Just two years ago, you would have thought the movie industry had died, or was about to. Box office numbers were plummeting, and there was rising panic over file-sharing and what many worried was the certain death the internet would deliver to Hollywood.
But today Hollywood is again thriving, with blockbuster sequels having set opening weekend records these past three weeks and the internet seen as a hugely promising platform for both promoting movies and distributing them.
All this would seem to create the perfect climate for "Reel Talk," a new syndicated series from NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution that's been cleared in more than 85 percent of the country for a fall launch.
The show, which will air on weekends, pairs film critics Jeffrey Lyons, the longtime reviewer for New York’s WNBC, and Alison Bailes of the Independent Film Channel, and it will offer movie and DVD reviews as well as box office updates and interviews with actors and actresses.
“Reel” will air on NBC-owned and -operated stations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the country’s three biggest markets, and has also been cleared in Boston, Tampa and Indianapolis, among others. It’s been airing on WNBC since October 2005.
"Reel" is a departure from the typical syndicated show, not being chats or judges or games or just celebs.
Though there are many broad-based entertainment shows thriving in syndication, there are very few about the movies. The most prominent is “Ebert & Roeper,” the Sunday show with Chicago-based film critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper, whose ratings have been steadily eroding for several years. The show’s future has been uncertain during Ebert’s long recovery from emergency cancer surgery last year.
But the best argument for "Reel" may simply be that there's so much more to talk about, with Hollywood's revival and the future of the home market growing stronger.
There are the early summer successes, “Spider-Man 3,” “Shrek the Third” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” all which are on track to rank among the top-50 all-time grossing films, and that's building momentum by getting trailers for upcoming films before that many more eyeballs.
Year-to-date, 2007’s cumulative box office is tracking 6.1 percent ahead of last year and 10.8 percent ahead of 2005, according to Boxofficemojo.com.
The internet appears to be behind some of Hollywood's renaissance, with countless sites devoted to film criticism and discussion, along with trailers, which are also popular on video-sharing sites like YouTube.
Some 15 percent of Americans have downloaded a full-length movie online, and that's up 4 percentage points just from last October, according to a survey released this week by Solutions Research Group, a Toronto consulting firm. It found that 73 percent of respondents ages 30-49 think all movies will be available for web download in the future.
Meanwhile, in other daypart ratings for the week ended May 20, NBC’s “Meet the Press” was yet again first among Sunday morning shows in total viewers, averaging 3.59 million, and among adults 25-54 with a 1.0 rating. CBS’s “Face the Nation” was second in viewers with 2.65 million and among 25-54s with a 0.8 rating, followed by ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” with 2.53 million and a 0.7, and Fox “News Sunday” in fourth place with 1.19 million and a 0.4 among adults 25-54.
In late night, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” was first for the week, averaging 5.4 million total viewers and a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49. “The Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS had 4.1 million viewers and a 1.3 rating in the demo, with ABC’s “Nightline” bringing in 3.4 million viewers and a 1.1 rating. In late late night, NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” had 2.2 million total viewers and a 1.0 in 18-49s, with CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” averaging 2.0 million viewers and a 0.7, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 1.7 million viewers and a 0.6, and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” averaging 1.3 million viewers and a 0.6 among 18-49s.
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first with 5.3 million total viewers and a 4.2 household rating and 15 share, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 5.0 million viewers and a 3.9/14. CBS’s “Early Show” was third with 2.6 million total viewers and a 2.1/8.
In daytime, CBS once again had the largest audience for both daytime dramas and full daytime, this week averaging 3.76 million and 4.08 million viewers, respectively, but was second among women 18-49 for daytime dramas with a 1.4 rating and full daytime with a 1.3. ABC had the second-largest audience with 3.3 million watching its dramas and 3.39 million for full daytime, and was first among women 18-49 with a 1.7 rating for its dramas and a 1.6 for full daytime. NBC had an audience of 2.16 million for both dramas and full daytime, and was third with a 1.2 rating in women 18-49 for both.
In evening network news for the week ended May 27, ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” was No. 1 among total viewers and 25-54s for the fifth straight week, leading with an average of 7.78 million viewers and a 2.0 25-54 rating. NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was second, averaging 7.19 million viewers and a 1.8 among 25-54s, while CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” was third for the week with an all-time-low 5.96 million total viewers and a 1.5 25-54 rating.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending May 20, 2007
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
2.8 |
8 |
1.0 |
3.589 |
|
Face the Nation |
CBS |
1.9 |
6 |
0.8 |
2.645 |
|
This Week With George Stephanopoulos |
ABC |
1.9 |
6 |
0.7 |
2.531 |
|
News Sunday |
Fox |
1.0 |
3 |
0.4 |
1.186 |
|
.Source: NTI |
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS
Week Ending May 20, 2007
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
NBC |
5.4 |
1.7 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
4.1 |
1.3 |
|
Nightline |
ABC |
3.4 |
1.1 |
|
Late Night with Conan O’Brien |
NBC |
2.2 |
1.0 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
CBS |
2.0 |
0.7 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live |
ABC |
1.7 |
0.6 |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly |
NBC |
1.3 |
0.6 |
|
Source: NTI
|
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending May 20, 2007
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today |
NBC |
4.2 |
15 |
5.3 |
|
Good Morning
America |
ABC |
3.9 |
14 |
5.0 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
2.1 |
8 |
2.6 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending May 20, 2007
Five-day averages |
|
Daytime dramas |
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS |
3.763 |
1.4 |
|
ABC |
3.303 |
1.7 |
|
NBC |
2.161 |
1.2 |
|
Full daytime |
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS |
4.076 |
1.3 |
|
ABC |
3.393 |
1.6 |
|
NBC |
2.161 |
1.2 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending May 27, 2007
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
ABC World News with Charles Gibson |
ABC |
2.0 |
7.780 |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams |
NBC |
1.8 |
7.190 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric |
CBS |
1.5 |
5.960 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending May 20, 2007
|
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
KIN
|
7.4
|
8201
|
|
2
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT)
|
KIN
|
6.0
|
6738
|
|
3
|
JEOPARDY
|
KIN
|
5.8
|
6429
|
|
4
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
KIN
|
5.1
|
5656
|
|
5
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)
|
C/P
|
5.0
|
5546
|
|
6
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN (AT)
|
KIN
|
4.6
|
5172
|
|
7
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
C/P
|
4.5
|
5059
|
|
8
|
CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)
|
KIN
|
4.4
|
4869
|
|
9
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
4.1
|
4576
|
|
10
|
SEINFELD-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.6
|
3999
|
|
11
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND
|
KIN
|
3.3
|
3692
|
|
11
|
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY
|
BV
|
3.3
|
3643
|
|
11
|
INSIDE EDITION
|
KIN
|
3.3
|
3637
|
|
14
|
FRIENDS (AT)
|
WB
|
3.2
|
3557
|
|
14
|
KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.2
|
3517
|
|
16
|
MILLIONAIRE (AT)
|
BV
|
3.0
|
3356
|
|
16
|
THAT 70S SHOW-MF-SYN (AT)
|
2/T
|
3.0
|
3318
|
|
16
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WKD
|
C/P
|
3.0
|
3291
|
|
19
|
KING OF QUEENS-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.9
|
3221
|
|
20
|
EVBDY LVS RAYMOND-WKD-SYN
|
KIN
|
2.7
|
3013
|
|
20
|
JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT)
|
C/P
|
2.7
|
3008
|
|
22
|
WITHOUT A TRACE (AT)
|
WB
|
2.6
|
2877
|
|
23
|
PEOPLE'S COURT (AT)
|
WB
|
2.5
|
2819
|
|
23
|
INSIDER (AT)
|
C/P
|
2.5
|
2781
|
|
25
|
KING OF THE HILL-SYN(AT)
|
2/T
|
2.4
|
2675
|
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
