By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --With someone walking onstage every few minutes to read a name off a piece of paper, the NFL draft wouldn’t seem like a big television draw. Yet the 11.2 million people who watched this year made it the week’s second most popular program.
The first round of the draft was shown on Fox, the NFL Network and several ESPN networks simultaneously. This year’s assignment of college football players to NFL teams was particularly suspenseful, with a handful of quality quarterbacks waiting to be drafted, and little consensus ahead of time over how things were going to go.
Still, it wasn’t quite as popular as the most-watched draft ever. That came in 2014 when another quarterback, in this case Johnny Manziel, was selected first by the Cleveland Browns. That draft reached 12.4 million people on Thursday, the Nielsen company said.
Coverage of the third day of the draft, when the players really start getting obscure, reached nearly 3 million and was the most ever, Nielsen said.
With ABC’s “Roseanne” in repeats, CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” returned to the top of the ratings, reaching 11.8 million people.
CBS won the week in primetime, averaging 6.4 million viewers. ABC had 4.5 million, NBC had 4.4 million, Fox had 2.7 million, Univision had 1.6 million, ION Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.2 million and the CW had 1.1 million.
TNT was the most popular cable network, averaging 2.74 million viewers in primetime. Fox News Channel had 2.35 million, ESPN had 1.86 million, MSNBC had 1.75 million and USA had 1.45 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.3 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 7.7 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.9 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for April 23-29. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. “The Big Bang Theory” (Thursday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 11.8 million.
2. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 11.16 million.
3. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 9.26 million.
4. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 9.16 million.
5. “American Idol” (Sunday), ABC, 8.77 million.
6. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 8.43 million.
7. “Mom,” CBS, 8.31 million.
8. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 8.13 million.
9. “Survivor,” CBS, 7.82 million.
10. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 7.79 million.
11. “American Idol” (Monday), ABC, 7.63 million.
12. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 7.62 million.
13. “Instinct,” CBS, 7 million.
14. “NCIS” (Thursday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 6.98 million.
15. “NCIS” (Thursday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 6.69 million.
16. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 6.55 million.
17. “Roseanne” (Thursday, 9 p.m.), ABC, 6.51 million.
18. “The Big Bang Theory” (Monday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 6.38 million.
19. “Roseanne” (Tuesday, 9:30 p.m.), ABC, 6.381 million.
20. “Roseanne” (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), ABC, 6.378 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.
Sinners and Saints Adds Apple Pie To Its Branded Menu
Bicoastal Sinners and Saints--the multidisciplinary studio overseen by managing director/executive producer Heather Heller, and partners/EPs Yann Henric and Thomas Carroll--has added Apple Pie Tabletop to its roster for branded content. Known for its food and beverage content creation, Apple Pie comprises the husband-and-wife team of director/DP Gene Dubin and director/art director Alisa Volodina. In addition to representation, the move expands Apple Pie’s production capabilities through the combination of its centrally located full-service studio in New York and a newly established mobile studio in Los Angeles. Apple Pie recently teamed with Sinners and Saints on a Wienerschnitzel project created by Innocean.
“We believe that our dual studio strategy positions us uniquely in the competitive landscape of food and beverage storytelling,” said Heller. “By blending the artistry of the New York studio with the flexibility of our Los Angeles location, we can tailor our productions to meet the unique demands of each project, regardless of geography.”
“Working with Sinners and Saints in the demanding field of tabletop was an absolute pleasure,” shared Apple Pie Tabletop in a joint statement. “Warm welcome, unwavering support and dedication--everything a director can ask for. The entire experience was both enjoyable and rewarding. We will not miss an opportunity to collaborate with them again.”
“The first thing you notice is that Apple Pie has beautiful work,” Heller observed. “Having worked with them, I can say that Gene and Alisa are extremely meticulous and detail-oriented; their combination of talent and agility appeals to agencies and clients.” Also appealing to Heller is Apple Pie Tabletop’s brisk international... Read More