By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Television viewers are feeling the spirit of the season.
Two of the four most-watched cable channels last week, Hallmark and Freeform, devote their primetime schedules to holiday-themed programming this time of year. Hallmark turns on the tinsel for November and December and generally sees the network’s best ratings of the year.
For the broadcast networks, a holiday special by the musicians Pentatonix reached 7.5 million people last week and highlights of “Saturday Night Live” Christmas shows were seen by 5.7 million people. Many of the regularly-scheduled prime-time shows had holiday themes.
A study by the Nielsen company found that some 217 million people watched at least a minute of holiday-themed programming on television last year. And while it’s prime family viewing, nostalgia counts for something, too: Nielsen found that people aged 55 and up watched more holiday programming than any other age group.
Another seasonal activity – watching football – led NBC to a dominant win last week among the broadcast networks.
NBC averaged 10 million viewers in prime-time last week. CBS had 8.8 million, ABC had 4.5 million, Fox had 2.7 million, Univision had 1.7 million, Telemundo had 1.5 million, ION Television had 1.4 million and the CW had 1.1 million.
ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.55 million viewers in prime time. Hallmark had 2.36 million, Fox News Channel had 2.34 million, Freeform had 1.77 million and USA had 1.54 million.
NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9.2 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second with 9 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 7.5 million viewers.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Dec. 12-18. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Tampa Bay at Dallas, NBC, 24.15 million.
2. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 16.92 million.
3. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 15.96 million.
4. “NCIS,” CBS, 14.76 million.
5. NFL Football: Los Angeles at Seattle, NBC, 14.65 million.
6. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14.09 million.
7. NFL Football: Baltimore at New England, ESPN, 12.92 million.
8. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 12.49 million.
9. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 12.14 million.
10. “Bull,” CBS, 11.62 million.
11. “The Voice” (Monday, 9 p.m.), NBC, 11.23 million.
12. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 10.37 million.
13. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 10.03 million.
14. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 9.46 million.
15. “Survivor,” CBS, 9.09 million.
16. “Madam Secretary,” CBS, 9.05 million.
17. “Thursday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 9.01 million.
18. “The Voice” (Monday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 11.23 million.
19. “Mom,” CBS, 8.23 million.
20. “The Great Indoors,” CBS, 8.11 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