By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Even when changing a channel takes only the flick of a finger, CBS News learned there are still benefits for a television network from people who don’t bother to reach for the remote.
CBS had more viewers than any other network for its coverage of Sunday’s debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and for the post-event analysis. That’s good for a news division that generally runs third among three competitors for its daily morning and evening news shows.
The Nielsen company’s ratings report explains how CBS got the boost.
The network attracted 12.4 million people for “60 Minutes,” which aired directly ahead of the debate. Meanwhile, ABC had only 4.1 million people for the drama “Once Upon a Time” in the same time slot. Fox’s rerun of a “Son of Zorn” cartoon just ahead of the debate had 2.1 million viewers.
With that head start, an estimated 16.5 million people saw the debate on CBS – valuable exposure for its news team. ABC had 11.5 million – actually not bad with so few people watching ahead of time – and Fox had 5.6 million, Nielsen said.
NBC didn’t air the debate, instead sticking with its NFL game that night between Green Bay and the N.Y. Giants, which had 16.6 million viewers.
CBS had another comfortable victory in the prime-time ratings, averaging 9.6 million viewers last week. NBC had 7.3 million viewers, ABC had 6.1 million, Fox had 3.4 million, Telemundo had 1.82 million, Univision had 1.75 million, the CW had 1.3 million and ION Television had 1.1 million.
ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 3.79 viewers in prime time last week. Fox News Channel had 3.47 million, CNN had 2.76 million, TBS had 2.33 million and MSNBC had 2.01 million.
The evening news competition was a virtual tie: ABC’s “World News Tonight” averaged 8,449,000 viewers last week and NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8,446,000. The “CBS Evening News” had 6.5 million viewers.
Debate coverage is not included in the rankings because it is commercial-free.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Oct. 3-9. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: N.Y. Giants at Green Bay, NBC, 16.62 million.
2. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 14.81 million.
3. “NCIS,” CBS, 14.44 million.
4. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 14.32 million.
5. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 12.4 million.
6. NFL Football: Arizona at San Francisco, CBS, 12.07 million.
7. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 11.78 million.
8. “Debate Analysis,” CBS, 10.94 million.
9. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 10.78 million.
10. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 10.73 million.
11. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 9.83 million.
12. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 9.63 million.
13. “Kevin Can Wait,” CBS, 9.62 million.
14. NFL Football: N.Y. Giants at Minnesota, ESPN, 9.5 million.
15. “Empire,” Fox, 9.25 million.
16. “Dancing With the Stars: The Results,” ABC, 9.12 million.
17. “Survivor,” CBS, 8.52 million.
18. “Scorpion,” CBS,, 8.35 million.
19: “Debate Analysis,” ABC, 8.2 million.
20. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 8.08 million.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More