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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Undercover Boss’ Up Strong, ‘Blue Bloods’, Touch’ & ‘Fashion Star’ Finales Down, ABC Wins Friday Night

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday May 11, 2013 @ 10:20am PDTTags: Blue Bloods, Kitchen Nightmares, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Touch, TV Ratings

There were finales and there were finales on Friday. Some shows, like CBS’ Blue Bloods (1.1/4) and Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares (1.1/4) ended their season while others ended altogether when the network hammers dropped this week. After a cycle in which it consistently took in the most viewers for its night and had solid ratings, the renewed police family drama ended its third season last night as the most watched show of the night with 9.90 million viewers, but third among Adults 18-49 for its 10 PM time slot. Blue Bloods was down 15% from last week’s show and down the same percentage from the 1.3/4 that its season 2 finale received on May 11, 2012. Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares saw Gordon Ramsay in Arizona as the unscripted series wrapped up its sixth season on Friday. The series was even with its May 3 show and dipped 8% from its fifth season ender on March 30, 2012.

Kiefer Sutherland may be returning to Fox in a limited series version of 24 but his Touch (0.6/2) won’t. After two lackluster seasons in two separate time slots, the network pulled the life support this week. Up 14% in viewers from its May 2 show, last night’s season and now series finale was even with last week’s show. Compared to its Season 1 closer on May 31, 2012, this year’s Touch crashed down 54%.
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NBC’s ‘Rock Center With Brian Williams’ Cancelled

By NELLIE ANDREEVA AND DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday May 10, 2013 @ 1:55pm PDTTags: NBC, Rock Center With Brian Williams

After two struggling seasons and numerous time slots, NBC has axed Rock Center With Brian Williams, the network announced today. While the consistently low-rated show will not be returning in the fall, … Read More »

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UPDATE: Lighten Up, Ari; Sends Legal Letter To NBC After Emanuel Brothers Interview

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday March 24, 2013 @ 10:58am PDTTags: Brothers Emanuel, Rock Center With Brian Williams

UPDATE: Ari Emanuel clearly doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone. NBC’s Rock Center With Brian Williams featured a mostly lighthearted profile of him and his two bros Friday night timed to the publication of Brothers Emanuel: A Memoir Of An American Family. Williams assembled Ari, the … Read More »

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‘Harry’s Law’, ‘Rock Center’, ‘Big Miracle’ Take Humane Society Genesis Awards

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 9:30pm PDTTags: Big Miracle, Genesis Awards, Rock Center With Brian Williams

The Drew Barrymore-John Krasinski feature film Big Miracle, Stephen Colbert’s satirical The Colbert Report, David E. Kelley’s Harry’s Law, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Discovery Channel’s Ivory Wars, and ABC’s Nightline were among winners in news … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Last Man Standing’ & ‘Malibu Country’ Season Finales Up, ‘Touch’, ‘Rock Center’ & ’20/20′ Rise

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday March 23, 2013 @ 10:10am PDTTags: Ari Emanuel, Last Man Standing, Malibu Country, NCAA, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Touch, TV Ratings

Friday night saw the season finales of ABC comedies Last Man Standing (1.6/6) and Malibu Country (1.4/5). Wrapping up its second cycle, the Tim Allen starring … Read More »

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Apple Begins Charm Offensive Against Critics: Claims Will Start Bringing U.S. Jobs Back

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday December 6, 2012 @ 8:03am PSTTags: Apple, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Tim Cook

Wouldn’t it be swell if the studios and networks felt the same way about their own runaway production? Apple‘s chief Tim Cook took on his Bad Apple critics in interviews this week — one airing tonight on Rock Center With Brian Williams (see the video below) and the other with Bloomberg Businessweek. Now Cook is claiming a line of Apple’s Mac computers will be manufactured in the U.S. in 2013. Certainly the Cupertino company has met with terrible press recently on at least two fronts — those Chinese worker walkouts over allegations of oppressive Foxconn working conditions on the new iPhone 5, and The New York Times exposé about Apple using creative accounting and legal loopholes to deprive U.S. and California government coffers of billions in badly needed corporate tax dollars while the fiscal cliff looms. When Williams asked Cook why Apple isn’t Read More »

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‘Rock Center’ Changes Executive Producer Amid NBC News Shuffle

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday October 9, 2012 @ 4:11pm PDTTags: NBC News, Rock Center With Brian Williams

The NBC newsmagazine has replaced original executive producer Rome Hartman with Alex Wallace, a top lieutenant of NBC News president Steve Capus. According to an internal memo from Capus made public today, Hartman will stay on to work on special projects including the network’s presidential election coverage. Meanwhile, along with the day-to-day oversight of the year-old Rock Center With Brian Williams, Wallace will guide Ann Curry’s new production unit and health coverage. Rock Center has struggled to gain a ratings foothold since its debut; recently it has gained traction in its new Thursday time slot, up 38% in the demo week-over-week for its last airing, though it still hovers around a 1 rating. Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: Very Low Start For ‘Bent’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday March 22, 2012 @ 9:36am PDTTags: American Idol, Bent, Ratings, Rock Center With Brian Williams
Nellie Andreeva

Bent TV RatingsNBC’s midseason comedy Bent landed some of the best reviews for a new comedy this season. Unfortunately, that will be little consolation to the show’s producers after the romantic comedy starring Amanda Peet and David Walton premiered to dismal ratings last night: 1.0/3 in adults 18-49 and 2.82 million total viewers at 9 PM and 0.9/2, 2.42 million at 9:30 PM to rank as NBC’s lowest-rated in-season comedy debut ever — down from the quickly yanked The Paul Reiser Show (1.1/3) last spring. And that is with ABC’s Modern Family in repeat last night. NBC launched Bent with little promotion in one of the most underperforming time slots on the schedule. (In its ratings notes this morning, NBC points out that Bent delivered the network’s best demo rating in the 9-9:30 PM period in a month and a half.) Then NBC couldn’t find a show to pair Bent with, running it instead in a weird, burnoff-like pattern of back-to-back episodes. Since the show had a short, six-episode order to begin with, that airing pattern pretty much eliminates word-of-mouth as Bent will be over in three weeks, leaving no time for new viewers to discover it. Still, Bent was not the lowest-rated NBC show last night — that dubious distinction goes to Rock Center With Brian Williams (0.7/2) at 10 PM, which was actually up 17% (a tenth) from last week’s series low. NBC’s 8-9 PM comedies rebounded from their losses last week — Whitney (1.6/5) was up 14%, and  Are You There, Chelsea (1.4/4) was up 27%. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Person To Person’ A Non-Starter, ‘Family’ & ‘SVU’ Up, ‘Idol’ Stable

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 9:43am PSTTags: American Idol, Person To Person, Ratings, Rock Center With Brian Williams
Nellie Andreeva

Can we all agree that no new newsmagazine could do more than a 1 demo rating no matter how big the talent and recognizable the title and stop trying? Last night, CBS’ revival of Person To Person launched with a 1.1/3 at 8 PM. At 9 PM, NBC’s Rock Center With Brian Williams premiered in its new time slot with the same 1.1/3. The two tied as the lowest-rated programs of the night. Person To Person also pushed down Criminal Minds (3.4/9, down 8% from two weeks ago). At 10 PM, CSI (2.7/7) was down 22% from its last original two weeks ago, which featured the departure of co-star Marg Helgenberger and hit season highs. At NBC, Rock Center‘s lead-out, Law & Order: SVU (2.2/6), with guest stars Miranda Lambert and Harry Connick Jr (neither singing), was actually up, jumping 22% from its last original three weeks ago. But at 8 PM, comedies Whitney (1.5/4), and Are Your There, Chelsea? (1.5/4), which reversed their downward ratings trend last week, were at it again, each down 12% from last week. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Alcatraz’ Slips, ‘Rock Center’ Drops, ‘Gossip Girl’ & ‘Dixie’ Rise

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday January 31, 2012 @ 9:11am PSTTags: Alcatraz, House, Rock Center With Brian Williams, The Bachelor
Nellie Andreeva

It was another case of “when the cat’s away…” last night as Fox and ABC battled it out last night while CBS’ formidable Monday lineup was once again in repeats. But CBS wasn’t completely out — a repeat of Two … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘House’ And ‘The Bachelor’ Rise, ‘Alcatraz’ Drops In Week 2

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 9:50am PSTTags: Alcatraz, House, Rock Center With Brian Williams, The Bachelor
Nellie Andreeva

House‘s ratings upswing couldn’t have come at a better time. As conversations between Fox and Universal Television over the future of the veteran medical drama continue, House last night came back strong from a two-month hiatus. Returning to its old … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: Strong Relaunch For ‘Fear Factor’, ’2.5 Men’ Hits Season Low

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday December 13, 2011 @ 9:15am PSTTags: Fear Factor, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Two and a Half Men
Nellie Andreeva

Viewers still love ‘em worms and cockroaches. After a five-year break, NBC’s Fear Factor returned to the schedule last night with ratings the likes of which NBC has not seen in a long while. The gross-out reality series premiered with back-to-back episodes averaging a 3.1 rating/8 share in adults 18-49 (8.7 million total viewers) at 8 PM and a 3.5/8 (8.5 million) at 9 PM. Both hours posted season highs in their time slots, outperforming NBC’s 18-49 season averages by 88% and 106%, respectively. Fear Factor, back with its original producing team and host Joe Rogan, helped struggling newsmagazine Rock Center With Brian Williams (1.1/3, 4 million), which was up 22% from last week to match its series high in 18-49. NBC (2.6/7, 7 million for the night), always dead last on Mondays this fall, finished a competitive second behind CBS (3.6/9, 12 million). Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: ‘Hawaii’, ‘Charlie Brown’ & Country Awards Up; ‘You Deserve It’ Dives

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday December 6, 2011 @ 9:40am PSTTags: 2 Broke Girls, Castle, Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie, Hawaii Five-0, How I Met Your Mother, Mike & Molly, Ratings Rat Race, Rock Center With Brian Williams, The Sing-Off, TV Ratings, Two and a Half Men, Univision, You Deserve It
Nellie Andreeva

Against mostly atypical competition, CBS’ regular Monday lineup dominated every half-hour in its return to originals last night after a week of repeats. ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, a huge draw among total viewers, sucks out (mostly older) audiences from the competition. As they didn’t face Dancing with originals for the first time this season, CBS’ comedies boosted their viewership. How I Met Your Mother (4.5/12 in adults 18-49, 11.7 million total viewers) was up a tenth in the demo vs. two weeks ago and drew its largest audience with a regularly scheduled episode in almost three years. (since January 12, 2009). Rookie 2 Broke Girls (4.6/11, 12.8 million) was flat in 18-49 and logged its largest audience since the premiere, which followed the Ashton Kutcher debut on Two And A Half Men. Speaking of Men (5.0/12, 15 million), it was down two tenths in 18-49 from its last original, while Mike & Molly (4.2/10, 12.8 million) was even. Men ranked as the top program of the night in 18-49 and total viewers, as did CBS as a network. The net’s wins were solidified by Hawaii Five-0‘s 3.0/8 in 18-49, up 7%, and 10.8 million total viewers. In the 10 PM hour, the CBS procedural easily topped ABC’s Castle (2.0/5, 8 million), which was down 13% from its last original two weeks ago to hit a season low. Castle was hurt by its underwhelming lead-in, new game show You Deserve It (1.0/2), which continued its rapid ratings descent, down 29% from last week. ABC’s best ratings came from the holiday specials in the 8 PM hour: A Charlie Brown Christmas (2.8/8, 9.1 million) was up 8% from last year’s telecast in 18-49, while Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice (2.2/6, 7 million) was even with its premiere last year. Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: CBS’ Repeats Top Night

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday November 29, 2011 @ 9:25am PSTTags: Hart of Dixie, House, Ratings Rat Race, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Terra Nova, The Sing-Off, TV Ratings, You Deserve It
Nellie Andreeva

CBS’ all-rerun lineup dominated every hour last night against mostly original competition. A repeat of rookie 2 Broke Girls (3.3/8, 9.2 million) was the top program of the night in adults 18-49, while an encore Two And A Half Men … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘You Deserve It’ Off To Soft Start, ‘Rock Center’ Hits Series Low

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday November 22, 2011 @ 9:22am PSTTags: 2 Broke Girls, Castle, Dancing With The Stars Ratings, Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie, Hawaii Five-0, How I Met Your Mother, Mike & Molly, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Terra Nova, The Sing-Off, You Deserve It
Nellie Andreeva

With Thanksgiving trips and meals on viewers’ minds, watching TV is taking a back seat as most programs last night were down week-to-week. Additionally, ABC’s lineup is headed to a downward adjustment in the finals as its fast nationals … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: CBS Series & NBC’s ‘Rock Center’ Rise, Fox Dramas Slide

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday November 15, 2011 @ 9:39am PSTTags: 2 Broke Girls, 20/20, Dancing With The Stars, Hawaii Five-0, House, How I Met Your Mother, Mike & Molly, Monday Night Football, Ratings Rat Race, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Terra Nova, The Sing-Off, TV Ratings, Two and a Half Men
Nellie Andreeva

CBS’ Monday lineup posted across-the-board gains for a second straight week. How I Met Your Mother (4.5/12 in adults 18-49, 10.4 million total viewers) was up a tenth in 18-49 from last Monday, 2 Broke Girls (4.8/12, 11.7 million) was up 7% from its fast national last week to post its best 18-49 rating in the 8:30 PM slot, Two And A Half Men (5.3/12, 14.6 million) was up 4% to once again rank as the top program of the night in 18-49, and Mike & Molly (4.4/10, 12.2 million) was up 5%. Hawaii Five-0 (3.3/8, 11.5 million) flourished without scripted broadcast competition in the 10 PM hour, up 10% in the demo from its fast national last week to post its best demo and total viewer number since the season premiere. Hawaii will likely tie its season-high opener in the finals if it’s adjusted up a tenth as it normally is. CBS (4.2/10, 12 million) easily won the night in 18-49.

NBC’s Rock Center With Brian Williams (1.3/3, 4.5 million) last night boasted the biggest news “get” of the moment, an exclusive interview with former Penn State football coach and accused child molester Jerry Sandusky. The one-on-one with Bob Costas boosted the struggling newsmagazine to its highest rating to date, up 30% from the 1.0 Rock Center posted in its first two weeks. Still, the show was dwarfed in the 10 PM hour by another newsmagazine, ABC’s special edition of 20/20 (2.8/7, 13.4 million) featuring Diane Sawyer’s interview with recovering shooting victim U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, as well as CBS’ Hawaii Five-0. Rock Center also ranked as the lowest-rated program on the Big 4 networks, and its fast national numbers may have been inflated by a local NFL pre-emption in Minneapolis, so an adjustment down is likely. Read More »

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NBC’s Midseason Schedule: ‘Up All Night’, ‘Whitney’, ‘Rock Center’, ‘Harry’s Law’ Move; ‘Community’ Benched; ‘Suspect’ Pulled

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday November 14, 2011 @ 2:44pm PSTTags: Are You There Chelsea, Awake, Harry's law, Midseason, NBC, Prime Suspect, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Smash, The Firm, TV Schedule, Up All Night, Whitney
Nellie Andreeva

NBC To Give ‘Harry’s Law’ Full-Season Order; ‘Prime Suspect’ Gone?

After a pretty dismal fall, NBC is shaking things up in midseason with several scheduling changes. Gone from the lineup is struggling freshman Prime Suspect (NBC says it hasn’t made a final decision on its cancellation), while four series — Whitney, Up All Night, Harry’s Law and Rock Center With Brian Williams — are on the move. NBC is creating a multi-camera comedy block in the 8-9 PM Wednesday hour with Whitney and midseason comedy Are You There, Chelsea (formerly Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea; No alcohol-flavored title in the family hour.) The block, which will debut January 11, brings together two female comedians with similar sensibility in Whitney Cummings and Chelsea Handler, on whose books Chelsea is based. A month later, the two comedies will be followed by low-rated newsmagazine Rock Center With Brian Williams. It will take over the Wednesday 9 PM slot from Harry’s Law, which is moving to Sundays. Rock Center had to move out of the Monday 10 PM slot to make room for NBC’s highest-profile new series this season, Broadway drama Smash, which will premiere on February 6 and run in the post-The Voice slot as originally scheduled. NBC’s other changes for midseason include new comedy Up All Night moving to Whitney‘s Thursday 9:30 PM slot; 30 Rock replacing Community on Thursdays at 8 PM; and the John Grisham adaptation The Firm, originally slated for a Sunday midseason run, sliding into Prime Suspect‘s Thursday 10 PM slot. The order for Community has not been reduced, so it’s unclear what NBC will do with the remaining episodes of the college-set comedy. Missing from the midseason lineup is NBC’s ambitious new drama series Awake, which recently took an unplanned break to work on scripts. Here is NBC’s midseason schedule (with premiere dates) that also includes new reality series Fashion Star on Tuesdays at 10 PM and the return of Celebrity Apprentice on Sundays: Read More »

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NBC Poised To Make Scheduling Changes

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday November 14, 2011 @ 1:26pm PSTTags: Grimm, Harry's law, NBC, NBC Scheduling, Rock Center With Brian Williams, TV Schedule, Up All Night, Whitney
Nellie Andreeva

NBC Unveils Midseason Schedule, Moves ‘Whitney’, ‘Up All Night’, ‘Rock Center’ & ‘Harry’s Law’

I hear that NBC is about to make some scheduling moves. The network is keeping mum, but there is speculation that rookie comedies Up All Night and Whitney, both with full-season orders, may be swapping places. Up All Night is getting murdered in the Wednesday 8 PM slot, so it will probably benefit from a protected run behind The Office. It also is single-camera and has a workplace element like the rest of NBC’s Thursday’s lineup. Up All Night will likely move to the Thursday 9:30 PM spot, but Whitney may be a bit too racy for the Wednesday family hour. Also possibly on the move is NBC’s new fairytale drama Grimm, which started off strong in the Friday 9 PM slot but has been slipping since. While the series’ long-term potential is still unclear, given the dearth of strong prospects at NBC this fall — especially on the drama side — the network probably should give the newbie a shot. Read More »

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Chelsea Clinton Will Work For NBC News

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday November 14, 2011 @ 5:11am PSTTags: NBC News, NBC Nightly News, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Steve Capus

Today will be Chelsea Clinton’s first day of work as an NBC News special correspondent. The daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton will handle pieces that NBC Nightly News will use for its “Making A Difference” segment that focuses on people who do volunteer work, as well as segments for Rock Center With Brian Williams. Reportedly, she’ll donate her NBC salary to the Clinton Foundation and George Washington University Hospital. Hiring Chelsea may further fuel GOP claims that NBC is soft on Democrats, but NBC already employs Jenna Bush and Meghan McCain. This is an intriguing career choice for Chelsea because she has spent much of her adult life stiff-arming the press: When she made public appearances during her mother’s presidential campaign in 2008, Chelesa refused to answer questions from reporters — although she did respond to those from audience members. She also seems to have a full plate outside of NBC: After working at a management consulting company and a hedge fund, Clinton is going for a doctorate degree at Oxford University. She works at New York University, the Clinton Foundation, and the Clinton Global Initiative. And in September she joined the board of Barry Diller’s IAC. Here’s NBC’s release:

November 14, 2011 — New York, N.Y. — Chelsea Clinton is teaming up with “Rock Center with Brian Williams” and “NBC Nightly News” as a Special Correspondent, the network announced today. Clinton’s role with the shows and the network will be to highlight stories within the “Making a Difference” franchise. “Making a Difference” segments have a history of profiling organizations and individuals who represent the best of what works in the United States and around the world, frequently emphasizing stories about everyday people doing extraordinary things.

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