By David Bauder, Media Writer
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) --The evening news may be one of television’s most overlooked institutions, but the programs are still looked at.
Between them, the newscasts anchored by David Muir, Lester Holt and Jeff Glor were seen by an average of 26.9 million viewers each weeknight last week. If they were seen in prime time, both ABC’s “World News Tonight” and NBC’s “Nightly News” would be top 10 shows.
Their audiences are older, which makes them far from trendy, but loyal. The mid-winter, when they air when it’s dark outside and — particularly last week — when the cold is punishing in much of the country, tends to be their most-watched time of the year.
Muir’s broadcast, seen by 10.1 million each night last week, is the most popular most weeks.
Otherwise, the Super Bowl dominated television’s week. While the game is annually the most popular program of the year, it is showing erosion. The game’s television audience of 98.2 million viewers is 16 million fewer than four years ago.
CBS won the week with a Super Bowl-aided average of 20.9 million viewers. NBC had 4.2 million viewers, ABC had 3.8 million, Fox had 2.9 million, ION Television had 1.42 million, Univision had 1.37 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 1 million.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.12 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 1.81 million viewers, HGTV had 1.27 million, USA had 1.25 million, while Hallmark and History finished tied for fifth with 1.16 million.
After ABC’s newscast, NBC’s “Nightly News” had 9.6 million viewers and the “CBS Evening News” had 7.2 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Jan. 28-Feb. 3. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. Super Bowl: New England vs. L.A. Rams, CBS, 98.19 million.
2. “Post Super Bowl, Part 1” (10:05-10:12 p.m. ET), CBS, 81.96 million.
3. “Post Super Bowl, Part 2” (10:13-10:35 p.m. ET), CBS, 54.2 million.
4. “The World’s Best,” CBS, 22.21 million.
5. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 13.67 million.
6. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 11.59 million.
7. “America’s Got Talent Champions,” NBC, 10.45 million.
8. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 9.13 million.
9. “Mom,” CBS, 8.56 million.
10. “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials,” CBS, 7.93 million.
11. “The Masked Singer,” Fox, 7.88 million.
12. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 7.87 million.
13. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 7.28 million.
14. “Ellen’s Game of Games” (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 7.05 million.
15. “Ellen’s Game of Games” (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), NBC, 6.99 million.
16. “MacGyver,” CBS, 6.96 million.
17. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.59 million.
18. “The Good Doctor,” ABC, 6.58 million.
19. “The Bachelor,” ABC, 6.45 million.
20. “Fam,” CBS, 6.05 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.
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More