By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --For all of the changes in how and when people consume television content, CBS’ dominance in showing more scripted material that people watch each week remains consistent.
Of the 30 most popular dramas and comedies shown on TV last week, 18 were CBS programs, the Nielsen company said. They include “NCIS,” still the most-watched drama on TV, and the comedy “The Big Bang Theory” and incorporate much of the network’s primetime schedule.
NBC was second with six scripted shows and ABC had four. Fox had only one (“Empire”) and AMC’s “The Walking Dead” held the flag for cable networks.
Things are more evenly divided if you restrict the top 30 shows to viewers aged 18-to-49, the demographic most prized by advertisers, but CBS still leads. CBS had 10 of the top 30 shows among this group. ABC was next with seven, NBC had six, Fox had five and AMC and the CW both had one.
ABC (“Dancing With the Stars”), NBC (“The Voice”) and CBS (“Survivor”) each have strong non-scripted franchises. Fox’s relative weakness in this category, with the exception of “Master Chef,” explains why it lags so far behind its rivals at this point.
CBS averaged 10.3 million viewers in prime time last week. NBC was second with 8.3 million, ABC had 7 million, Fox had 3.5 million, Univision had 2.2 million, the CW had 1.6 million, Telemundo had 1.5 million and ION Television had 1.1 million.
ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.97 million viewers in prime time. Fox News Channel had 1.77 million, Hallmark had 1.69 million, USA had 1.56 million and AMC had 1.55 million.
NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second with 8.8 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 7.6 million viewers.
Here are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Nov.2-8. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Philadelphia at Dallas, NBC, 23.05 million.
2. “NCIS,” CBS, 17.98 million.
3. “NFL Pregame Show, NBC, 16.89 million.
4. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 15.76 million.
5. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 14.81 million.
6. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 14:11 million.
7. “Country Music Association Awards,” ABC, 13.62 million.
8. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 13.1 million.
9. “The Walking Dead,” AMC, 12.44 million.
10. NFL Football: Indiana at Carolina, ESPN, 12.4 million.
11. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 12.09 million.
12. “The Voice” (Monday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 12.06 million.
13. “Empire,” Fox, 11.68 million.
14. College Football: LSU at Alabama, CBS, 11.06 million.
15. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 10.9 million.
16. “Madam Secretary,” CBS, 10.59 million.
17. “Scorpion,” CBS, 9.51 million.
18. “Supergirl,” CBS, 8.87 million.
19. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 8.85 million.
20. “Survivor,” CBS, 8.8 million.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More