By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Jimmy Fallon has topped Stephen Colbert in late-night ratings for the first time since Donald Trump has been president. But the NBC comic might want to keep the champagne on ice.
The Nielsen company said that Fallon's "Tonight" show averaged 2.66 million viewers last week, a whisker above the 2.62 million achieved by Colbert's "Late Show." CBS' Colbert, with his sharp anti-Trump humor, eclipsed long-time leader Fallon the week after Trump's January inauguration and hasn't looked back.
NBC's comparatively strong prime-time schedule in the summer may have helped; CBS has been airing mostly reruns lately in prime time. CBS also aired Colbert reruns on Thursday and Friday that were excluded in the ratings. The network believes it would have won if Colbert aired original shows on those nights, and that it will win when people who watch on a time-delayed basis are later counted in.
NBC won the week in prime time behind its summer hit, "America's Got Talent," and the companion series "World of Dance."
Fox was nearly invisible in the primetime ratings, with its long-running "So You Think You Can Dance" supplanted by NBC in the hoofer competition.
NBC averaged 4.6 million viewers for the week, CBS had 4.3 million, ABC had 3.6 million, Fox had 2 million, Univision had 1.4 million, ION Television had 1.32 million, Telemundo had 1.26 million and the CW had 760,000.
Fox News Channel was the week's most popular cable network, averaging 2.4 million viewers in prime time. ESPN had 1.57 million viewers, MSNBC had 1.49 million, USA had 1.48 million and HGTV had 1.46 million.
ABC's "World News Tonight" topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.7 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 7.5 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 5.9 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for June 19-25. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "America's Got Talent" (Tuesday), NBC, 12.74 million.
2. "World of Dance," NBC, 7.61 million.
3. "60 Minutes," CBS, 7.45 million.
4. "Little Big Shots," NBC, 7.43 million.
5. "Celebrity Family Feud," ABC, 7.25 million.
6. "NCIS," CBS, 6.53 million.
7. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 6.35 million.
8. "The Bachelorette," ABC, 5.91 million.
9. "American Ninja Warrior," NBC, 5.85 million.
10. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 5.51 million.
11. "Bull," CBS, 5.48 million.
12. "Steve Harvey's Funderdome," ABC, 5.47 million.
13. "NCIS: New Orleans," CBS, 5.39 million.
14. "The $100,000 Pyramid," ABC, 5.2 million.
15. "Hawaii Five-0," CBS, 5.02 million.
16. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 4.9 million.
17. "20/20," ABC, 4.75 million.
18. "Wall," NBC, 4.474 million.
19. "Spartan: Team Challenge," NBC, 4.471 million.
20. "Mom," CBS, 4.38 million.
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