By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Professional football — the lifeblood of live television this time of year — illustrated its dominance in the ratings this past week.
Four NFL games finished among the Nielsen company’s 20 most popular primetime programs, with NBC’s Sunday night and Fox’s Thursday contests the top two. Both games featured Los Angeles teams.
Add in three pre-game shows, and football accounted for seven of Nielsen’s entries.
The games usually dwarf regular programming. For example, Fox drew 17.4 million to its Thursday night game. Its next most popular show, “Last Man Standing,” had 12 million fewer viewers.
Similarly, the 18.1 million people who watched NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” were nearly 10 million more than “The Voice.” CBS’ lineup has a broader base of support and no pro football in primetime, but it should be noted that its highest-rated show, “60 Minutes,” comes on after football on the East Coast.
CBS won the week in primetime, averaging 7.2 million viewers. NBC had 6.2 million viewers, Fox had 5.1 million, ABC had 3.6 million, Univision had 1.4 million, ION Television had 1.3 million, the CW had 1.2 million and Telemundo had 1.1 million.
ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.4 million people in prime time. Fox News Channel had 2.04 million, Hallmark had 2.02 million, MSNBC had 1.91 million and USA had 1.31 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.9 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 8.6 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.4 million
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Dec. 10-16. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Philadelphia at L.A. Rams, NBC, 18.12 million.
2. NFL Football: L.A. Chargers at Kansas City, Fox, 17.41 million.
3. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14.55 million.
4. “NCIS,” CBS, 12.28 million.
5. “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 11.66 million.
6. NFL Football: Minnesota at Seattle, ESPN, 11.63 million.
7. “NFL Pregame,” Fox, 10.34 million.
8. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 9.22 million.
9. “FBI,” CBS, 9.04 million.
10. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 8.97 million.
11. “God Friended Me,” CBS, 8.53 million.
12. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 8.43 million.
13. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 8.08 million.
14. “Survivor,” CBS, 7.78 million.
15. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 7.76 million.
16. “Mom,” CBS, 7.71 million.
17. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 7.7 million.
18. “Bull,” CBS, 7.4 million.
19. NFL Football: Cleveland at Denver, NFL Network, 7.29 million.
20. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 7.21 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