Thursday, January 13, 2011
TCA Winter 2011 Press Tour: NBC; The Game's Season Premiere Sets Series Highs on BET
IF there is anything noteworthy from NBC's panels this afternoon, we will let you know, so stay with us!
BET's scripted night of programming broke ratings records as millions tuned in on Tuesday, January 11 to watch the hour long cable debut of sitcom The Game at 10:00 p.m. and the series premiere of Let's Stay Together at 11:00 p.m. The Game was the #1 ad-supported sitcom telecast in cable TV history, garnering 7.7 million total viewers and 4.87 coverage rating according to the Nielsen Company and was the #1 The Game telecast on broadcast and cable ever (beating its airings on The CW by miles). The premiere also ranks as the #2 telecast in BET history among viewers (behind BET Awards '09).
Let's Stay Together, a brand new scripted series on the network, ranked among the top 5 ad-supported sitcom premieres in cable TV history ever and was the #2 series telecast in BET history behind The Game, debuting to 4.4 million viewers among 2.7 million households with a 3.0 coverage rating on Tuesday, January 11 at 11:00 p.m.
Following BET Networks' successful syndicate acquisition in February 2009, the BET premiere of The Game picked up where things left off at the end of season three (over two years ago) with the show's main cast -- Coby Bell, Hosea Chanchez, Brittany Daniel, Pooch Hall, Tia Mowry and Wendy Raquel Robinson.
In addition to its incredible on-air performance, The Game had the highest amount of social media buzz of all other prime time television shows, according to Trendrr's Prime Time Television Activity Chart for Tuesday, January 11. At one point, commenting on The Game Facebook page averaged 893 likes per minute, and 750 comments per minute, after the question "What did you think about tonight's episode?" within the first 28 minutes after the post. The Game related topics dominated Twitter with 9 out of the top 10 trending topics 30 minutes into the program.
So why did The Game get such big ratings? The CW aired the series only in primetime once a week, while BET has been airing the series since February in all day parts with a lot of marathons, gaining new fans and airing it with similar style sitcoms. With the amount of networks available today, it is very hard to find an audience for a series airing just once a week. Comedies tend to repeat well and are perfect for marathon viewing. The previous high for The Game on The CW was 3 million viewers for the season two premiere, which was more than doubled in the BET premiere. Maybe more network sitcoms need to have their sitcoms air for marathons or daily afternoon airings to get a bigger audience in primetime. Original dramas on cable also are doing well with the marathon blocks and extra encores, such as ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars, which recently saw series highs for the return.
Both series will regularly air every Tuesday on BET at 10pm & 10:30pm, respectively.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, April 27
The Neighorhood - "Welcome to the Chat" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Tina oversteps at daycare, a well‑meaning effort to fix it takes a turn after a message is sent to the wrong chat. Meanwhile, a surprise visit from Dave’s mother, Paula (Marilu Henner), leads him and Gemma to reconsider their careers and what comes next.
DMV - "Abuela" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Colette agrees to oversee Ceci’s grandmother’s driving test to win her approval, only to discover Ceci’s request to fail her is far more personal. Meanwhile Barb spirals when Vic’s dog takes a liking to her DMV rival Beau (Randall Park), as Gregg fixates on his own aging during an anti‑aging experiment.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 27)
Monday, April 27
- Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Watch Anthony on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Stanley is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair/Malcolm in the Middle/The Louie Show) - Bryan is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - Rose appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear/Girls) - Ebon stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Kate Hudson (Running Point) and Justin Theroux (Running Point) - Andy Cohen interviews Kate and Justin on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:15pm on Bravo.
- Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Stanley talks about The Devil Wears Prada 2 on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Eve Plumb (The Brady Bunch/The Brady Brides) - Eve talks about her new memoir Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Jennifer Tilly (Out of Practice) - Jennifer chats about her play The Adding Machine on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Larenz Tate (South Central/The Royal Family/New Attitude) - Larenz talks about Michael on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
09/30 - Touché Turtle and Dum Dum - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season (DVD)
10/14 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
10/28 - St. Denis Medical - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/04 - Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fifteenth Season (DVD)
11/11 - Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/02 - Tom and Jerry - The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/16 - Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/16 - Wally Gator - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/20 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
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