By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Judging by the ratings, NBC will be happy to invite old friend Will Ferrell back to “Saturday Night Live” whenever he wants.
The late-night comedy show reached 7.47 million viewers for this past weekend’s show with Ferrell as host, the Nielsen company said. It was the most-watched episode of “Saturday Night Live” this season. Chris Stapleton was the musical guest on the night before he won three Grammy Awards.
The news wasn’t so good for the Grammys, which saw its audience slip to 19.8 million viewers for CBS on Sunday. That’s down 24 percent from last year.
Music’s big night was missing some of its biggest stars, with popular mainstream artists Adele, Beyonce and Taylor Swift not a part of the broadcast. Bruno Mars was the top winner with six Grammys.
The two network feel-good series, ABC’s “The Good Doctor” and NBC’s “This is Us,’ showed their strength with original episodes and finished among Nielsen’s top five for the week.
CBS easily won the week in prime time, averaging 8.5 million viewers. ABC had 4.6 million viewers, NBC had 4.2 million, Fox had 3 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.6 million, the CW had 1.3 million and ION Television had 1.1 million.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.79 million viewers in prime time as it celebrates 16 consecutive years atop the cable news ratings. MSNBC had 1.8 million, HGTV averaged 1.63 million, USA had 1.57 million and History had 1.48 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9.6 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 9.3 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.9 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Jan. 22-28. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. “Grammy Awards,” CBS, 19.8 million.
2. “NCIS,” CBS, 13.97 million.
3. “Bull,” CBS, 11.08 million.
4. “The Good Doctor,” ABC, 9.61 million.
5. “This is Us,” NBC, 9.38 million.
6. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 9.31 million.
7. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 8.62 million.
8. “Ellen’s Game of Games,” NBC, 7.57 million.
9. “Kevin Can Wait,” CBS, 7.37 million.
10. “Grammy Awards Red Carpet,” CBS, 6.96 million.
11. “The Big Bang Theory,” 6.9 million.
12. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 6.85 million.
13. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 6.848 million.
14. “Man With a Plan,” CBS, 6.74 million.
15. “911,” Fox, 6.57 million.
16. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 6.54 million.
17. “The Bachelor,” ABC, 6.37 million.
18. “The Amazing Race,” CBS, 6.18 million.
19. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 6.17 million.
20. “The Goldbergs,” ABC, 6.09 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.
Director Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck” Wins People’s Choice Award At The Toronto Film Fest
The Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award went to “The Life of Chuck,” handing director-writer Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation one of the most-watched prizes of the fall film festival circuit.
The award for “The Life of Chuck” was announced Sunday (9/15) as North American’s largest film festival drew to a close. “The Life of Chuck,” based on King’s 2020 novella of the same name, stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles “Chuck” Krantz, an ordinary man living through apocalyptic cataclysms. Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan and Jacob Tremblay co-star.
TIFF’s People’s Choice Award is regarded as a reliable Oscar harbinger. Since 2012, every winner of the festival’s top prize has gone on to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards. Last year, Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction” won, and went on to be a major awards contender.
But “The Life of Chuck” could test that track record. The film is up for sale and doesn’t yet have distribution. It could be acquired and quickly readied for release this fall, or it might end up a 2025 release. “The Life of Chuck” drew mixed — though mostly positive reviews — out of Toronto, though audiences were clearly charmed by the uplifting drama.
Runners-up for the People’s Choice Award, which is voted on by festival attendees, were both films that first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The first was Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez.” The second runner-up was Sean Baker’s “Anora,” the Palme d’Or winner at Cannes.
The audience award for top documentary went to Mike Downie’s “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal.” In the festival’s Midnight Madness section, the prize went to... Read More