who happens to have many bizarre connections with Walter.  If you’re a long-time Fringe fan, I have no doubt you’ll be following it to its new night.  If you’re a newcomer to the epic sci-fi series, do not hesitate in giving it a shot.  If you’re a supporter of good TV, join the fun and let’s keep this show chugging for many years to come.  If the show retains its Thursday night ratings and manages to attract some new viewers, the Friday night “death slot” can be reinvented.  Let’s do it!

Look in the gallery below to see stills from tonight’s episode, and jump after the break to watch a FOX-produced Fringe music video that nicely summarizes what’s been going on lately and another video featuring the producers talking about the big move.  Fringe Fridays does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Update: Last night’s Fringe drew a 1.9/6 in the coveted adults 18-49 demo making it the highest rated program of the night!  And everyone was worried that the move to Friday nights was going to be a bad thing.  Get this: Fringe was up 12% from its last original airing on Thursday December 9, attracting 4.83 million viewers.  Simply put, the show attracted more viewers than it did when it aired on Thursday.  Death slot, be gone!  With the season premiere of Kitchen Nightmares as a lead-in, both shows helped FOX win the night and give the network its highest-rated Friday since May 2008.  If Fringe can keep this up for the next few weeks, we can surely expect to hear news of renewal soon.  But here’s the thing: Fringe was up against back-to-back repeats of CBS’ CSI: NY; the competition is bound to get more intense when CBS and The CW (Supernatural) air new episodes next week. (Oh, and this was neat: Christopher Lloyd’s stellar performance added his name to Twitter’s list of Trending Topics during and after the east coast airing of “The Firefly.”)

Update 2: Things just keep getting better for Fringe!  According to Nielsen, the show gained an additional 42 percent in ratings thanks to DVR playback.  This information was gathered three days after the live airing of the Friday episode.  As reported above, “The Firefly” drew a 1.9 rating in the adults 18-49 demo; if you add the DVR spike in viewership that rating shoots up to a 2.7!  (Compare this number to CBS’ Blue Bloods which drew a 2.4 rating on the same night.)  This is fantastic news for Fringe fans; if the show can keep this up (and perhaps perform better) it won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

[Via TVLine; IGN; Deadline; EW]

Continue reading ‘Fringe’ returns tonight at 9PM on FOX [Update: Solid ratings!] →

TV Reminder: ‘The Walking Dead’ premieres tonight! [Update: the ratings are in…]

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After many years of anticipation, tonight zombies will invade our living rooms like never before.  The Walking Dead, a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman and adapted for television by Frank Darabont, follows a group of survivors dealing with a world overrun by zombies.  The collaboration between Kirkman, Darabont, producer Gale Anne Hurd, and makeup effects artist Greg Nicotero promises to result in a frightening drama about the human psyche featuring the best looking and most convincing zombies made for television.  The 6-episode season one arc begins tonight at 10PM on AMC.  The series premiere runs an hour and a half in length, so set your DVRs accordingly.  And if you plan on celebrating Halloween night outside the home, don’t forget to record it!  Happy Halloween!

Look in the gallery below for character profiles and spooky stills from the premiere.

Update: The Walking Dead premiere was a record-smashing success!  The 10PM showing attracted 5.3 million viewers–the largest audience for an AMC original series ever.  Want another record-breaking stat?  In the 18-49 demo, the show netted 3.6 million viewers making it the highest rated cable series debut in 2010.  The adults 25-54 and 18-34 demos netted 3.1 million and 2.1 million viewers, respectively.  AMC aired the premiere two more time during the night (at 11PM and again at 1AM), so if you take those showings into account, the premiere garnered a grand total of 8.1 million viewers.  Says Charlie Collier, AMC president: “It’s a good day to be dead.  We are so proud of this series, its depth of storytelling and the remarkable talent attached.  As the network dedicated to bringing viewers the best stories on television, we are so pleased to have the opportunity with The Walking Dead to raise the bar within this popular genre and continue our commitment to being the home of premium television on basic cable.”  So Mr. Collier, how about renewing this flipping success for a second season, hm?

[Images via IGN; Deadline; EW]


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Lost premiere a ratings winner, finale moves, Darlton takes questions

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Lost: The Finale Season premiere event lived up to the hype and proved to be a mind-bending good time.  The premiere captured an average of 12.1 million viewers, and according to EW, this “is 1 million more than the series’ average audience for season 5 and less than 1 million more than the audience for its season 5 premiere. About 6 percent more people tuned in at 9 p.m. than finished the two-hour episode at 11 p.m.”  This is interesting to say the least…you’d think that Lost would maintain a steady viewership this far into its lifespan, especially because it’s a highly serialized show.  (You can thank the marketing blitz for the recent upsurge.)  Anyhow, I’m glad it fared well.

The Lost series finale (I can’t believe I just said that) will air May 23 from 9PM to 11PM.  Note the 23rd is a Sunday, not a Tuesday.  Though it won’t really matter for Lost fans, the move to Sunday was likely decided so that the finale does not pit itself against part one of American Idol’s season finale.  On Sunday there’s virtually no competition.  Sunday, May 23 will be LOST DAY.  Per usual, a special one hour recap episode will lead into the finale starting at 8PM.

Lastly, on the night of the premiere Lost fanatic Jimmy Kimmel had Darlton (that’s Lost exec producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof) on his show.  Jimmy framed his questions looking for “coincidence or fate” answers, and Darlton did their best to answer them appropriately without giving away too many spoilers.  Check out the interview in the video below (there are two parts).  Also, look after the break for a comedy sketch where Jimmy places himself in the Hurley-Jacob scene from the premiere.

[Via EW, here, here & here; IGN]

Continue reading Lost premiere a ratings winner, finale moves, Darlton takes questions →