With no more football competition and WrestleMania season finally underway, WWE finally got some good news in the ratings for its Monday Night RAW program. Monday’s episode delivered a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating and 5.2 million viewers, up substantially from the prior week’s already-improved 1.7 rating. According to USA Network’s research Twitter, the adults...
WWE.com RAW Results Report for January 30, 2012: KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With the Road to WrestleMania officially underway, Undertaker wasted no time making his intentions known – he has sights set on Triple H and The Grandest Stage of Them All. The stunning return left the status of John Laurinaitis’ role as Interim...
With WWE still planning to build to a CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho match at WrestleMania, both men will be part of the same main-event at Elimination Chamber. The current plan is for Punk to defend his WWE title against Jericho, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, The Miz and R-Truth in the titular gimmick. In...
FOX released updated overnight ratings Monday afternoon, confirming that the show’s household audience declined by 22%. Adults 18-49 data and viewership totals were not yet available, but the show managed a 2.7 overnight household rating, down from a 3.5 for the November fight between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez. FOX attributed the decline...
With Sheamus, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Big Show in as the final four of this year’s WWE Royal Rumble, it appeared one of the predictable winners–either Randy Orton or Chris Jericho–was winning the match at the WrestleMania title shot. Instead, that honor went to Sheamus, who eliminated Chris Jericho to win the 2012...
WWE’s annual Road to WrestleMania begins tonight–it’s time for the Royal Rumble. Headlined by the 30-man, over-the-top-rope battle royal, the annual pay-per-view has firmly established itself as WWE’s second biggest show of the year. As always, the winner of that iconic main-event receives a title shot at WrestleMania. test The undercard could also provide...
WWE’s “Road to WrestleMania” begins with Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, and while WWE’s general direction for WrestleMania seems obvious, it is never clear whether everything at the Rumble PPV will play out predictably. Notably, with Chris Jericho and Randy Orton rumored as the title challengers for WrestleMania, it has long been assumed that one...
Without a Heavyweight Championship fight and without quite as much fanfare as the debut in November, Saturday’s UFC on FOX had accumulated its fair share of pessimism regarding the rating. When all was said and done, the first show ended up doing well, but not spectacularly well. Without the special novelty, was this quarter’s...
Even though “The Big Bang Theory” beat “American Idol” in 8-8:30PM timeslot last week, the average for the entire “Idol” episode–an hourlong affair–still topped the rating for CBS’ flagship comedy. FOX, therefore, could realistically claim “Idol” maintained its Thursday dominance. That may not be true this week. According to the fast nationals, “Big Bang”...
With an intriguing concept, positive buzz and Kiefer Sutherland as the lead, “Touch” was going to debut well on FOX no matter what. Add in the “American Idol” lead-in (albeit a reduced one), and you have a very strong performance. “Touch” opened to a 3.9 adults 18-49 rating with 12.0 million viewers Wednesday, easily...
A successful TV drama premiere achieves two key objectives: it delivers a thoroughly-entertaining, engaging standalone hour and it introduces a compelling plotline, a signature storytelling style and a three-dimensional cast of characters that viewers will want to experience once a week, every week, for several years. It is thus unsurprising that the debut episode...
With two critically-acclaimed lead acting performances and another scene-stealing, comedic supporting role, many felt this was the year Ryan Gosling solidified his standing at the absolute top of the acting ladder. Unfortunately, the Academy voters did not think so–neither his performance in “Drive” nor “The Ides of March” earned an Oscar nomination. Gosling had...
In what could effectively be a major spoiler, one of the leads on AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is close to nearing a starring role on another television show. THR reports that Jon Bernthal, who plays Shane on the breakout zombie series, is finalizing a deal to star in TNT’s “LA Noir,” which comes from...
WWE.com RAW Results Report for January 23, 2012: PHOENIX – With only one week until the 25th Anniversary of the Royal Rumble, calling WWE Raw SuperShow “eventful” would be a gross understatement. Chris Jericho informed the WWE Universe that “it’s going to be the end of the world as you know it,” while Dolph...
Though it technically delivered its best adults 18-49 rating of the season, Sunday’s “American Idol” performance was arguably the most underwhelming thus far. FOX confirmed Monday that “Idol,” which aired at 10:57PM out of a monster, overtime NFC Championship game between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers that looks to have beaten...
Randy Orton made his return from injury at a WWE house show Sunday, and his subsequent re-emergence on television is imminent. After taking several weeks off to rehabilitate a back injury, Orton returned to continue his feud with Wade Barrett at the house show in Las Cruces, NM. Orton attacked Barrett, who was responsible...
In a near-mirror image of the NFC Championship game in 2008, the New York Giants scored a clutch overtime win to earn a trip to the Super Bowl. There, the team, which again entered the playoffs as a wildcard, will battle the New England Patriots for a chance to reclaim its standing as the...
The gig might come with a huge paycheck, but there are some costs of judging on “American Idol.” Namely, when you deliver a vocal performance that is not up to the technical bar expected of contestants on the show, you are going to be obliterated by social media users. Steven Tyler, who opened Sunday’s...
“Underworld: Awakening” claimed a comfortable box office victory this weekend, although the controversial “Red Tails” delivered an impressive number for a second place finish. Kate Beckinsale’s return to the “Underworld” franchise helped the film claim first on $25.4 million this weekend, which nearly matches the $26.9 million grossed by 2006′s “Underworld: Evolution.” “The Rise...
Despite its glowing critical reviews and the debut of MMA fighter Gina Carano in a lead role, “Haywire” had simply failed to generate any notable pre-release buzz. And when combined with the difficulty of opening against “Underworld: Awakening,” a brand name release with the more-popular Kate Beckinsale to fill the “sexy, ass-kicking, action female...
