[ad_1]
South Korean actor Oh Young-soo speaks during a press conference at the Welcome Daehakro Festival 2022 in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 21, 2022. Award-winning “Squid Game” actor Oh will stand trial on charges of indecent assault after a woman accused him of inappropriately touching her in 2017, a South Korean court said. (Park Jin-hee/Newsis via AP)
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
NEW YORK — Kevin Costner’s Paramount epic “Yellowstone” reached 12.1 million viewers for the opening night of its fifth season on Sunday, the most popular scripted series episode so far in the new television season, the Nielsen company said.
That it was a cable network series — instead of a big broadcaster like CBS, NBC or ABC — makes the achievement that much more impressive.
The total viewership involved a little trickery: the show simultaneously aired on Viacom networks CMT, TV Land and Pop, and there were some same-day reruns. Even with that, there were 9.4 million viewers who saw the premiere episode on Paramount alone.
“We’ve been able to create a show that didn’t start out being popular but did it on its own terms,” Costner said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
“Yellowstone” is one of the most appointment viewing-friendly shows on television now, in part because it appeals to an older audience more used to watching TV in a traditional way, said Josef Adalian, West Coast editor of New York magazine’s Vulture.com.
“People want to watch it and they want to watch it now,” Adalian said. It also proves the enduring popularity of the Western as a genre and, in some respects, it’s surprising there haven’t been copycats.
The show is overwhelmingly popular in red states. States with Republican governors — topped by Texas — watch “Yellowstone” three times as much as states with Democratic governors, according to Philo, a live TV streaming service.
No scripted series on a broadcast network has reached more than 8 million same-day viewers this season, although audiences usually increase when delayed viewing is taken into account.
For instance, the most popular broadcast scripted show last week, CBS’ “Young Sheldon,” was seen by 7.14 million people, Nielsen said.
While “Yellowstone” is a huge success for Paramount, the company is also making money for a corporate rival. Streaming rights for previous seasons of the series are owned by Comcast’s Peacock service, because the Paramount+ streaming outlet did not exist when they were up for grabs.
Among the broadcast networks, NBC had the most viewers in prime time last week, averaging 5 million. Fox had 4.6 million, ABC had 3.9 million, CBS had 3.7 million, Univision had 1.2 million, Ion Television had 950,000 and Telemundo had 750,000.
Fox News Channel was the most popular cable network, averaging 3.15 million viewers in prime time. ESPN had 2.19 million, MSNBC had 1.66 million, Paramount had 1.58 million and Hallmark had 1.23 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening news ratings race, averaging 8 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 6.8 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5 million.
For the week of Nov. 7-13, the most popular prime-time programs, their networks and viewership:
1. NFL Football: Dallas at Green Bay, Fox, 18.13 million.
2. NFL Football: L.A. Chargers at San Francisco, NBC, 15.84 million.
3. “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 12.37 million.
4. “Yellowstone” (8 p.m.), Paramount, 9.41 million.
5. NFL Football: Baltimore at New Orleans, ESPN, 9.36 million.
6. “Yellowstone” (9:14 p.m.), Paramount, 8.44 million.
7. Election Night Coverage (9 to 10 p.m.), Fox News, 7.81 million.
8. “CMA Awards,” ABC, 7.45 million.
9. Election Night Coverage (8 to 9 p.m.), Fox News, 7.27 million.
10. Election Night Coverage (10 to 11 p.m.), Fox News, 7.19 million.
11. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 7.14 million.
12. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 6.83 million.
13. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.77 million.
14. “Ghosts,” CBS, 6.61 million.
15. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 6.45 million.
16. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 6.14 million.
17. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 5.98 million.
18. “The Voice,” NBC, 5.87 million.
19. “NFL Pregame,” ESPN, 5.53 million.
20. “911,” Fox, 5.09 million.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
“It’s Not TV: The Rise, Revolution and Future of HBO” by Felix Gillette and John Koblin (Viking)
Streaming and on-demand services are so commonplace nowadays, one can take for granted how revolutionary HBO was when it was first launched.
In “It’s Not TV,” business reporters Felix Gillette and John Koblin paint a revealing picture of a cultural and business institution from its beginnings to the challenges it now faces.
The book serves two purposes, and does both quite well. The first is as a cultural history of some of the most iconic shows and programs that HBO has developed over the years.
In their telling, HBO is a cultural empire that’s been built on some of the most memorable antiheroes and flawed characters ever created. From Tony Soprano to Selina Meyer, HBO had a knack for investing in shows with characters that for many years broadcast television wouldn’t touch.
But the book’s other purpose as a fascinating account of HBO’s business practices show how the cable network and eventual streaming service struggled to keep up with the world it helped create.
Gillette and Koblin offer plenty of behind-the-scenes tales that whet the appetites of TV and business news junkies alike. They include some of the missteps along the way, such as HBO’s miscalculation on how to respond to and compete with Netflix and other services.
It also recounts many of the issues HBO struggled with, including its depiction of women and especially violence against them.
Gillette and Koblin’s deep reporting and sourcing are what make “It’s Not TV” come together so well. The result is a read so riveting, it’s not hard to imagine watching it unfold on Sunday nights.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
NEW YORK — The Weather Channel reached its biggest audience in five years last week when Hurricane Ian made its destructive landfall in western Florida.
The average audience of 3.4 million people last Wednesday was more than any other day for the network since Hurricane Harvey deluged Texas with record amounts of rainfall in 2017, the Nielsen company said.
The network’s peak day came despite other cable news and broadcast networks also devoting resources to the storm, and a myriad of streaming options that gave people many different ways to follow Ian and its aftermath.
For example, the free streaming service Local Now, which is owned alongside The Weather Channel by the Allen Media Group, had a record-setting day for usage last Wednesday, the company said. Through the service, people could watch local news coverage of Ian from markets in Tampa, Fort Myers and Orlando in Florida.
Allen would not give precise figures on how many people used the service.
Another new wrinkle from the Weather Channel app were screen views that allowed users to watch the storm’s progress through fixed cameras placed in Ian’s path, in Fort Myers Beach, Punta Gorda and Venice, Florida, for example.
The average consumer who used the app spent a staggering four hours there on the day the storm hit, the Weather Channel said.
Fox Weather, a streaming service that debuted a year ago, easily had its most-used day ever last Wednesday, although Fox also wouldn’t provide specific details. During three overnight hours after the storm hit, Fox News Channel simulcast the coverage on the Fox Weather stream.
NBC was the winner again during the second week of the new television season, averaging 6.1 million viewers in prime time, Nielsen said. CBS averaged 5.7 million, ABC had 4 million, Fox had 2.2 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 900,000 and Telemundo had 820,000.
ESPN was the most-watched cable network, averaging 2.15 million viewers in prime time. Fox News Channel had 2.12 million, MSNBC had 1.15 million, HGTV had 796,00 and CNN had 756,000.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 8.4 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.1 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5 million.
For the week of Sept. 26-Oct. 2, the 20 most-watched programs in prime time, their networks and viewerships:
1. NFL Football: Kansas City at Tampa Bay, NBC, 20.85 million.
2. “NFL Pregame Show” (Sunday), NBC, 15.74 million.
3. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 11.04 million.
4. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 10.27 million.
5. NFL Football: Dallas at N.Y. Giants, ABC, 10.18 million.
6. NFL Football: Dallas at N.Y. Giants, ESPN, 7.73 million.
7. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 7.09 million.
8. “FBI,” CBS, 7.08 million.
9. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 6.88 million.
10. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 6.73 million.
11. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 6.6 million.
12. “Ghosts,” CBS, 6.46 million.
13. “NFL Pregame Show” (Monday), ABC, 6.28 million.
14. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 6.111 million.
15. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.107 million.
16. “FBI: International,” CBS, 5.88 million.
17. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 5.87 million.
18. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 5.41 million.
19. “FBI: Most Wanted,” CBS, 5.4 million.
20. “East New York,” CBS, 5.27 million.
———
This story corrects the name of Fox Weather and Local New. A previous version of this story referred to the streaming services as Fox News Weather and Local News Now.
[ad_2]