By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Olympic thrills and the aftermath of a patriarch’s death on “This Is Us” combined to give NBC a golden ratings victory.
NBC’s total viewership last week topped that of the other three major broadcasters combined by 27 percent, the biggest network regular-season gap since Nielsen’s electronic “people meters” began measuring ratings.
That comes with an asterisk: It’s not measured against weeks that included Super Bowls and a full seven nights of Olympics, NBC said Tuesday.
The first four nights of the Winter Olympics, the episode of “This Is Us” following the loss of beloved dad Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), and the lighthearted “Ellen’s Game of Games” helped power NBC’s win, according to Nielsen figures.
But the huge Super Bowl bounce that “This Is Us” got when it aired in the coveted post-game spot Feb. 4, a series high of nearly 27 million viewers, fell back to earth last week.
NBC averaged 15.82 million viewers in primetime. CBS had 5.55 million viewers, ABC had 4.04 million, Fox had 2.85 million, Univision had 1.56 million, the CW had 1.37 million, ION Television had 1.32 million and Telemundo had 1.11 million.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.54 million viewers in primetime. MSNBC had 1.7 million, ESPN had 1.37 million, HGTV had 1.366 million and History had 1.33 million.
A look back at 1970s history paid off for CNN. The premiere episode of its documentary series “The Radical Story of Patty Hearst” helped lift CNN over MSNBC in the time slot last Sunday, 947,000 vs 406,000 viewers, and bettered CNN’s weekly average of 872,000 viewers.
In the broadcast news contest, a bit of NBC spelling creativity failed to keep its newscast from a second-place showing. The network retitled a pair of “NBC Nightly News” telecasts as “NBC Nitely News” because they aired outside their usual slot in a quarter of the country and drew lower ratings. It’s a gambit within ratings boundaries and not unique to NBC.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” was the leader with 9.41 million viewers, followed by NBC with 9.68 million for three nights and 8.43 million for two nights — which combined average about 9.2 million. The “CBS Evening News” had 7.09 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Feb. 5-11. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, NBC, 27.84 million,
2. Winter Olympics (Sunday), NBC, 22.68 million.
3. Winter Olympics (Saturday), NBC, 21.4 million.
4. Winter Olympics (Thursday), NBC, 16 million.
5. “NCIS,” CBS, 13.9 million.
6. “Bull,” CBS, 10.9 million.
7. “This Is Us,” NBC, 10.14 million.
8. “The Good Doctor,” ABC, 9.64 million.
9. NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 8.39 million.
10. “Ellen’s Game of Games,” NBC, 7.7 million.
11. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.61 million.
12. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 7.36 million.
13. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 7.32 million.
14. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 7.28 million.
15. “Chicago P.D.,” NBC, 7.25 million.
16. “Kevin Can Wait,” CBS, 6.96 million.
17. “The Bachelor,” ABC, 6.8 million.
18. “Wall,” NBC, 6.75 million.
19. “Law & Order: SVU,” NBC, 6.642 million.
20. “911,” Fox, 6.64 million.
ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox News Channel is owned by 21st Century Fox; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More