Jon Feltheimer has for years been a buyer, most recently of Starz, but as Disney and AT&T bulk up and potential suitors swirl, his mini-studio could prove irresistible for a giant like Verizon or even the Murdochs.
9-1-1 on Fox was the top-rated show of the night on Wednesday. Airing at 9 p.m., the first-responder drama drew a 1.6 rating in adults 18-49 and 6.1 million viewers. The news was not so rosy for The X-Files, which hit a new series low on Fox at 8 where it drew a 0.9 and 3.6 million viewers, pending updates. The latter show is now halfway through it second season since it was revived on Fox in 2016 and is currently averaging less than half of the audience the first season drew in Live+Same Day.
Securities analysts Michael Nathanson says the $3.3 billion deal for Thursday Night Football “is both offensive and defensive. It is no secret that Fox network has struggled outside of sports. Devoting Thursday nights in the fall to football means one less night of original programming to worry about.”
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$60 million per game for the worst game of the week? Here’s why huge bid could be worth it
The suit alleges that Fox schemed with private equity giant Apollo Global Management to strip the assets of American Idol producer Core Media to the detriment of lenders.
Trump’s First SOTU Down From 2017 Address
Viewership of President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address is down slightly in the early Nielsen ratings compared to his first televised address to Congress last February. In metered market households, Trump’s speech drew a 4.4 rating on NBC, a 4.3 on CBS, a 3.5 on ABC, and a 2.6 on Fox for a combined 14.8. Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress in February last year drew a 16 rating in metered market households on broadcast.
The Thursday Night Football games previously were televised by CBS and NBC, two of the league’s other network partners. But Fox announced Wednesday that it will televise 11 games between Weeks 4 and 15, with simulcasts on NFL Network and Fox Deportes. Fox, is reported to be paying around $550 million per year, up from the $450 million CBS and NBC paid for 10 games.
From The President Show to Our Cartoon President, the laundry list of TV shows targeting President Trump is getting longer. But with still more projects poised to flood the small screen landscape, is there a danger for the entertainment industry in greenlighting so much anti-Trump fare?
Fox Broadcasting is close to a deal for the rights to Thursday Night Football, according to people familiar with the matter, betting that adding NFL games to its primetime schedule will boost viewership despite the league’s recent decline in the ratings.The company submitted a bid that’s higher than the $45 million a game CBS and NBC agreed to pay last year, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The deal hasn’t been finalized and could still fall apart.
Will Ferrell’s Return Bumps Ratings For ‘SNL
The latenight comedy show reached 7.47 million viewers for this past weekend’s show with Ferrell as host. However, CBS easily won the week in primetime, averaging 8.5 million viewers. ABC had 4.6 million viewers, NBC had 4.2 million, Fox had 3 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.6 million, the CW had 1.3 million and Ion Television had 1.1 million.
Many First-Run Strips Deliver Season Highs
Among the 10 shows setting records in the week ending Jan. 21 was No. 1 newcomer Daily Mail TV, which posted a 9% gain. The Doctors and Maury each rose 13%.
‘The Brave’ Finale Falls To ‘Good Doctor’
The season finale of The Brave on NBC failed to generate enough steam to overcome a repeat of ABC’s The Good Doctor. In the 10 p.m. hour, The Brave averaged a 0.7 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.9 million viewers, while The Good Doctor repeat drew a 0.8 and 5 million viewers. In fairness, The Brave was up by approximately 15% in total viewers compared to last week and even in the demo.
Since last year, the former DreamWorks Animation CEO has been making the rounds in Hollywood and at big industry events to pitch an ambitious new project, the holding company WndrCo. Among other things, WndrCo is building a global video platform for short- and mid-form content, which would be anchored by shows from some of the top Hollywood talent at production levels to rival HBO and Netflix.
“We have only recently learned of these past allegations regarding Mr. [Charlie] Walk,” Fox said Monday, hours after claims of sexual harassment were leveled at one of the judges of its new competition series The Four: Battle For Stardom.
