By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --When CNN gave Chris Cuomo its 9 p.m. ET time slot last June, there was reason to fear it could be a television suicide mission.
After all, that hour is where the big dogs roam. Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow are the top two personalities in cable television. They still are, but Cuomo’s “Prime Time” quickly established itself as CNN’s most-watched program and, with 1.64 million viewers in January, is having its best month, the Nielsen company said.
“For certain, it was a challenge to begin with,” said Melanie Buck, the show’s executive producer. “I thought that going in there as the underdog gave us the chance to go in there without expectations that we would compete with them on a nightly basis. I think it took some of the pressure off.”
For CNN, viewership in the time slot is up 49 percent over last January, when the network aired the second of two Anderson Cooper hours, Nielsen said.
Cuomo’s show made news in January with a head-scratching interview by President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudolph Giuliani. Buck said she and Cuomo sought to build a show around the host’s expertise in law and politics, and skill in interviewing.
Maddow led the 9 p.m. time slot, and all of cable news, with a January nightly average of 3.25 million viewers, Nielsen said. Hannity averaged 3.04 million.
It was a big week for news: Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN were the three most-watched cable networks, including all of entertainment. Fox News also reached the 17-year mark as the top-rated network in cable news.
Among the broadcasters, CBS won the week in primetime, averaging 5.7 million viewers. NBC had 4.9 million, ABC had 4.6 million, Fox had 3.2 million, ION Television had 1.44 million, Univision had 1.38 million, Telemundo had 1.2 million and the CW had 1.1 million.
Fox News Channel averaged 2.36 million viewers in primetime. MSNBC had 2.01 million, CNN had 1.34 million, TNT had 1.3 million and Hallmark had 1.29 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9.7 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 9 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.8 million viewers.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Jan. 21-27. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 11.24 million.
2. “America’s Got Talent Champions,” NBC, 9.71 million.
3. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 9.42 million.
4. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 8.43 million.
5. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 8.33 million.
6. “This is Us,” NBC, 8.23 million.
7. “The Conners,” ABC, 7.74 million.
8. “Ellen’s Game of Games,” NBC, 7.47 million.
9. “FBI,” CBS, 7.4 million.
10. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 7.23 million.
11. “The Masked Singer,” Fox, 7.15 million.
12. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 6.99 million.
13. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 6.75 million.
14. “Bull,” CBS, 6.71 million.
15. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 6.7 million.
16. “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (Sunday, 8 p.m.), ABC, 6.56 million.
17. “Fam,” CBS, 6.35 million.
18. “The Good Doctor,” ABC, 6.28 million.
19. “The Big Bang Theory” (Thursday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 6.16 million.
20. “The Bachelor,” ABC, 5.98 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