By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Nielsen’s first “most likely to succeed” list is out, and it includes Michael Weatherley, Mandy Moore, Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin James.
They are among the stars in new series that performed well during the first week of the new TV season, the Nielsen company said. The best performer was “Bull,” CBS’ series starring Weatherley as a trial consultant in a story loosely based on Dr. Phil McGraw’s life. Its audience of 15.6 million made it the most-watched debut of the week.
Moore is in the ensemble cast of NBC’s “This is Us,” and James in the CBS comedy “Kevin Can Wait,” which both finished among Nielsen’s Top 25 for their debuts.
All three series, however, had the advantage of following more popular returning series on the schedule: CBS’ “NCIS” and “The Big Bang Theory,” and NBC’s “The Voice.” That’s the television equivalent of beginning a 100-yard dash 50 yards ahead of your opponent.
Sutherland’s critically acclaimed “Designated Survivor” on ABC, however, was the only one of the four newcomers to gather a bigger audience than the show immediately preceding it on the schedule. ABC’s “black-ish” had 6.4 million viewers for its premiere, and “Designated Survivor” followed it with more than 10 million — a positive sign that many viewers specifically sought it out.
After finishing the summer months behind NBC in the ratings, CBS returned to the top spot last week. It also was the only one of the top four networks to gain in viewers compared to the first week of the 2015 season.
CBS averaged 11.2 million viewers in prime time for premiere week. NBC had 8.7 million, and won among the 18-to-49-year-old demographic sought by advertisers. ABC had 5.9 million, Fox had 3.6 million, Telemundo had 1.7 million, Univision had 1.6 million, ION Television had 1.1 million and the CW had 900,000.
ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 3.19 million people in prime time. Fox News Channel ad 2.33 million, TNT had 1.8 million, TBS had 1.44 million and HGTV had 1.31 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.2 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.7 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Sept. 19-25. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Chicago at Dallas, NBC, 20.62 million.
2. NFL Football: Houston at New England, CBS, 17.55 million.
3. “NCIS,” CBS, 16 million.
4. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 15.82 million.
5. “Bull,” CBS, 15.57 million.
6. “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 15.41 million.
7. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14.36 million.
8. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 12.29 million.
9. NFL Football: Philadelphia at Chicago, ESPN, 12.14 million.
10. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 12.1 million.
11. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 11.5 million.
12. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 11.12 million.
13. “NFL Pregame,” CBS, 11.084 million.
14. “Kevin Can Wait,” CBS, 11.08 million.
15. “Empire,” Fox, 10.87 million.
16. “MacGyver,” CBS, 10.73 million.
17. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 10.72 million.
18. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 10.55 million.
19. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 10.34 million.
20. “Hawaii Five-O,” CBS, 10.22 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