By Frazier Moore, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --On a rerun-riddled schedule last week, viewers flocked to the limited ration of fresh fare, according to Nielsen.
Game 5 of the NBA Finals was by far the week's big attraction, drawing more than 24 million viewers to ABC to land the week's top spot.
NBC grabbed the next three slots with its participation-variety shows "America's Got Talent," ''World of Dance" and "Little Big Shots."
ABC's "Celebrity Family Feud" placed seventh, and the season premiere of NBC's "American Ninja Warrior" was 12th-ranked, just ahead of "Steve Harvey's Funderdome" on ABC.
Mostly, the lineup was a sea of reruns, including even CBS' "60 Minutes," which ranked 11th. But with an audience of 5.4 million, it was far ahead of NBC's rival newsmagazine, "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly," which, despite a much-hyped new segment with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, finished a disappointing 38th place with a viewership of 3.6 million.
Overall, ABC remained dominant in prime time for its third week, averaging 5.34 million viewers, while NBC was second with 4.53 million. CBS had 4.15 million viewers, Fox had 2.60 million, Univision had 1.42 million, ION Television had 1.27 million, Telemundo had 940,000 and the CW had 780,000.
Fox News Channel remained the week's most popular cable network, averaging 2.29 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 1.88 million, TBS had 1.51 million and HGTV had 1.48 million.
ABC's "World News Tonight" was the front-runner among evening newscasts with an average of 7.65 million viewers, but NBC's "Nightly News" was close behind with 7.58 million. The "CBS Evening News" had 5.96 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for June 12-18. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. NBA Finals: Cleveland at Golden State, Game 5, ABC, 24.53 million.
2. "America's Got Talent" (Tuesday), NBC, 12.70 million.
3. "World of Dance," NBC, 8.04 million.
4. "Little Big Shots," NBC 7.29 million.
5. NBA Countdown – Game 5, ABC, 6.81 million.
6. "NCIS," CBS, 6.75 million.
7. "Celebrity Family Feud" (Sunday), ABC, 6.25 million.
8. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 6.14 million.
9. "Bull," CBS, 5.64 million.
10. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 5.62 million.
11. "60 Minutes," CBS, 5.42 million.
12. "American Ninja Warrior," NBC, 5.35 million
13. "Steve Harvey's Funderdome," ABC, 5.12 million.
14. "Celebrity Family Feud" (Thursday), ABC, 4.91 million.
15. "The $100,000 Pyramid," ABC, 4.87 million.
16. "Jimmy Kimmel Live – Game Night 5," ABC, 4.71 million.
17. "Superior Donuts" (Thursday), ABC, 4.70 million.
18. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 4.58 million.
19. "Hawaii Five-O," CBS, 4.57 million.
20. "Mom," CBS, 4.51 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