By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Nearly twice as many people as usual watched the Spanish-language television institution “Sabado Gigante.” They turned out for the show’s farewell on Univision after 53 years on the air.
The Nielsen company said that 3.4 million people saw host Don Francisco’s adios in the United States. The three-hour variety show, whose name translates to “giant Saturday” and is a mix of celebrity appearances and amateur talent contests, reached 1.9 million viewers on a typical Saturday this year. The finale was the show’s fourth-biggest audience ever in the U.S., with the top being 3.5 million for an episode in January 2005.
The measurement doesn’t include other Latin American countries, where the show is also seen, and for which no immediate viewership estimate was available.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama taped messages for the final show, which featured performances by musicians Luis Fonsi, Espinoza Paz, Intocable, Juanes and Laura Pausini.
Francisco, whose real name is Mario Kreutzberger, began his show in Chile. It moved to Miami in 1986, when Univision began televising it. Univision is replacing “Sabado Gigante” with another variety show, “Sabadazo,” which will feature comedy and Latin music’s Top Ten for the week.
Football and the second Republican presidential debate dominated the week’s ratings, won by NBC on the strength of its Sunday night football game. That game also cut into viewing of the annual Emmy Awards, with 11.9 million viewers the smallest audience in the show’s televised history.
For the week in prime time, NBC averaged 8.7 million viewers, CBS had 6.7 million, Fox had 5.3 million, ABC had 4.3 million, Univision had 2.5 million, Telemundo had 1.4 million, ION Television had 1.1 million and the CW had 1 million.
ESPN was the most-watched cable network in prime time, averaging 4.14 million viewers. CNN had 3.59 million, Fox News Channel had 1.59 million, the Disney Channel had 1.58 million and USA had 1.49 million.
NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8 million viewers. ABC’s “World News” was second with 7.6 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.3 million viewers.
Here are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Sept. 14-20. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Seattle at Green Bay, NBC, 26.38 million.
2. Republican Presidential Debate, CNN, 23.06 million.
3. NFL Football: Denver at Kansas City, CBS, 21.12 million.
4. “Sunday Night NFL Preview,” NBC, 18.88 million.
5. “Republican Debate Preview,” CNN, 18.83 million.
6. NFL Football: Minnesota at San Francisco, ESPN, 14.33 million.
7. “Football Night in America” (Sunday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 14.15 million.
8. NFL Football: Philadelphia at Atlanta, ESPN, 13.56 million.
9. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 13.21 million.
10. “Kickoff to the Emmys,” Fox, 12.7 million.
11. “NFL Pregame Show,” CBS, 11.92 million.
12. “Emmy Awards,” Fox, 11.87 million.
13. “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 11.4 million.
14. “Anderson Cooper 360” (Wednesday), CNN, 10.89 million.
15. “America’s Got Talent” (Wednesday), NBC, 9.69 million.
16. “Thursday Night NFL Kickoff,” CBS, 8.7 million.
17. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.05 million.
18. College Football: Mississippi vs. Alabama, ESPN, 7.61 million.
19. “Football Night in America” (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), NBC, 6.96 million.
20. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 6.61 million.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More