A rundown of last week’s Nielsen numbers
By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --NBC’s winning streak in the television ratings hit two weeks, with a turnout of 11.5 million viewers for its live production of “The Wiz” helping the network on a night its ratings are usually low.
NBC also benefited from a strong showing for its special saluting the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York City, the Nielsen company said. A two-week winning streak may not seem like much, but these days CBS is rarely dislodged as television’s most popular network.
The Christmas tree lighting reached 8 million viewers, but CBS’ airing of the holiday chestnut “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer” was seen by a million more people.
An estimated 46 million people watched President Barack Obama’s Oval Office speech on terrorism on one of 12 different networks. A busy news week in the aftermath of the San Bernardino shootings helped Fox News Channel outrank all of the other cable networks for the second time this year.
NBC averaged 8.9 million viewers for the week in prime time. CBS had 8.4 million. Fox had a strong week with the Big Ten football championship and midseason finale of “Empire,” and was third with 6.5 million viewers. ABC had 5.4 million, Univision had 1.9 million, the CW had 1.8 million, Telemundo had 1.6 million and ION Television had 1.3 million.
Fox News Channel averaged 2.7 million viewers in prime time, ESPN had 2.5 million, ABC Family had 2.4 million, Hallmark had 2.03 million and TBS had 1.73 million.
NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9.8 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second with 9 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 7.9 million viewers.
Here are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Nov. 30-Dec. 6. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Indianapolis at Pittsburgh, NBC, 19.19 million.
2. NFL Football: Green Bay at Detroit, CBS, 17.85 million.
3. “The OT,” Fox, 16.76 million.
4. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 14.65 million.
5. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 12.56 million.
6. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 12.13 million.
7. “Empire,” Fox, 11.81 million.
8. “The Wiz Live,” NBC, 11.5 million.
9. “NFL Pregame,” CBS, 10.82 million.
10. NFL Football: Baltimore at Cleveland, ESPN, 10.12 million.
11. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 9.87 million.
12. College Football: Michigan St. vs. Iowa, Fox, 9.82 million.
13. “Survivor,” CBS, 9.42 million.
14. “60 Minutes” (8 p.m. special), CBS, 9.33 million.
15. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 9.03 million
16. “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer,” CBS, 9.02 million.
17. “Sinatra 100, the Grammy Concert,” CBS, 8.78 million.
18. “Criminal Minds,” CBS, 8.75 million.
19. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.68 million.
20. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 8.62 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