By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --In the ratings battle between titans “The Big Bang Theory” and “Game of Thrones,” laughs won out.
CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” was last week’s top-rated program, with 12.5 million viewers tuning in to the sitcom in its home stretch. The final episode of its 12-season run will air Thursday, May 16.
HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” also nearing the end after eight seasons, placed second, according to Nielsen figures released Tuesday.
The fantasy drama drew 11.8 million viewers to the episode that debuted last Sunday, edged out by the sitcom it had bested the week before.
“Game of Thrones,” which ends May 19, reached a total 17.2 million viewers with figures for streaming, on-demand and a Sunday rerun included. That’s a slight dip from the big battle episode that aired April 28 and drew 17.8 million across HBO’s platforms.
A 2 percent uptick in viewership for NBC’s “Billboard Music Awards” was small but meaningful: most major music awards shows have seen double-digit, year-to-year losses, with the Grammys and its 1 percent increase reflecting a rare exception.
With eight of the 10 most-watched shows, CBS cruised to an overall weekly ratings victory with an average 5.96 million viewers. ABC had 4.64 million, NBC had 4.55 million viewers, Fox had 2.64 million, Telemundo had 1.36 million, Univision had 1.31 million, ION Television had 1.24 million and the CW had 740,000.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.4 million viewers in primetime. TNT had 2.36 million, MSNBC had 1.7 million, ESPN had 1.58 million and HGTV had 1.2 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.4 million viewers, with NBC’s “Nightly News” second with 7.6 million. “CBS Evening News,” which will be replacing anchor Jeff Glor with Norah O’Donnell this summer, averaged 5.7 million viewers.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for April 29 to May 5. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 12.5 million.
2. “Game of Thrones,” HBO, 11.8 million.
3. “NCIS,” CBS, 11.7 million.
4. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 10.7 million.
5. “FBI,” CBS, 8.9 million.
6. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 8.1 million.
7. “Billboard Music Awards,” NBC, 8 million.
8. “Mom,” CBS, 7.89 million.
9. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.6 million.
10. “American Idol” (Sunday), ABC, 7.5 million.
11. “Survivor,” CBS, 7.3 million
12. “The Voice,” NBC, 7.24 million.
13. NBA Playoffs: Golden State at Houston, ABC, 7.23 million.
14. “NCIS: New Orleans, CBS, 7.2 million.
15. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 7 million.
16. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 6.8
17. “Bull,” CBS, 6.5 million.
18. “Station 19,” ABC, 6.4 million.
19. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 6.3 million.
20. NBA Playoffs: Houston at Golden State, Turner, 6.2 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.
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