Register

    Nielsen Week In Review: Promising Starts For “Bull,” “Designated Survivor”

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments4762 Views
    This image released by CBS shows, Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull, background left, and Chris Jackson as Chunk Palmer, right, in a scene from, "Bull," premiering on Sept. 20. (David M. Russell/CBS via AP)

    By David Bauder, Television Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    Nielsen’s first “most likely to succeed” list is out, and it includes Michael Weatherley, Mandy Moore, Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin James.

    They are among the stars in new series that performed well during the first week of the new TV season, the Nielsen company said. The best performer was “Bull,” CBS’ series starring Weatherley as a trial consultant in a story loosely based on Dr. Phil McGraw’s life. Its audience of 15.6 million made it the most-watched debut of the week.

    Moore is in the ensemble cast of NBC’s “This is Us,” and James in the CBS comedy “Kevin Can Wait,” which both finished among Nielsen’s Top 25 for their debuts.

    All three series, however, had the advantage of following more popular returning series on the schedule: CBS’ “NCIS” and “The Big Bang Theory,” and NBC’s “The Voice.” That’s the television equivalent of beginning a 100-yard dash 50 yards ahead of your opponent.

    Sutherland’s critically acclaimed “Designated Survivor” on ABC, however, was the only one of the four newcomers to gather a bigger audience than the show immediately preceding it on the schedule. ABC’s “black-ish” had 6.4 million viewers for its premiere, and “Designated Survivor” followed it with more than 10 million — a positive sign that many viewers specifically sought it out.

    After finishing the summer months behind NBC in the ratings, CBS returned to the top spot last week. It also was the only one of the top four networks to gain in viewers compared to the first week of the 2015 season.

    CBS averaged 11.2 million viewers in prime time for premiere week. NBC had 8.7 million, and won among the 18-to-49-year-old demographic sought by advertisers. ABC had 5.9 million, Fox had 3.6 million, Telemundo had 1.7 million, Univision had 1.6 million, ION Television had 1.1 million and the CW had 900,000.

    ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 3.19 million people in prime time. Fox News Channel ad 2.33 million, TNT had 1.8 million, TBS had 1.44 million and HGTV had 1.31 million.

    ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.2 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.7 million.

    Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Sept. 19-25. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

    1. NFL Football: Chicago at Dallas, NBC, 20.62 million.

    2. NFL Football: Houston at New England, CBS, 17.55 million.

    3. “NCIS,” CBS, 16 million.

    4. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 15.82 million.

    5. “Bull,” CBS, 15.57 million.

    6. “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 15.41 million.

    7. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14.36 million.

    8. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 12.29 million.

    9. NFL Football: Philadelphia at Chicago, ESPN, 12.14 million.

    10. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 12.1 million.

    11. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 11.5 million.

    12. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 11.12 million.

    13. “NFL Pregame,” CBS, 11.084 million.

    14. “Kevin Can Wait,” CBS, 11.08 million.

    15. “Empire,” Fox, 10.87 million.

    16. “MacGyver,” CBS, 10.73 million.

    17. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 10.72 million.

    18. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 10.55 million.

    19. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 10.34 million.

    20. “Hawaii Five-O,” CBS, 10.22 million.

    Category:News
    Tags:BullDesignated SurvivorNielsen



    Harris Dickinson Toys With Ambiguity In “Babygirl” While Keeping a Secret From Nicole Kidman

    Tuesday, December 24, 2024

    Harris Dickinson was nervous to approach Nicole Kidman.

    This would not necessarily be notable under normal circumstances, but the English actor had already been cast to star opposite her in the erotic drama "Babygirl," as the intern who initiates an affair with Kidman's buttoned-up CEO. They'd had a zoom with the writer-director Halina Reijn, who was excited by their playful banter and sure that Dickinson would hold his own. And yet when he found himself at the same event as Kidman, shyness took over. He admitted as much to Margaret Qualley, who took things into her own hands and introduced them.

    "She helped me break the ice a bit," Dickinson said in a recent interview.

    On set would be an entirely different story. Dickinson might not be nearly as "puckishly audacious" as his character Samuel but in the making of "Babygirl," he, Kidman and Reijn had no choice but to dive fearlessly into this exploration of sexual power dynamics, going to intimate, awkward, exhilarating and meme-able places. It's made the film, in theaters Christmas Day, one of the year's must-sees.

    "There was an unspoken thing that we adhered to," Dickinson said. "We weren't getting to know each other's personal lives. When we were working and we were the characters, we didn't veer away from the material. I never tried to attach all of the history of Nicole Kidman. Otherwise it probably would have been a bit of a mess."

    His is a performance that reconfirms what many in the film world have suspected since his debut seven years ago as a Brooklyn tough questioning his sexuality in Eliza Hittman's "Beach Rats": Dickinson is one of the most exciting young talents around.

    Dickinson, 28, grew up in Leytonstone, in East London — the same neck of the woods as... Read More

    MySHOOT Profiles


    Add A Comment