Programming

Fox’s broadcast of the Miss Universe competition Sunday brought in smaller ratings than it did a year ago. Sunday Night Football was also down (though still dominant), and the series finale of CBS’s Madam Secretary is at season highs in the early numbers. The CW’s Supergirl also hit season highs with the start of the network’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover.

The shutout, believed to be for the first time, of the broadcast networks — ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, The CW and PBS — made for a seemingly awkward situation for NBC, which will host the awards ceremony Jan. 5 and covered the nominations live on Today. It was a crowining moment for Netflix, which got 17 TV nods, to go with its 17 on the movie side.

Nick Maniatis, who ran the New Mexico’s film office before going to work for Netflix, spoke to a group of hundreds of business leaders and elected officials who were gathered Thursday in Albuquerque. He described it as a “golden era,” saying the amount of content that’s out there is amazing. Above, ABQ Studios in Albuquerque, where Netflix announced at the studio complex that it chose Albuquerque as a new production hub.

The prolific actor best known for his roles on the television shows Benson and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine died Sunday. He was 79.

Caroll Spinney, who gave Big Bird his warmth and Oscar the Grouch his growl for nearly 50 years on Sesame Street, died Sunday. He was 85.

Amazon Studios’ campaign for The Aeronauts illustrates the challenges of making “events” out of movies that will primarily be seen online, not in theaters.

Despite an aggressive effort to drive sign-ups, Wall Street worries about the long-term value of Hulu’s promo push.

Fox’s Thursday Night Football is on track for one of its biggest audiences of the season, and the game dominated Thursday’s primetime results. ABC’s movie Same Time, Next Christmas, meanwhile, drew a so-so audience, one in line with Hallmark Channel’s most recent holiday films.

Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman drew 13.2 million total viewers over its first five days on Netflix, according to Nielsen. That average-minute audience is more than El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (8.2 million) and less than Bird Box (16.9 million).

Regional sports networks are facing rising costs and competition from newer streaming services as part of a new era in the way Americans watch TV.

Differing business philosophies surrounding execution of growth strategies and new business interests ultimately led to the split, according to a source familiar with situation, characterizing the departure as amicable.

His TV credits ranged from Starsky and Hutch in the 1970s to the current drama series Blue Bloods. During his tenure as president of Twentieth Century Fox, the studio produced hit films including Broadcast News, Big, Die Hard and Wall Street.

The preemptions in the session ending Nov. 24 were so extensive that some programs counted only two days — Monday and Friday — in their weekly syndicated ratings averages.

Fox’s holiday comedy The Moodys premiered to decent ratings Wednesday, coming in ahead of the season averages for its time period’s regular occupant, Almost Family. The Masked Singer led the 18-49 ratings for the night, and NBC’s Christmas in Rockefeller Center scored a total-viewer win — though it was down for the third straight year.

Union is thanking supporters for defending her amid reports she was fired from America’s Got Talent after complaining about racism and other on-set issues. Without directly addressing her status with NBC’s talent show, the actress tweeted that the backing helped overcome feeling of being lost and alone. “We had a lengthy 5-hour, and what I thought to be, productive, meeting,” Union said Wednesday on Twitter.

The network ended CBS’s 18-year winning streak in November, a period when ratings are watched closely to set advertising rates. A combination of factors, including football, producer Dick Wolf and the absence of The Big Bang Theory all contributed.