By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The return of football and back-to-back prime-time interviews with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump led NBC to a decisive victory in the television ratings.
Both the season-opening Super Bowl rematch between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos and a Sunday night game involving a Tom Brady-less New England team and Arizona both reached more than 20 million viewers, the Nielsen company said.
NBC also reached 14.7 million viewers for the “Commander-in-Chief Forum” featuring Clinton and Trump. Given the rough reception given to moderator Matt Lauer, NBC may have a hard time celebrating that ratings achievement. The first debate between the two presidential candidates, moderated by NBC “Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt, is scheduled for Sept. 26.
Add in summer’s top show in its waning weeks, “America’s Got Talent,” and it made for a dominant week for NBC.
The network averaged 11.1 million viewers in prime time. ABC had 4.5 million, CBS had 4.2 million, Fox had 3.9 million, Telemundo had 1.7 million, Univision had 1.6 million, ION Television had 1.2 million and the CW had 1.1 million.
ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.42 million in prime time. Fox had 2.15 million, Discovery had 1.64 million, HGTV had 1.57 million and USA had 1.44 million.
NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.9 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second with 7.88 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.2 million viewers.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Sept. 5-11. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Carolina at Denver, NBC, 25.19 million.
2. NFL Football: New England at Arizona, NBC, 23.08 million.
3. “NFL Pre-Game Show” (Thursday), NBC, 18.51 million.
4. “NFL Pre-Game Show” (Sunday), NBC, 17.67 million.
5. “Commander-in-Chief Forum,” NBC, 14.72 million.
6. “The OT,” Fox, 14.36 million.
7. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 12.19 million.
8. “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 11.96 million.
9. “NFL Kick-Off Show” (Thursday), NBC, 10.62 million.
10. “America’s Got Talent”(Wednesday), NBC, 10.61 million.
11. College Football: Mississippi vs. Florida, ESPN, 8.35 million.
12. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.95 million.
13. “NCIS,” CBS, 7.52 million.
14. “Better Late Than Never,” NBC, 6.91 million.
15. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 6.67 million.
16. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 6.38 million.
17. “Dateline NBC,” NBC, 6.33 million.
18. “Miss America Competition,” ABC, 6.29 million.
19. “Big Brother” (Sunday), CBS, 6.21 million.
20. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 6.15 million.
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More