By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --An estimated 6.3 million people saw the premiere of Netflix’s “Lost in Space” within the first three days that the streaming service made it available this month, a promising start that would make it one of the outlet’s more popular series after the phenomenon of “Stranger Things.”
The Nielsen company is starting to draw the curtain back on some of the user numbers for streaming services, which have been reluctant to do so on their own.
“We’ve had a lot of anxiety among our clients about sharing this data with you,” said Brian Fuhrer, senior vice president of product leadership for Nielsen, on Tuesday, “because they’re still learning it.”
Nielsen’s data also shows the impact of binging: the average “Lost in Space” viewer watched the show for two and a half hours on those first few days. Netflix released 10 separate one-hour episodes of the show on April 13 and, within three days, nearly 1.2 million people watched the last episode, a clear indication they’d seen the whole season.
Roughly 10 percent of the total time spent watching television now is spent with streaming services, Nielsen said. The number approaches one-quarter of all viewing among viewers aged 12 to 17. Netflix dominates, with 49 percent of the streaming viewing coming on their service. YouTube’s 10 percent is the second-highest individual service, Nielsen said.
For all of the attention that new series put on by the streaming services gets, Nielsen said that 80 percent of the viewing goes to older programs like “Friends.”
Four years ago, 88 percent of television viewing came on cable or satellite. Now that number is down to 79 percent, an indication of the impact of cord cutting, Nielsen said.
On the broadcast networks last week, ABC’s “Roseanne” was again the week’s most-watched show.
CBS easily won the week in primetime, averaging 6.7 million viewers. NBC had 4.8 million viewers, ABC had 4.4 million, Fox had 3 million, Univision had 1.6 million, ION Television had 1.3 million, the CW had 1.2 million and Telemundo had 1.1 million.
TNT was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 3.06 million viewers in primetime. Fox News Channel had 2.37 million, MSNBC had 1.94 million, HGTV had 1.35 million and ESPN had 1.3 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.5 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 7.9 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6 million viewers.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for April 16-22. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. “Roseanne,” ABC, 13.27 million.
2. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 12.91 million.
3. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 11.67 million.
4. “NCIS,” CBS, 11.44 million.
5. “Bull,” CBS, 10.83 million.
6. “The Voice” (Monday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 9.35 million.
7. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 9.02 million.
8. “Mom,” CBS, 8.83 million.
9. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 8.46 million.
10. “The Voice” (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 8.39 million.
11. “The Voice” (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 8.35 million.
12. “Survivor,” CBS, 7.74 million.
13. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 7.57 million.
14. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 7.52 million.
15. “American Idol” (Sunday), ABC, 7.46 million.
16. “Instinct,” CBS, 7.11 million.
17. “American Idol” (Monday), ABC, 6.97 million.
18. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 6.93 million.
19. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 6.62 million.
20. “Law & Order: SVU,’ NBC, 6.58 million.
ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More