By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Elon Musk moved a cryptocurrency's value and TV ratings with his "Saturday Night Live" appearance.
Last weekend's show averaged 7.3 million viewers, making it the third most-watched episode for the season behind the ones hosted by Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock, according to Nielsen figures.
A good outcome for the billionaire's first time hosting "SNL," although reviews of his attempts at comedy ranged from charitable to meh.
The biggest pan, however, may be the response to jokes mocking the cryptocurrency dogecoin, for which Musk actually has been a steadfast booster: In the hour after the show started, dogecoin's already volatile price fell 23% and bounced up and down the following day.
"Saturday Night Live" included an opening exchange between Musk and his mother, who grimaced when he said that dogecoin would be her Mother's Day gift, and an "Update" bit in which Musk appeared as a faux financial analyst, Lloyd Ostertag.
Anchor Michael Che reacts to Ostertag's convoluted description of dogecoin as the future of currency with deep skepticism, calling it a "hustle." Musk in character echoes the sentiment: "Yeah, it's a hustle."
In primetime last week, CBS was the most-watched network with an average 4.8 million viewers. NBC had 3.2 million, ABC had 3 million, Fox had 2.3 million, Univision had 1.3 million and Telemundo had 960,000.
Fox News Channel topped the cable networks, averaging 2.1 million viewers in primetime. MSNBC had 1.5 million, HGTV had 1.2 million and CNN had 907,000.
ABC's "World News Tonight" was first in the evening news ratings contest, averaging 7.95 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 6.46 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 4.86 million.
For the week of May 3-9, the top 20 programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. "NCIS," CBS, 8.68 million.
2. "FBI," CBS, 8.06 million.
3. "60 Minutes," CBS, 7.78 million.
4. "The Equalizer," CBS, 7.224 million.
5. "Chicago Fire," NBC, 7.221 million.
6. "Chicago Med," NBC, 7.09 million.
7. "Young Sheldon," CBS, 6.64 million.
8. "911," Fox, 5.91 million.
9. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 5.87 million.
10. "American Idol," ABC, 5.74 million.
11. "Chicago P.D.," NBC. 5.69 million.
12. "The Voice," NBC, 5.64 million.
13. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 5.60 million.
14. "Bull," CBS, 5.53 million.
15. "FBI: Most Wanted," CBS, 4.89 million.
16. "Mom," CBS, 5.29 million.
17. "The Neighborhood," CBS, 5.19 million.
18. "911: Lone Star," Fox, 5.11 million.
19. "Magnum, P.I.," CBS, 5 million.
20. "NCIS: new Orleans," CBS, 4.96 million.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTEยฎ,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
โSMPTEโs membership has spoken,โ said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann DโAmato. โThese officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!โ
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More