Search Results for: “Fox”

Joss Whedon Provides ‘Avengers 2′ Scoop

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 25, 2013 @ 12:21pm PDTTags: Joss Whedon, The Avengers 2

On Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night Friday, Joss Whedon confirmed that Marvel characters Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver would be in The Avengers 2.  “I found their powers to be very visually interesting,” Whedon explained. “In the last film a lot of the characters had very ‘punchy powers’ where they were always punchy something and that got kind of boring after awhile.” Whedon said no one has been cast yet, and Fallon suggested Selena Gomez and Channing Tatum. (Was that a joke?) Whedon didn’t raise the name of Evan Peters, who was cast as Quicksilver in Fox’s X-Men: Days of Future Past earlier this week. Here’s the Fallon-Whedon video:

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Record-Breaking Memorial Weekend 2013! ‘Fast & Furious 6′ Huge #1 With $39M Friday/$121M For Franchise Biggest; ‘Hangover III’ $14.5M/$52M; ‘Epic’ $9.1M/$44.2M

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday May 25, 2013 @ 11:41am PDTTags: Box Office, Epic, Fast & Furious 6, The Hangover Part III

Box Office Hangover Part IIISATURDAY 11:30 AM, 8TH UPDATE: Universal’s Fast & Furious 6 opened day and date with the U.S. and Canada in 59 international territories and is breaking records. The studio says it opened #1 in every territory and is dominating the box office with 65% market share. Friday’s international gross is $36M at 8,583 dates for an early total of $90M. This is Universal’s highest grossing Friday of all time and will be Universal’s biggest overseas weekend by a large margin. The international total will be $169M though Sunday. Combined with the North American estimates of $96.2M, the three-day weekend worldwide total will be $265.2M.

SATURDAY 6:30 AM, 7TH UPDATE: Summer 2013 keeps sizzling as huge grosses for the Top 6 movies add up to the biggest Memorial Day weekend and the biggest 4-day holiday eve r(numbers below). That’s potentially $300+ million, easily beating 2011′s all-time Memorial Weekend record of $276M. Yowza! The easy #1 is Universal’s Fast & Furious 6 pulling ahead with $39M Friday (including Thursday late shows and Friday midnights) to target $121M for the holiday weekend from 3,658 domestic theaters. After 12 years, five films and more than $1.5 billion at the global box office, the sixth Fast & Furious installment successfully transitioned from street racing to heist action to terrorist plot and will be the franchise’s biggest opening by far. Audiences gave it an ‘A’ CinemaScore which will help word of mouth. Universal claims the cost of the movie is $160M. F&F6 debuted in 2,409 North American theaters for Thursday 10 PM late shows and Friday midnights and made $6.5M which speeded past Fast 5‘s $3.8M late show grosses from an uncrowded April 29, 2011. It debuts day and date in 59 total international territories this weekend and going into Friday already has $53.4M from 34 international markets, opening #1 in all of them as the franchise’s biggest. Another 25 territories release Friday. Universal has six more territories to open including Trinidad on May 29, Australia and New Zealand on June 6, Venezuela on June 21, Japan on July 6 and China on July 20. No studio has ever dared to keep changing the genre of a successful franchise – but chairman Adam Fogelson and co-chairman Donna Langley again hired Chris Morgan to freshen it yet again. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is back as a federal agent alongside Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and of course director Justin Lin (behind the camera for the 4th time) and longtime producer Neal Moritz. It also stars Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Elsa Pataky plus newcomers Luke Evans and Gina Carano.

The #2 film is Warner Bros’ The Hangover Part III co-financed with Legendary Pictures making $14.5M Friday after earning $11.7M for its Wednesday late shows/Thursday midnights. As the only R-rated comedy, it’s aiming for a $52M Memorial Weekend from 3,555 North American theaters and $63.5M cume over 5 1/2 days. Studio claims the cost was $103M. Pic’s $11.7 million start for Wednesday late shows and Thursday midnights was miniscule compared to H2‘s April 2011 Thursday opening of $31.6M - the highest-grossing opening day ever for a live-action comedy. Audiences only gave The Hangover Part III a ‘B’ CinemaScore compared to the ‘A-’ which the sequel scored. Reviews were only 26% positive on Rotten Tomatoes compared to H2‘s 34% which was considered embarrassingly awful. (By contrast, both F&F6 and Epic both scored 70+% positive RT reviews.) But worldwide moviegoers really like this mindless summer crap. Internationally, the comedy is taking off in only 3 markets this weekend – the UK, Australia and New Zealand with strong early numbers. Next weekend H3 opens in 32 markets, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil. Memorial Weekend wouldn’t have been so crowded if either Warner Bros (who came late and then moved from a Friday to Thursday wide release) or Universal (who tagged it from the beginning) blinked. “But they just stared each other down as they both were driving off a cliff,” one rival studio exec says. Strange because the weekend of May 31st stayed open until Will Smith’s After Earth grabbed it. H3 is positioned as ”the epic conclusion to the trilogy of mayhem and bad decisions” and ”fans have to see how the most popular comedy franchise of all time ends”. Director Todd Phillips returns Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms and nemesis Ken Jeong to Las Vegas where it all began.

And #4 right now is Twentieth Century Fox/Blue Sky Studios’ 3D toon Epic which is looking at $9.1M Friday and expecting $44.2M in 3,882 U.S. and Canadian locations for Memorial Weekend.That’s about par for the course for original content animated films in a very competitive environment. (Opening weekends for recent comps range from $37M-$39M. This may pop since audiences gave it an ‘A’ CinemaScore which will help word of mouth. Sibling of the hit Ice Age and Rio franchises looks more earnest and less fun but benefits greatly from what has been a drought of family fare since March when The Croodsopened. Fox claims cost was $93M for this Chris Wedge-directed animated actioner with screenplay credited to James V. Hart & William Joyce, Dan Shere, and Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember. Producers were Lori Forte and Jerry Davis. Beyoncé was the cast ‘get’ plus Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler. Blake Anderson, and Judah Friedlander. Epic began its $14.5M overseas rollout last weekend in only 16 markets - only 3 top – with 20 additional international territories opening this Memorial Weekend.

There are also 3 proven blockbusters still in the marketplace: Disney/Marvel’s Iron Man 3 in 3,424 theaters, Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s The Great Gatsby in 3,090 locations (which Friday crossed $100M domestic after only 14 days and is the first Baz Luhrmann film to do so), and Paramount/Skydance’s Star Trek In Darkness in 3,907 theaters.

Here’s the Top Six based on Friday estimates. Refined numbers in the morning:
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Latest ‘Turbo’ Trailer Tied To Indy 500 Race

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 7:25pm PDTTags: Indianapolis 500, Turbo

The Indianapolis 500 will be broadcast Sunday on ABC. But this DreamWorks Animation toon’s 2nd phase trailer waits what seems like an interminable time for the tie-in. David Soren writes and directs Turbo about a snail that feels the need for speed. Scripted with Darren Lemke and Robert D. Siegel, its voice cast includes Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena, Bill Hader, Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong, Michelle Rodriguez, Maya Rudolph, Snoop Dogg, and Samuel L. Jackson. The Fox release opens July 19th:

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Ryan Seacrest On Mike Darnell’s Fox Departure

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 4:15pm PDTTags: Mike Darnell, Ryan Seacrest
Nellie Andreeva

Ryan Seacrest was a local Los Angeles DJ when he was picked by Fox’s head of alternative programming Mike Darnell as co-host and then sole host of American Idol. Seacrest became a TV star and has gone on to expand into producing and build a mini reality empire. “Mike Darnell was a pioneer in reality television,” Seacrest said today about Darnell’s decision to depart Fox. “He brilliantly paved the way for all of us, creating a powerful entertainment genre that audiences can’t get enough of. I’ve had the privilege of working with him for more than a decade, and I’ve learned so much from him. He has been an inspiration for imparting his creative genius constantly, a mentor as I launched my production company, as well as a dear friend. I’m excited to work with him as he blazes a new path in his incredible career.” Seacrest has one more year on his current blockbuster Idol contract and, with Darnell gone and the current judges and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe also likely out, he may be the only key auspice returning next season, providing continuity.

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Mike Darnell On His Decision To Leave Fox & His Future

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 2:22pm PDTTags: American Idol, Fox, Mike Darnell, The X Factor, WME
Nellie Andreeva

Mike Darnell Leaves FoxShortly after we broke the news of Fox President of Alternative Programming Mike Darnell‘s decision to depart the network after 18 years, I’ve got to speak to Darnell about the bombshell news. “I  remember considering leaving the last time,” he said. “This happens every time my contract is up. It’s always an excruciating decision.” This time he couldn’t resist the temptation of other opportunities. “I love it here, but there are all these other things out there.” What are the things he’s most attracted to? “I will take a little time to feel my way through, but it will be something that is creative and exciting that has a sense of entrepreneurship,” Darnell said, indicating that a career as a producer might be in the cards. He has already signed with Mark Itkin, the co-head of TV at WME.

Fox President Of Alternative Programming Mike Darnell To Depart

As for the timing of his decision to leave Fox and likely the executive ranks, “my dream was to work on a big show that will go down in the history books,” he said. “I achieved that with American Idol, which may be the biggest show that ever was.” But Idol, as well as newbie The X Factor, had been taking up a lot of Darnell’s time over the last few seasons with a series of shakeups and attempts to keep Idol … Read More »

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Fox Unscripted TV Czar Mike Darnell To Exit

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 1:32pm PDTTags: American Idol, Fox, Mike Darnell, The X Factor
Nellie Andreeva

Mike Darnell Leaves FoxEXCLUSIVE: The reality TV landscape will never be the same. After 18 years at Fox, the dean of unscripted TV executives, Fox’s President of Alternative Programming Mike Darnell, is stepping down. He will stay on through the end of June, when his current contract is up, and help with the transition. Darnell was offered a new long-term deal at the network but, after long deliberation, decided it was time to move on. Darnell faced similar agonizing soul-searching several years ago when he was offered rich producing deals elsewhere but ultimately opted to stay at Fox, where he’s had free rein on the unscripted side. This time around, he decided to leave the network, which he helped build first with noise-making reality specials like World’s Scariest Police Chases and When Animals Attack! and then with such tentpole series as American Idol and Family Guy. The colorful, unconventional, cowboy hat-wearing Darnell never shied away from controversy, relishing in the blockbuster attention projects like the Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? special and hit series Joe Millionaire brought on. In a  testament to Darnell’s importance to Fox and parent News Corp, company chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch weighed in on his departure. “Mike took risks at a critical time and was a pioneering force in shaping the reality programming genre that exists today,” Murdoch said. “He’s a smart and fearless executive who will be missed.”

Related: Mike Darnell On His Decision To Leave Fox & His Future

Darnell is expected to take some time off before making his next move, which I hear likely will be in the producing/entrepreneurial arena. “I’m extremely grateful that Fox has offered me a new long-term contract (and anyone who knows me won’t believe I’m saying this), but I’ve decided it’s time for a change,” Darnell said. “With my current deal ending in June, and having been here for 18 years (kind of a record in Hollywood), I had to make a decision: either stay (and basically admit to myself I was going to retire at Fox … not a terrible choice) or leave and try something new. I’ve been in ‘Reality’ since before it was even called that, and it has truly been an amazing ride. However, the world has changed drastically over the last few years, and now with hundreds of channels and limitless ways to watch television, I’ve decided this was the perfect time to take advantage of the rapidly changing marketplace. To say I am going to miss everyone here and that the people at Fox are like a family to me would be the understatement of the decade.  I have so many people to thank (and I will call all of you!), but first and foremost, I want to thank Kevin Reilly, Peter Rice, Chase Carey and Rupert Murdoch for all their amazing support over these many years,” the exec said in a statement Friday.

Related: Anyone Care Who Won ‘American Idol’?

Fox is expected to begin the search for Darnell’s successor, who will navigate veteran American Idol and The X Factor through their upcoming overhauls, soon as Idol is looking to rebound from all-time low ratings. “Mike has been a trailblazer for the entire industry and has made innumerable contributions to the growth and success of the network over the past two decades,” said Rice, Chairman of Fox Networks Group. “His passion for – and dedication to – television knows no bounds. He is like a member of the family, and Fox won’t be the same without him. While we wish he would’ve stayed forever, we regretfully accept his decision.”

Related: Jennifer Hudson In Talks For ‘American Idol’ Judge Gig
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Jennifer Hudson In Talks For ‘American Idol’ Judge Gig

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 11:06am PDTTags: American Idol, Jennifer Hudson
Nellie Andreeva

This would be a first — an Oscar winner at the American Idol judging table. Sources have confirmed that Idol alumna Jennifer Hudson is in conversations with Fox about joining the talent show, which launched her career, next season. She may be one of several prominent Idol alums to return as judges next season, with inaugural winner Kelly Clarkson and second-place finishers Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken also in the mix. Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said last week that Idol will likely revert to the three-judge format next season. The show’s overhaul will likely also include the (second) departure of executive producer Nigel Lythgoe. (He first left in 2008 but was brought back two years later to usher the transition from Simon Cowell to Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler). In TV, Hudson recently recurred on NBC’s Smash.

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Hannibal’ Hits Low, ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Rises, ‘Save Me’ & ‘Does Someone Have To Go?’ Debut Low

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 9:13am PDTTags: Hannibal, Hell's Kitchen, Rookie Blue, Save Me, Toxix Office: Does Someone Have To Go?, TV Ratings

The 2012-2013 TV season ended on Wednesday and here comes the new shows. With the exception of season winner CBS, who ran repeats last night, everyone had a premiere on Thursday. Having said that, CBS’s The Big Bang Theory (2.2/6) was the highest rated and most watched show of the night with 8.84 million viewers. On NBC, the long delayed Save Me finally saw the light of day with a double debut. The series stars Anne Heche as a suburban housewife who becomes a conduit for the Divine. With an early series pick up last May, the comedy was originally scheduled for midseason but has ended up in the burnoff slot with duel episodes over the early summer. Both the 8 PM premiere and the 8:30 PM episode last night got a 0.7/3. That’s the lowest series debut NBC has had since the 0.7/2 Saving Hope received on June 7, 2012. Hannibal (1.0/3) was the only other original on NBC on Thursday. Hitting a season low. The freshman Silence of The Lambs prequel was down 9% from last week’s show, which was abbreviated because of The Office series finale running to 10:15 PM.

Related:
 2012-2013 Season Network Rankings
Full 2012-2013 TV Season Series Rankings

With American Idol having wrapped its latest season, Fox debuted its new workplace reality show Does Someone Have … Read More »

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News Corp. Board Approves Separation Of Businesses; OK’s $500M Share Buyback

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 7:15am PDTTags: 21st Century Fox, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch

New York, NY – May 24, 2013 – News Corporation and the new News Corporation today announced that the separation of News Corporation (the “Company”) into two distinct publicly traded companies, 21st Century Fox and the new News Corporation, has been formally approved by the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company announced appointments to the Boards of Directors of both companies, effective upon the completion of the separation, which is expected to occur on June 28, 2013.

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ABC, NBC & Fox Go To DC Court Against Alki David’s FilmOn And Aereokiller

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 9:19pm PDTTags: Aereo, Aereokiller, Alki David, FilmOn

ABC, NBC and Fox today filed a lawsuit against digital entrepreneur Alki David‘s FilmOn and his Aereokiller service, claiming copyright infringement. Allbritton, which owns ABC’s TV station Washington DC also is a plaintiff in the suit. Filed in Federal District Court in D.C. on David’s 45th birthday, the complaint (read it here) is similar to one filed in Los Angeles in August by ABC, NBC and CBS against his streaming site that then was known as BarryDriller.com. It, in turn, hewed closely to a suit filed against the site by Fox days earlier. (David this week finally  settled his name-game tussle with Barry Diller and the latter’s Aereo service.)

Related: TV Networks Get Tentative Victory In Aereokiller Streaming Case

David is a media industry provocateur whose FilmOn streams programming taken from over-the-air signals, and it — like Diller’s Aereo — has incurred the wrath of broadcasters. In today’s suit, the networks and Allbritton claim that “Aereokiller provides users and subscribers the ability to receive whichever broadcast station the user or subscriber chooses, ultimately having the ability to watch live broadcast television programming over the Internet using any device. In other words, through the Aereokiller service, Defendants built a business founded on offering its users and subscribers a ‘live’ Internet and mobile streaming service based on Plaintiffs’ television programming, but without authorization or license from Plaintiffs.” Read More »

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What’s Hot At This Week’s LA Screenings?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 6:22pm PDTTags: LA Screenings, Upfronts
Nellie Andreeva

After ad buyers at last week’s upfronts, it is international buyers’ turn to get a glimpse of the broadcast networks’ crop of new shows. The annual LA Screenings are wrapping after marathon sessions of the studios unveiling their new series, with talent and producers on hand to promote them. After lackluster LA Screenings last year, with international buyers lamenting the lack of breakouts, there is some excitement this week. That is a promising sign for the broadcast networks as the screenings usually serve as a good barometer — last year’s broadcast freshman class indeed failed to produce major hits. The interest seems spread almost evenly between drama, which normally travels better overseas, and comedy this year. Not surprisingly, hot NBC drama pilot The Blacklist is garnering a ton of attention for producer Sony TV. Also hot at the studio is 1980s comedy The Goldbergs. Interestingly, Australian networks are very high on Rake, a remake of an Australian series. Additionally, Michael J. Fox, star of Sony TV’s new NBC series The Michael J. Fox Show, has been receiving enthusiastic reaction from buyers who waited up to an hour for a photo with the actor at the studio’s party Monday. Star power also is boosting 20th TV’s new comedy The Crazy … Read More »

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‘Glee’s Jacob Artist Signs With UTA

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 5:04pm PDTTags: Glee, Jacob Artist, UTA

United Talent Agency has picked up another one of the Glee club. Jacob Artist will be joining Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, Jayma Mays and Melissa Benoist at UTA. The actor, who was previously with APA, will be represented by UTA in all areas. He continues to be represented by David Dean Management. Artist joined Fox’s Glee this season as Jake Puckerman the half-brother of Noah “Puck” Puckerman who is played by Mark Saling. The actor was seen last year in Lifetime’s Blue Lagoon: The Awakening TV movie. Artist appears next in the feature The Philosophers as well as in White Bird in a Blizzard with Shailene Woodley, Angela Bassett and Gabourey Sidibe.

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2012-2013 Season Network Rankings: CBS Sweeps In Final Numbers; ABC, CBS & Fox Tie In May Sweep

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 4:05pm PDTTags: ABC, Fox, NBC, the CW, TV Ratings

The 2012-2013 season is officially over and the final network rankings are in. As was long expected, CBS took the top spot in viewers and the adults 18-49 demo, the first time the network has claimed a No. 1 ranking in both categories since the 1991-1992 season. There wasn’t any significant change from the preliminary numbers I reported earlier this week. Fox fell to second place in adults 18-49 for the season, hurt by a variety of factors including a more-than-25% key demo decline for American Idol, lackluster Season 2 numbers for The X Factor, a lack of traction among its comedies, a disappointing baseball postseason and a plethora of pre-emptions in the fall. That breaks Fox’s hold on the key demo title for the past eight seasons.

Related: Full 2012-2013 TV Season Series Rankings

As with last year, NBC was third in adults 18-49 and ABC was fourth. ABC did move over Fox to second place among total viewers this year. This season’s results also see CBS as the first network to simultaneously top viewership and the key demo since Fox took the double gold in 2007-2008, the year of the writers’ strike. Here are final numbers: Read More »

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Full 2012-2013 TV Season Series Rankings

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 4:04pm PDTTags: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, NCIS, Sunday Night Football, the CW, TV Ratings

The 2012-2013 TV season is officially over and there were some top spot shifts among the series rankings from last year. While NBC’s Sunday Night Football remained No.1 among adults 18-49 spot, it was tackled by CBS’ NCIS in total viewership, with the latter squeaking out a win for the period from September 24, 2012-May 22, 2013. Still, NBC is hyping a viewership victory by counting all 19 telecasts of Sunday Night Football starting September 5 and the 21.5 million they pulled in on average compared to NCIS‘ 21.3 million. The network is citing Nielsen’s allowance to broadcasters to track ratings results from a show’s debut even if it occurs before the season starts. Sticking to the boundaries of the season, the 26 scheduled airings of NCIS beat the 14 regularly scheduled broadcasts of SNF in the 2012-2013 season by just under 350,000 viewers. (See comprehensive series ranking lists for the 2012-2013 season according to both total viewership and Adults 18-49 after the jump)

Related: 2012-2013 Season Network Rankings

Within the confines of the 2012-2013 season start and end dates, SNF was essentially the same in terms of viewership and ratings as last year. Coming off a strong 10th season, NCIS was up 10% in viewers and even in the ratings. Replaced by Big Bang Theory in the second spot among the 18-49s, the Wednesday airing of American Idol fell 25% from last season. Elementary, the now cancelled Vegas and The Following were the only new shows to make it into the Top 20 most watched series this season. NBC’s Revolution joined Fox’s Following as the only new shows to make it into the Top 20 shows among Adults 18-49. CBS’ Rules of Engagement was the highest rated show to be cancelled this year while Vegas was the most watched show to get the axe. Among the Big 4 networks, NBC’s Community was the lowest rated scripted show of the season to be renewed with CBS’ Undercover Boss as the lowest rated unscripted show of the season to be returning. The CW’s Nikita was the lowest-rated show overall to be coming back. Here are the full final rankings: Read More »

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‘Good Morning America’ Hits 19-Year Viewership High Over ‘Today’; ‘Good Day NY’ Beats NBC Morning Show In May Sweep

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 2:13pm PDTTags: Good Morning America, Today, TV Ratings

Dancing With The Stars may have hit its lowest finale ever on Tuesday night, but it helped provide a nearly two-decade high to Good Morning America. With DWTS winners on the show on Wednesday, the ABC morning series continued its dominance over rival Today by beating the NBC show by 1.6 million viewers. That’s the largest single-day total viewership spread GMA has had in fast affiliate results over the NBC show since May 18, 1994. Good Morning America pulled in 6.1 million total viewers compared to Today’s 4.5 million. Back on that May day in 1994, GMA had 5.7 million viewers over Today’s 3.8 million. Until Wednesday, the biggest spread between the two was on November 28, 2012, when GMA’s 5.7 million viewers topped Today by 1.3 million. GMA had DWTS winners from last season on that day too. Read More »

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Evan Peters Joins ‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 1:41pm PDTTags: 20th Century Fox, Bryan Singers, Evan Peters, X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Bryan Singer once again has used Twitter to announce a casting for the new X-Men movie. Fox confirmed that Evan Peters will play Quicksilver in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, which is now in production for a July 2014 bow. “Before he was an #Avenger, he was just a REALLY fast kid. Thrilled to say #EvanPeters is joining #XMen #DaysOfFuturePast as #Quicksilver“, Singer wrote today. According to X-Men comic mythology, Quicksilver is the son of Magneto (Michael Fassbender/Ian McKellen) and is sometimes a good guy, sometimes a bad one. Singer has used the social network to say that most of the original X-Men cast is back for this one including Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Hugh Jackman, McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Halle Berry. Omar Sy, Peter Dinklage and Fan Bingbing are also aboard alongside James McAvoy and Fassbender. Read More »

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Will LIN TV Stations Go Dark On Time Warner Cable?

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 1:23pm EDTTags: Bright House Networks, LIN TV, Time Warner Cable

The broadcaster has begun to warn more than 1.5M viewers in 14 markets that its stations could disappear from Time Warner Cable and Bright House Network systems at the end of next week unless the companies reach a new retransmission consent agreement. Stations at risk include LIN TV‘s NBC, CW, and MyNetworkTV affiliates in Austin; CBS and CW stations in Buffalo, NY; NBC and CW outlets in Dayton, OH; and Fox and CW stations in Green Bay, WI. The two cable companies account for about 20.6% of LIN’s viewers, according to SNL Kagan data. LIN says on its Buffalo CBS affiliate’s website that “It costs a substantial amount of money to produce local programming, bid for top-quality programming, invest in high-definition, and make other upgrades to equipment and technology so we can deliver a superior product.” It adds in a statement that it wants “less than what Time Warner pays for many of its cable networks with far lower ratings.” But Time Warner Cable spokesman Jon Gary Herrera says that LIN is asking for a 50% rate hike, “a very steep increase from a contract negotiated two years ago.” Stations and pay TV companies typically settle retransmission consent disputes at the eleventh hour. But LIN’s stations were blacked out on Time Warner Cable for 25 days in fall 2008 when negotiations reached an impasse.

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WME Signs ‘Sons Of Anarchy’ Creator Kurt Sutter

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 10:00am PDTTags: Kurt Sutter, Sons of Anarchy, WME
Nellie Andreeva

Kurt Sutter, the colorful creator/executive producer of FX’s Sons Of Anarchy, has signed with WME. He was with ICM Partners. Last year, Sutter inked his first overall deal: a three-year pact with FX Prods and 20th Century Fox TV, whose division Fox21 co-produces SOA with FX Prods. In addition to running SOA, which is heading into its sixth season, Sutter has been developing new projects for FX, including a comedy that may star his wife/SOA star Katey Sagal and an action/horror drama with John Shiban. Last year, the Shield alum executive produced Kurt Sutter’s Outlaw Empires for Discovery Channel. He continues to be repped by attorney Michael Gendler.

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Modern Family’, ‘Law & Order: SVU’ & ‘Criminal Minds’ Hit Finale Lows, ‘Masterchef’ Down In Season Debut

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 9:07am PDTTags: Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, MasterChef, Modern Family, TV Ratings

The final night of the 2012-2013 TV season saw six finales and one season debut. On ABC, Wednesday marked the Season 4 finale of Modern Family (3.6/11) at 9 PM. In a season that saw the comedy post its first adults 18-49 win over American Idol, last night’s episode dipped 3% from its May 14 show. While the highest-rated show of the night by far, Family also fell 12% from its Season 3 end on May 23, 2012 to hit an all-time season-finale low. That result could change a bit in the final numbers as the extra minute of Family is factored in. Last week, the show went up from its 3.5 in fast affiliate rating to a 3.6 later in the day. The Season 4 finale of The Middle (2.0/7) started ABC’s primetime last night, with the sitcom was up a slight 5% from last week and even with last year’s May 23, 2012 finale. A Modern Family (1.6/5) encore followed at 8:30 PM. How To Live With You Parents (For The Rest Of Your Life) (2.2/6) was the only non-finale original on ABC last night. The newbie comedy was up 10% from its May 14 show. Nashville (1.9/5) wrapped its freshman cycle with cliffhangers-galore show that saw a 12% rise from last week.

Related: CBS Wins Season; ABC Tops Adults 18-49 In Final Week

A two-hour Criminal Minds (2.7/8) finale was the only original on CBS last night. Literally ending with a bang, the Season 8 ender of the recently renewed procedural series was up 4% from its May 14 episode but down a hard 25% from last season’s two-hour finale on May 16, 2012. Though the most watched show of the night with 10.80 million viewers, that’s a finale low for the series. With 8.982 million watching, CBS won the night in total viewers and tied with ABC (2.2) in adults 18-49. Read More »

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