By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --For all the changes in television over the past decade — how it is consumed and the explosion of new outlets and programs — CBS’ popularity with the masses remains unchallenged.
The traditional television season ended last Wednesday and, for the ninth year in a row, CBS finished as the most popular network in primetime. CBS has won 14 of the last 15 years, the Nielsen company said.
CBS’ “NCIS” finished as the most-watched drama for the eighth year in a row, and “The Big Bang Theory” was the most popular comedy for the seventh straight year. With no reason to change, both series will be back next season, with “The Big Bang Theory” accompanied by a new prequel based on Sheldon’s character.
Nielsen said CBS averaged 9.6 million viewers a night in primetime, with time-delayed viewing of up to seven days included. The network was down 11 percent from last season. NBC was second, essentially flat from last year, ABC was third and down 9 percent, and Fox gained 1 percent, although helped significantly by showing the Super Bowl in 2017.
The notion of a traditional TV season is slowly falling by the wayside, with more original programming available in the summer. Reality shows and games dominate the warm-weather months.
Last week, CBS won in primetime, averaging 5.2 million viewers. NBC had 4.63 million, ABC had 4.56 million, Fox had 3.3 million, Univision had 1.7 million, the CW had 1.32 million, ION Television had 1.31 million and Telemundo had 810,000.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.25 million viewers in prime time. TNT had 2.2 million, MSNBC had 1.61 million, USA had 1.41 million and HGTV had 1.36 million.
NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.8 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second with 7.5 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.2 million viewers.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for May 22-28. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. “Dancing With the Stars” (Monday), ABC, 10.54 million.
2. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 9.65 million.
3. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 9.37 million.
4. “Dancing With the Stars” (Tuesday), ABC, 8.91 million.
5. “Bull,” CBS, 8.54 million.
6. “Survivor,” CBS, 8.38 million.
7. “NCIS,” CBS, 8.3 million.
8. NBA Playoffs: Boston vs. Cleveland, Game 4, TNT, 7.05 million.
9. “Empire,” Fox, 6.97 million.
10. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.79 million.
11. Movie: “Dirty Dancing,” ABC, 6.58 million.
12. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 6.43 million.
13. “Diana: Life-Death-Truth,” CBS, 6.15 million.
14. “Law & Order: SVU,” NBC, 6.12 million.
15. NBA Playoffs: Cleveland vs. Boston, Game 5, TNT, 5.83 million.
16. NBA Playoffs: Golden State vs. San Antonio, Game 4, ESPN, 5.8 million.
17. “Downward Dog,” ABC, 5.74 million
18. “Survivor Reunion,” CBS, 5.71 million.
19. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 5.709 million.
20. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 5.67 million.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More