Why the Phony Ratings Controversy Over Bully is Giving the Movie a Wedgie

This blog writer takes the stance that Harvey Weinstein's argument for getting a PG-13 rating, that he thinks it's important for all kids to see, is wrongheaded.  "Importance" does not give your movie the right to have special treatment in a standard ratings system that millions of other films have had to go through.

"Honestly, Bully feels like a movie parents should be watching to get an inside look at what school can be like for bullied kids. And if parents are old enough for an R-rated movie—or at least able to bring their kids to the movie—what's Weinstein's problem?"

Is the MPAA a Film-Ratings Bully?

This Businessweek article gives the overview of the situation like every other article on the subject out there. But it also has some interesting quotes from people on both sides of the argument for/against the rating.  The argument for the MPAA's decision is this:
“Harvey and the director keep saying that we should make an exception for this movie because it’s important and people don’t really care about language anyway,” the theater executive says. “That’s dangerous because it makes ratings officials into censors. People who rate the movies shouldn’t be deciding the quality or importance of the movies.”

Bully Overhauling the MPAA

This article discusses how the unrated documentary may be the tipping point for the ratings system. It summarizes the controversy that has surrounded the documentary and how the unrated film would be treated as an NC-17 release, not allowing many to see the important film. Celebrity support has caused certain theaters however to treat it as a rated R film. I believe this shows the power that celebrities and other high status individuals have and how the strict rules of the rating system can be overcome. The controversy has served to keep Bully in the headlines and has created a following and interest in the documentary.

Kids Choice Awards Leads Weekend Basic Cable Ratings

Nickelodeon saw some much needed success this weekend, as their annual award show in the Kids Choice Awards brought in an average of 6.2 million viewers for the weekend.

Nickelodeon fell to Disney in terms of average daily viewers for the first time this March since the kid's channel took over the top spot in 1995. While the award show does cover multiple different networks and studios, the viewership totals are still huge Nickelodeon.

The program also saw great success in terms of participation in a number of different fields. As per the source:

The star-studded telecast scored the most votes ever with a record 223 million (+11%, over last year). Votes were cast from Feb. 23–March 31, across Nick.com, Nick’s mobile site, brand-new iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch apps, an iPad-optimized site, an application on Nick’s Facebook page and via Twitter and custom hash tags. Nickelodeon’s digital platforms celebrated their highest trafficked day ever on March 31, reaching over 2.3+ million visitors across the net’s website, Facebook page, mobile and tablet sites and mobile apps (+10%). Also, the audience for the live simulcast of Countdown to Kids’ Choice posted double-digit increases (+39%) across these digital platforms over last year.

While this is good for Nickelodeon, their ratings were dwarfed once again by the Oscars, which had nearly 40 million viewers for this year's show.

Nonetheless, the award show is still considered a success for Nickelodeon.

Critics' Obseravtions of Where the Hunger Games Holds Back

Although the film is getting good review, these two critics make interesting points about the film's choices on how violence and oppression are represented (or not) in order to market it.

Roger Ebert's Review (click) "Director Gary Ross and his writers (including the series' author, Suzanne Collins) obviously think their audience wants to see lots of hunting-and-survival scenes, and has no interest in people talking about how a cruel class system is using them."

The New Yorker Review (click) "The camera rushes through the wilderness, but, in the end, the movie looks less like a fight to the death than like a scavenger hunt [...] 'The Hunger Games' is a prime example of commercial hypocrisy. The filmmakers bait kids with a cruel idea, but they can’t risk being too intense or too graphic (the books are more explicit). After a while, we get the point: because children are the principal audience, the picture needs a PG-13 rating. The result is an evasive, baffling, unexciting production"

'Smash' is Looking Good

The ratings the past couple weeks for NBC's Smash have started to increase with a consistent season average of 2.8 in the demo and around 8 million viewers. According to this site Smash is acing it in the demo charts and has an A ++ demo grade. While the show has yet to be cancelled or renewed, the odds are in their favor.

The River Ratings

Here is the break down of The River ratings for each episode, averaging in the season ratings. This will determine whether the show will be renewed for season 2 or not, and the odds don't look good.

Episode 1 was

"2.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 8.35

million total viewers; third place in the timeslot.

Season average: 2.60 in the demo with 8.35 million."

Episode 6 was

"1.5 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 4.21 million; fourth in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.74 in the demo with 4.97 million.
Demo average rank: #15 of 19 scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012)."

Oscars Get Post-Show Buzz

Even with Angelina's right leg showing through her gown and Jennifer Lopez's wardrobe malfunction, the Grammy's still outbeat the Oscars by more than 1.4 million views. It is interesting to see that there's a twitter (@AngiesRightLeg) with 20,000 followers for Jolie's leg and a twitter with 3,000 followers for Lopez's wardrobe malfunction. Just goes to show much people use social media.

Oscars Ratings Up 4 Percent From 2011

In this article from Entertainment Weekly writer James Hibberd, it's noted that the ratings for the Academy Awards rose slightly from last year's: 

 "ABC’s awards coverage delivered 39.3 million viewers, up 4 percent from 2011, according to the network. In the adult demo, the show received an 11.7 rating, off a tenth from 2011. The program out-delivered three of the past four Oscars telecasts and ranked as ABC’s most-watched program in two years."

However, even with that small increase, it looks like if the Oscars viewership tally is upheld in the Nielsen's rating release tomorrow, this will be the first year that the Grammys pulled a larger audience than the Oscars (a 14.1 rating compared to an 11.7, as noted in the article).

Ratings Dip for Smash

NBC's Broadway series "Smash" experienced another ratings drop this week, according to this article from The New York Times. 

Ratings for Smash, A Little Less Than Its Smashing Premiere

Last night Smash drew 8.1 million viewers and scored a 2.8 rating in the 18-49 demo. Superbowl slump perhaps?

Also, Alcatrez continues to drop scoring a dismal 1.9 among those 18-49ers and ranking in only 6.2 million viewers.

Madonna sets TV Records in U.S.

In class on Tuesday I mentioned that I heard on the radio that more people tuned into the half time than the superbowl. I mentioned the numbers were 11 million and 14 million, but I must have missed the first part of those because the superbowl received 111 million-ish views and the half time had 114 million tuned in. Here is the article that talks about Madonna outshining the superbowl.

CBS tops Tuesday with 200th 'NCIS': ABC drama 'The River' flows decently in premiere

ABC's limited-run thriller ''The River'' did OK in its two-hour premiere Tuesday, a night that was dominated early by CBS vet ''NCIS,'' which was the top-rated program in key demos while again soaring above the 20-million viewer mark overall. According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, the 200th episode of ''NCIS'' averaged a 4.1 rating/11 share in adults 18-49 and 20.8 million viewers overall; the show is having a great ninth season, ranking as TV's No. 1 drama in adults 25-54 and as the No. 1 scripted program in total viewers.

'The River' Is A 'Little Movie Every Week,' Star Says

This article explains how The River is going to work and I think it might just be right. 'River' actress Eloise Mumford states that the pace of the show, which is pretty quick, will actually work as an advantage for the series.

I think she is right. The first episode started with suspense right away and did a good job at drawing me in.