By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Given all the attention it has received over the past two years, the actual release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report wasn’t exactly appointment television viewing.
The ABC, CBS and NBC broadcast networks and the cable’s CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC collectively averaged 12.7 million viewers last Thursday when the redacted report on Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election was put out, the Nielsen company said. Nielsen measured the three cable networks between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. EDT, and the two separate special reports aired on each of the broadcast networks within that period.
To put that in some perspective, the ABC, CBS and NBC nightly newscasts collectively reached 20.2 million viewers that night — and that was less than the shows averaged for the full week.
When Attorney General William Barr gave his verbal summary of the Mueller report starting at 9:30, viewership on ABC and CBS was lower than typical daytime programming in that hour, Nielsen said.
For the coverage overall until 1 p.m., Fox News Channel led the way with an average of 2.78 million viewers. CBS, whose second special report was shorter than its rivals, averaged 2.52 million. NBC had 2.19 million, ABC had 2.06 million, MSNBC had 2.01 million and CNN had 1.17 million, Nielsen said.
CBS easily won the week in primetime, averaging 6 million viewers. ABC had 4.4 million viewers, NBC had 3.6 million, Fox had 2.5 million, ION Television has 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.25 million, Univision had 1.17 million and the CW had 840,000.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.41 million viewers in prime time. TNT had 2.2 million, MSNBC had 1.72 million, HGTV had 1.17 million and USA had 1.12 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.1 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.7 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.7 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for April 15-21. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. “NCIS,” CBS, 11.89 million.
2. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 11.45 million.
3. “Game of Thrones,” HBO, 10.29 million.
4. “FBI,” CBS, 8.77 million.
5. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.47 million.
6. “Survivor,” CBS, 7.9 million.
7. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 7.66 million.
8. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 7.18 million.
9. “American Idol” (Sunday), ABC, 7.114 million.
10. “America Idol” (Monday), ABC, 7.106 million.
11. “Motown 60: A Grammy Celebration,” CBS, 6.86 million.
12. “Life in Pieces,” CBS, 6.74 million.
13. “Bull,” CBS, 6.66 million.
14. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 6.54 million.
15. “Mom,” CBS
16. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 6.25 million.
17. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 5.75 million.
18. “Amazing Race,” CBS, 5.74 million.
19. “911,’ Fox, 5.65 million.
20. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 5.28 million.
ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is owned by Fox Corp.; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More