Overnights: ‘The Equalizer’ Rises On Sunday

CBS’s The Equalizer this Sunday drew 7.5 million total viewers and a 0.8 demo rating, ticking up in both measures week-to-week. Opening CBS’s night, 60 Minutes (10.1M/1.4) scored Sunday’s best non-NFL numbers. NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage averaged 12M and a 3.3, down from last week’s prelim numbers.

Why Amazon Is In Business With Judge Judy

The company hopes a new court show starring the straight-talking judge will help turbocharge its free, ad-supported streaming platform, IMDb TV.

Stu Billett Dies: ‘The People’s Court’ Creator Was 85

BRAND CONNECTIONS

Val Bisoglio, Actor In ‘Saturday Night Fever’ & ‘M*A*S*H’, Dies At 95

ABC’s ‘The Rookie’ Bans ‘Live’ Guns On Set

James Michael Tyler, Gunther The Barista On ‘Friends,’ Dies At 59

Ratings: ‘The Blacklist’ Season 9 Premiere Grows From Last June

The Season 9 premiere of the James Spader-led drama The Blacklist drew a 0.4 rating among adults 18-49 and 3 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen data. That’s up from the 0.2 rating and 2.1 million total viewers that the Season 8 finale posted in comparable initial numbers.

Netflix Docuseries Revs Up European Racing League US Fan Base

Netflix Considers Adding Warning Ahead Of Dave Chappelle’s ‘The Closer’ After Employee Demands

Netflix is considering at least one of the demands made by its trans employees over the backlash from Dave Chappelle’s The Closer. The streaming service is weighing whether or not to put a content warning ahead of the special, which has been soundly criticized for Chappelle’s transphobic jokes.

‘Squid Game’ Vaults To Top Of Nielsen Streaming Ranking

For the Week of Sept. 20, the Netflix megahit amassed 1.9 billion minutes viewed across its nine episodes, easily besting all other original streaming series.

‘Ghosts’ Scores Speedy Full-Season Pickup At CBS

The network has handed out a rapid second-season renewal to the supernatural comedy starring Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar. The show launched Oct. 7 to warm reviews and has performed well with the limited delayed viewing figures available.

Overnights: ‘Survivor,’ ‘Chicago Fire’ Lead Night; ‘CSI: Vegas,’ ‘Wonder Years’ Dip

CBS’s Survivor this week drew 5.4 million total viewers and a 1.0 rating, ticking up in the demo to lead Wednesday in that measure. Over on NBC, Chicago Fire (7.1M/0.8) was steady, delivering the night’s biggest audience.

Dr. Phil, CBS Sued After Teen Allegedly Was Sexually Assaulted At Utah Center

A woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted at a Utah ranch is suing Phil McGraw and ViacomCBS for negligence, claiming that the popular TV doctor recommended she be treated at the facility on the day she appeared on his show.

QUARTERLY REPORT

HBO Max & HBO Lose 1.8M U.S. Subscribers After Exit From Amazon Channels

HBO Max and HBO have a combined 45.2 million U.S. subscribers, AT&T revealed in its 3Q earnings report Thursday. That’s down from the 47 million combined subs the WarnerMedia parent company reported for its premium cable channel and streaming service at the end of 2Q, and a loss the company saw coming after removing the HBO subscription option from Amazon Channels. But globally, the services have topped 69 million customers.

Why Is Adult Animation Bigger Than Ever?

A long list of new TV shows, from Chicago Party Aunt to Fairfax to Arcane, suggests that cartoons aimed at an older audience are at peak popularity.

Dougray Scott Refutes ‘Batwoman’ Costar Ruby Rose’s Claims’ About His On-Set Behavior

Batwoman alum Dougray Scott “absolutely and completely” refutes allegations made by his onetime TV daughter, Ruby Rose, about his on-set behavior.

‘Sistas’ Renewed For Season 4 At BET

Ralph Carmichael, Emmy-Winning Composer For ‘I Love Lucy,’ ‘The Blob,’ ‘My Mother The Car,’ Dies At 94

Jesse Spencer Exits ‘Chicago Fire’ After 200 Episodes

Talking TV: Is There Still Audience Faith In ‘The Great Pumpkin’?

TVNewsCheck‘s Michael Depp and LG Ads’ Justin Fromm discuss whether children’s specials like It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which airs on PBS stations on Oct. 24, still have the power to draw audiences to linear TV in a streaming age.

Fox Weather Partners With WeatherSTEM

Fox Weather, Fox News Media’s new AVOD streaming weather service launching Oct. 25, has signed an exclusive agreement with WeatherSTEM, a provider of live weather data and high-resolution video from collegiate […]

Hundreds Protest Outside Netflix HQ Amid Staff Walkout Over Dave Chappelle Special

Hundreds of protesters gathered Wednesday near Netflix’s Hollywood headquarters to protest the streamer’s release of a Dave Chappelle comedy special featuring anti-transgender jokes. The rally, called “‘Stand Up’ in Solidarity” organized by trans activist Ashlee Marie Preston, began as an estimated 10% of Netflix employees in New York and Los Angeles staged a virtual walkout at noon local time in an extraordinarily public rebuke of the company.

Byron Allen’s Entertainment Education Came From The Giants At NBC

Tentative IATSE Deal Leaves Some Members Dissatisfied

The drama is not over. The contract must still be ratified, and many members quickly denounced it on social media. The rank and file had organized online in support of a historic strike authorization vote, sharing the pain and frustration of toiling behind the scenes in Hollywood, in hopes of getting better working conditions and pay. To them, the deal felt like the status quo. It’s not clear whether that opposition is broad enough to kill it with a no vote on the ratification — but the leadership has more work to do.

Ruby Rose Alleges Unsafe ‘Batwoman’ Working Conditions

Declaring “Enough is enough,” former Batwoman star Ruby Rose has come forth with a new wave of allegations about the circumstances leading to their exit from the Warner Bros. TV series — while also insisting they didn’t “quit” but was forced out.

Overnights: ‘La Brea’ Dips As ‘Voice’ Drops, ‘The Resident’ Audience At Season High

NBC’s The Voice this Tuesday drew 6.5 million viewers and a 0.6 rating, dropping sharply (and conspicuously so?) in the demo yet still leading the night in total audience. Over on ABC, The Bachelorette (2.8M/0.7) was down from its June cycle’s premiere (3.8M/1.0) but still led Tuesday in the demo.

Netflix’s Ted Sarandos: ‘I Screwed Up’

On the eve of a planned employee walkout at the streaming giant — organized by trans and LGBTQ+ staffers, content creators and allies — Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos addressed numerous points related to recent jokes from comedian Dave Chappelle that have incensed the trans community and been labeled as harmful.

Analysts Debate How To Halt Disney+ Sub Slowdown

MoffettNathanson says bundling Disney+, Hulu could attract older viewers, while Barclays points to more and better content

‘Smallville’ Celebrates 20th Anniversary With Complete Blu-Ray Collection

Variety Teams With Twitter To Launch Trending TV Charts

Variety and Twitter have partnered on what Variety calls “a unique, first-of-its-kind chart” that ranks the most tweeted about TV shows across network television and streaming. The three Variety Trending TV charts, powered by Twitter, will detail the top 10 programs that are organically bubbling up on the social platform, analyze the day-to-day movement of the top three shows and provide a heat map of which shows are resonating across the country.