CBS last night rolled to a decisive ratings victory, as its hybridized comedy-procedural lineup led to a strong series debut at 10 p.m. Per preliminary Nielsen data, CBS’s new Sherlock Holmes reboot Elementary delivered 13.3 million viewers and a 3.1 rating in the adults 18-to-49 demo, improving on its Person of Interest lead-in (2.9) and the year-ago season opener of former time slot occupant The Mentalist (2.8). Elementary breezed to a win in the hour, besting ABC’s sophomore drama Scandal (7.01 million viewers/2.1) and NBC’s prime time newsmagazine show, Rock Center with Brian Williams (4.17 million/1.2). Scandal ’s half-hour numbers may be cause for concern; more than 1 million viewers tuned away in the latter part of the hour and the demo fell 20 percent (2.5 to 2.0). With 13 series premieres on the books, Elementary now stands as the No. 2 reach vehicle—CBS’s freshman series Vegas bowed Tuesday night to 14.9 million viewers—and No. 4 among the 18-to-49 set. NBC’s Revolution leads all comers with its opening salvo (4.1). CBS got things started with the return of The Big Bang Theory (15.3 million/4.8) and Two and Half Men (12.4 million/3.5)
Read MoreThe networks on Tuesday night presented a Whitman’s Sampler of
Read MoreThe networks on Tuesday night presented a Whitman’s Sampler of
Read MoreNBC won the first ratings skirmish of the 2012-13 broadcast TV season, as The Voice and Revolution ran the table against CBS’ comedy-drama stew. Per Nielsen preliminary ratings data, NBC ran away with the demo, averaging a 4.0 rating among adults 18-to-49. CBS took second with a 2.7, followed by ABC (2.6), Fox (1.7) and Univision (1.5).
Read MoreNBC’s Thursday night lineup continues to underwhelm, as the season premieres of The Office , Parks and Recreation and Up All Night failed to find an audience. According to preliminary Nielsen data, The Office ’s ninth season opener averaged just 4.32 million viewers and a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating, marking a drop of 46 percent versus the Sept. 11, 2011 table setter and tying a series low in the demo. Much of that decline is safely attributable to the old “what a difference a year makes” trope. After a summer of speculation, last season’s premiere revealed that Ed Helms’ Andy Bernard was tapped to replace Michael Scott (Steve Carell) at the helm of Dunder Mifflin. This will be the final season of The Office , which returns under the auspices of original showrunner Greg Daniels. The Office also labored under the burden of a weak lead-in. Sophomore comedy Up All Night returned with a whimper, averaging just 3.14 million viewers and a 1.3 in the demo. In stark contrast, a repeat of CBS’s The Big Bang Theory delivered 9.2 million viewers and a 2.4 in the demo in the same time slot (8:30 p.m.).
Read MoreThe good news for plenty of current iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users pondering buying the new iPhone 5 is that they’ll get many of the 200 new features in Apple’s free update for mobile software, iOS 6, available on Wednesday. [ See post to watch video ] I’ve compiled a handful of the most significant features you’ll get with the iOS software update, which I tested on the iPhone 5 and the newest iPad. Some older devices won’t be able to use all of these features and one feature will work only on the iPhone 5: taking a still photo while recording a video. Here are some highlights of the new features. There are many more features too numerous to mention. Do Not Disturb Finally, the iPhone can let its owners sleep at night—with options. Until now, the iPhone’s silencing switch turned off all sounds with no alternatives. This meant that people who wanted to turn off alert sounds for Facebook notifications and incoming emails while they slept had to give up receiving phone calls in the middle of the night from, say, a relative having an emergency. The Do Not Disturb feature (turned on in Settings and adjusted in Settings, Notifications) turns off all sounds but can make exceptions. If you want to be notified whenever one of your favorite contacts calls you, the phone will ring. Another optional feature of Do Not Disturb lets calls ring through if a person calls twice in a row within three minutes. Do Not Disturb can be set to work on a daily schedule, like from 11 p.m
Read MoreNBC on Monday night put up its biggest premiere numbers in recent memory, as its lights-out drama Revolution drew 11.7 million viewers and a 4.1 rating in the adults 18-to-49 demo. Per Nielsen preliminary ratings data, Revolution now stands as NBC’s strongest series launch in five years. On Sept. 26, 2007, Bionic Woman bowed to 13.9 million viewers and a 4.9 in the dollar demo. (Lest anyone put too much stock in the comparison, it’s worth noting that the reboot was yanked after eight episodes, closing with an anemic 5.93 million viewers and a 2.1 rating.) The early results for Revolution are encouraging, as they underscore NBC entertainment president Bob Greenblatt’s strategy of positioning Sunday and Mondays as the network’s twin anchor nights. The mantra: Success in the early part of the week should lead to stronger performance on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Revolution got a nice boost from lead-in The Voice , which averaged 13.4 million viewers and a 4.6 in the demo, marking a 10 percent improvement from the season premiere and making it the most-watched installment of the show’s third cycle. All that being said, there was some slippage in the half-hour results. After averaging
Read MoreSpecs Age 25 Accomplishments Model; featured on the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover ; on tour with the USO later this year Base Austin, Texas What’s the first information you consume in the morning? The first thing I do is check my phone for emails and text messages I have and then go to Twitter. I was kind of hesitant about Twitter at first, but it’s become a really good news source for me. A friend of mine, [model] Chrissy Teigen , is probably the best tweeter that I follow. She has zero filter and her tweets end up being really funny. What do you read or watch or listen to at the breakfast table? I’ll listen to the radio occasionally—either morning shows or sports radio like The Dan Patrick Show or [husband Andy Roddick’s] show with Bobby Bones on Fox Sports Radio. What occupies your mind in the car, on the subway, train or bus? Usually work—I’m either reading a script or listening to music, trying to get pumped up for an audition. I really love Mumford & Sons, and I’m very, very, very excited for their new album! Are you a TV junkie, or on an airtime-restricted diet? I don’t watch any TV, actually. Everything I do is online. When I do watch shows, I download a bunch of episodes to my iPad and watch them back-to-back
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