ABC Family’s drama Pretty Little Liars opened the winter portion of its second season on Monday with 3.3 million viewers. That was down from the 4.2 million who tuned in for the launch of Season 1B last January and the 3.7 million who watched the Season 2 debut in the summer. On the bright side, the audience was larger than that for the series’ summer finale, which averaged 2.5 million viewers. Pretty Little Liars boosted The Lying Game, which drew a series high audience of 1.8 million for the premiere of the winter portion of its first season. That was up 29% from The Lying Game‘s series premiere in August, but the freshman had a softer lead-in then, The Secret Life Of The American Teenager (2.4 million) vs. Pretty Little Liars this time. The Lying Game also posted highs in all key female demos.
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Biggest Box Office Hits of 2011
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2011 Box Office Ends With the Worst Returns Since 1995
While you won’
Best Of 2011: T-Mobiles Royal Wedding Spoof [VIDEO]
T-Mobile got into the spirit of things by spoofing Britain’s royal wedding last spring, and by April 27th the video had received 12 million views. Now that 2011 is drawing to a close, YouTube reports that the famed video has received 24.5 million views worldwide, making it the most viral video of the year. Watch [...]
BREAKING!! Simon Cowell Smokes While Jet Skiing in Barbados!
Photo Credit: FAME Pictures
“X Factor” judge & TV mogul Simon Cowell was seen wooing the ladies with his hairy man-boobies while jet skiing in Barbados over the Christmas weekend. Doesn’t this guy own a palatial mansion in the Caribbean country, as well?
Anyway, for those of you who missed it, last week Simon crowned contestant Melanie Amaro as the first winner of his $5 million singing competition show “X-Factor” (US version). $5 million bones! God daaayuumm! Don’t know about you guys, but the cheap bastard inside me would probably invest $3 million in safe investments (assuming that’s even possible these days) and then relocate to some coastal third-world country.
Photo Credit: Pacific Coast News
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Academy Report Paints A Pretty Picture
As glossy as the image the industry it represents prefers to project, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is the picture of financial health, according to its recently released annual report. The Oscars remain the Academy’s biggest single source of income with $85.5 million for fiscal year 2011 versus $82.7 million for 2010, roughly a 3.4% increase. Expenses related to the Academy Awards amounted to $35.6 million for 2011 leaving Oscars net revenue of about $49.9 million. Oscars-related expenses including production of 
the show for 2010 were about $33.3 million which left $49.4 million net revenue for Academy Awards-related activities. Significantly, the organization’s expenses for 2011 also include $2.3 million set aside for museum development for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The Academy and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have agreed to develop plans to establish the facility in the former May Company building at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire. Expenses also include theater operations, fellowships, the Fairbanks Center which includes the Margaret Herrick Library and the Pickford Center.
Revenues from all other sources including investments, membership dues, donations and the like were $26.5 million for 2011, an increase of about 77% over the $15 million in non-Oscars revenue for 2010. Investments represent the second-largest chunk of the Academy’s revenues, with 2011 net … Read More
Fox’s ‘The X Factor’ Ends Bumpy First Season On High(ish) Note
Finally, a big ratings bump for The X Factor. Fox series’ first season finale last night (3.8/11 in adults 18-49, 12.6 million total viewers) was up 31% from last week’s result show in 18-49 but did not hit a series high. It was a solid finish for the heavily promoted singing competition from Simon Cowell whose protege, Melanie Amaro, won the $5 million prize. But The X Factor never came close to the ratings heights of the show that made Cowell a star in the U.S., American Idol. The first season finale of the long-running Fox reality series, which aired in the summer of 2002 with very little promotion, drew a 10.7 rating among adults 18-49 and 22.8 million viewers. However, The X Factor season ender edged the first season finale of NBC’s breakout The Voice, which also aired over the summer and averaged a 3.7 demo rating and 11 million viewers in June. Comparisons to both finales are relatively apples-to-apples because, despite airing in season, The X Factor ran during a pre-holiday week with depressed viewership levels.
It was a rocky first 
season of The X Factor, which didn’t lack the controversies Cowell is so well known about in the U.K. From the abrupt sacking of judge Cheryl Cole a week into filming and her … Read More
Tiger Woods Girlfriend
The #1 Tiger Woods girlfriend, Rachel Uchitel, has bought a new condo for $2 million!!
Lifetime Cancels Drama ‘Against The Wall’
Neither of Lifetime’s freshman series will make it to a second season. Following the September cancellation of The Protector, Lifetime recently quietly opted not to renew Against the Wall. The cop/family drama, which drew largely positive reviews, premiered with soft 1.8 million viewers, on par with The Protector‘s 1.9 million. Neither series showed growth throughout their freshman run, leading to Lifetime’s decision not to go forward with either of them. In light of that, the network recently ordered 10 more episodes of veteran Army Wives to use as a launching pad for new shows, along with Drop Dead Diva. Lifetime has on tap The Client List, based on the successful movie, with Jennifer Love Hewitt reprising her role, as well as pilots Modern Love starring Eric Stoltz, American Housewife starring Melanie Griffith and movie/backdoor pilot Sworn To Secrecy starring Neve Campbell.
LA Filmmaker Charged With Movie Tax Credit Fraud In Massachusetts
News reports say writer-director Daniel Adams was arraigned today with defrauding Massachusetts of about $5 million in inflated tax credits he obtained for The Golden Boys and The Lightkeepers. Adams appeared this morning in Boston Municipal Court and ordered held on $100,000 bail. He was arrested Thursday and charged quickly because authorities want to keep him from flying back to Los Angeles. His attorney said officials had rushed to judgement. Production companies are eligible for a 25% tax credit for payroll and filmmaking expenses incurred in Massachusetts. Prosecutors allege Los Angeles-based Adams intentionally inflated expenses when completing forms for the tax credit and the state overpaaid some $4.7 million to his production companies. One of Adams’ alleged false claims was paying Richard Dreyfuss $2.5 million for The Lightkeepers when the actor’s actual fee was $400,000. Maximum penalty if convicted is five years in prison. Both movies were written and directed by Adams and set in the early 20th century along the Cape Cod coast. The Golden Boys (2008) starred David Carradine, Rip Torn and Bruce Dern. The Lightkeepers (2009) starred Dreyfuss, Julie Harris, and Blythe Danner. Adams most recently directed The Big Valley, starring Jessica Lange as the matriarch of a California family based on the TV series that starred Barbara Stanwyck.
Lionsgate, Summit In Talks: Bloomberg
Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate Entertainment are in discussions about a possible merger, according to Bloomberg, which cited two unidentified sources with knowledge of the situation. With the first part of the Twilight vampire franchise’s finale coming off a hot worldwide opening, talks that have previously broken down over money and control issues may be heating up again. There also have been rumblings that other companies are interested in a deal with Summit or Lionsgate either separately or in some kind of combination. All the discussions are preliminary and speculative and could easily fall apart. Lionsgate has a fairly 
large library of movies and TV content that would be vastly enriched by Summit’s TheTwilight Saga franchise. The latest movie, Breaking Dawn Part 1, has generated more than $220 million domestically in its first two weekends plus nearly $270 million overseas. The franchise has grossed in excess of $1 billion. Breaking Dawn Part 2 will be released next year. Lionsgate has its own potential hit franchise based on a comparable set of young-adult novels in The Hunger Games. The first movie opens in March. Lionsgate also has an active TV division that produces Mad Men, Nurse Jackie, Weeds and Boss, among others. An analyst cited by Bloomberg said The Hunger Games and its sequels could generate between $220 million-$733 million in additional cash flow over the next few years.
Jessica Simpson’s overeating finally pays off
Jessica Simpson’s overeating finally pays off Jessica Simpson is on the verge of signing a $4 million deal with Weight Watchers. 4 million, coincidentally, is the same number of calories she’s eaten over the past year (for you people…
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Breaking Dawn crushes all of the box-office headboards with $139.5 million
With some movies, reviews just don’t matter. Such was the case for the latest Twilight Saga installment, Breaking Dawn Part I, which received a 29% certified “rotten” score from critics yet nonetheless went on to secure an estimated $139.5 million opening weekend. Even though this result isn’t quite as remarkable as New Moon‘s $142.5 million [...]
Immortals Battles to the Top of the Box Office!
As expected, the 3-D action epic Immortals was the big winner this weekend at the box office, bowing with an opening weekend of $68 million worldwide ($32 million domestic, $36 million international). Not bad for a movie that cost $75 million to make. Expect a sequel (or three) in short order.
The critically stoned Adam Sandler comedy Jack and Jill came in second, earning $26 million thanks to the hordes of bored teenage boys roaming America’
Comerica Bank Wins Case Involving Inflated Budgets On Eli Samaha’s Franchise Films
German company Intertainment has lost an arbitration in a case involving falsely inflated valuations for co-productions with Eli Samaha’s Franchise Entertainment. Intertainment won a $121.7 million judgment against Franchise in 2004 over wrongfully inflated budgets on movies that Intertainment co-financed. The inflated 
budgets resulted in Intertainment paying for almost all the costs on those movies instead of an agreed-upon split with Samaha. Intertainment subsequently sought $9 million in court costs from Comerica because the bank approved completion bonds for the amounts of the inflated budgets. The Independent Film and Television Alliance instead found that Intertainment owes Comerica the $9 million in court costs for which the bank was not held liable in the original case. Comerica issued a statement Wednesday: “We are pleased that the panel confirmed that Comerica acted ethically and appropriately in respect of the entertainment licensing matter. The panel found in Comerica’
Paris: Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Promote “The Rum Diary”
Photo Credit: WENN
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s The Rum Diary has been rather disappointing, having earned just over $13 million after two weekends in the theaters. Since Amber’s NBC show The Playboy Club got canceled, she’s got time on her hands so naturally it’s time to ramp up the overseas promotions. The duo were in Paris to do some marketing and hopefully get earnings up considering the budgets was estimated between $45-$60 million for production alone. The Rum Diary is still in theaters and here’s our shameless plug to visit the official website for more info.
Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) is an itinerant journalist who grows tired of New York and America under the Eisenhower administration and travels to Puerto Rico to write for The San Juan Star. Kemp begins the habit of drinking rum and becomes obsessed with a woman named Chenault (Amber Heard). [Wiki]
Photo Credit: Fame Pictures
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MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore’ Slips In Season 4 Finale
What goes up must come down. There is no series whose ratings have kept growing indefinitely, and even MTV’s mega hit Jersey Shore is not immuned from that, posting its first season-to-season decline in its finale last night. The closer of the Jersey gang’s Italian adventure drew 6.6 million viewers, reversing the upward trend of 4.8 million for the Season 1 finale, 6.1 million for Season 2 and 7.6 million for Season 3. The finale was also down from the fourth season premiere, which drew some 8.8 million viewers, the most ever for an MTV series debut. Jersey Shore‘s demo ratings are still very potent. Last night’s finale posted a 3.7 rating in adults 18-49, beating everything on broadcast TV besides CBS’ The Big Bang Theory and Fox’s coverage of the World Series.
AMC’s ‘Breaking Bad’ Finale Up, FX’s ‘AHS’ On Track For Top 18-49 Spot In L+3 Ratings
Last night’s Season 4 finale of AMC’s Breaking Bad drew 1.9 million viewers in its original airing. That was up 19% from the series’ third-season finale last year. For the night, including encores, Breaking Bad averaged 2.9 million viewers, 1.8 million of them in 18-49. This was Breaking Bad‘s highest-rated season ever in 18-49, up 24% from Season 3. Over at FX, the premiere of new drama American Horror Story grew some 40% in adults 18-49 from Live+Same Day to Live+7 (2.0 million to 2.8 million) and is now the second-highest-rated FX debut in the demo behind The Shield (3.0 million), and tied with The Riches. AHS is on track to supplant or at least tie the iconic cop drama as FX’s top-rated series premiere ever in the 18-49 in the Live+7 ratings. The horror series already owns the title in several other demos, including adults 18-34 (1.5 million, tied with The Riches.)
Live+7 Ratings For Premiere Week: ‘Modern Family’, ‘Supernatural’ & CBS Lead Gains
The Live+7 ratings for premiere week were released today, and they confirm what we already know: that people are time-shifting their TV viewing more than ever. For instance, an unprecedented three programs added at least 4 million viewers between Live+Same Day and Live+7, led by ABC’s Modern Family, which added 4.7 million and 4.6 million viewers, respectively, to the tally of its two-episode season premiere. CBS’ Two And A Half Men followed with 4.1 million. Modern Family was the champ in net gain both in total viewers and adults 18-49 (a 2.4 demo rating lift), where it also was followed by Two And A Half Men (2.3). The CW’s Supernatural topped the chart of the shows with the largest percentage gain with 63%, followed by CW’s America’s Next Top Model (57%) and Fox’s Fringe (53%). NBC’s struggling Harry’s Law got a much needed boost, up 42% in the demo, while the 38% lift for NBC’s canceled The Playboy Club came too late. The CW, whose target demo is on average the most digitally savvy, dominated the top of the percentage-gain rankings with six of the top 10 shows. That translated into a big lift for the CW in the network standings for premiere week, doubling the closest network in percentage gains. Among the Big 4, CBS posted the largest net and percentage gain in both … Read More