audiences

15 Stories

NFL Losing Big Chunks of Its Target Audience

Number of men between 18 and 49 who follow NFL closely drops 24%

(Newser) - America's response to the eternal question "Are you ready for some football?" appears to be getting less enthusiastic by the day, and that could be big trouble for the NFL's dominance of the US sports-scape. According to a poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC...

Famed Pianist Storms Off Stage Over Smartphone

Fan had been recording performance

(Newser) - Famed Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman took a serious stand against rude fans and their smartphones at a recent performance in Germany. He spotted someone filming him from the audience, says a spokesperson for the Ruhr Piano Festival, and "asked them to stop, but they didn't." So he...

Radio Hosts Squeezed by Too Much Listener Info

Hosts say it takes away from content

(Newser) - Radio stations are collecting more and more data on the listening habits of their audience, and even popular hosts like Ryan Seacrest are feeling the pinch. Seacrest says Clear Channel execs told him to zip it because ratings would rise if "you actually play some more music," the...

Tweeting Beethoven a Noteworthy Development
Tweeting Beethoven a Noteworthy Development
analysis
Jul 30, 2009 10:23 AM CDT

Tweeting Beethoven a Noteworthy Development

Tech assist enhances classical experience

(Newser) - In a bid to win over multitaskers and technophobes, the National Symphony Orchestra will tweet along with tonight's performance of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, the Washington Post reports. Audience members with appropriate gadgets can sit in a special section on the lawn at Wolf Trap, in suburban Virginia, and follow...

Broadway Audiences Berated for Bad Acting

Veteran theatergoers say manners are vanishing faster than ever

(Newser) - Boorish audience members have been around for longer than Shakespeare's plays but veteran theatergoers say bad behavior is definitely on the rise, the Wall Street Journal reports. Audience members have been spotted passing around buckets of chicken, putting their smelly bare feet on the seats in front of them, and...

Economy Tanking, Americans Race to Movies

Hollywood provides much-needed escape in bleak times

(Newser) - Americans are dealing with the recession by hiding in dark rooms with a band of brothers, a gun-toting grandma, and a bumbling mall cop, the New York Times says. Hollywood’s ticket sales have jumped 17.5% this year. Ticket prices rose, but so did attendance, by nearly 16%. “...

Wacky Garb Key to Conventions
 Wacky Garb Key to Conventions
OPINION
Aug 30, 2008 8:08 PM CDT

Wacky Garb Key to Conventions

(Newser) - Political die-hards flock to conventions in outlandish costumes, temporary tattoos, and head-to-toe buttons—“as much red, white and blue as possible in a patriotic arms race,” Robin Givhan writes in the Washington Post. Yet these goofy fans are integral to the messy, democratic process—by making it accessible...

Take Me Out to the Ballgame... at the Cineplex

Movie theaters boost lagging ticket sales with live broadcasts

(Newser) - Cineplexes are boosting stagnant sales by showing more live broadcasts, the New York Times reports. From the Metropolitan Opera to the Mets, high-def feeds are luring fans for less than the price of a live concert or ball game. "We can now replicate Carnegie Hall across the country,"...

Bee Movie Goes to Head of the Class
Bee Movie Goes to Head
of the Class
Nov 11, 2007 5:20 PM CST

Bee Movie Goes to Head of the Class

Seinfeld vehicle passes American Gangster for number one spot

(Newser) - In a rare second-week coup, Bee Movie topped the weekend box office and passed fellow sophomore American Gangster, Variety reports. The Denzel Washington flick dropped 44% after leading last week, while Bee fell just 32%. Newcomer Fred Claus took third, with a less than stellar $19.2 million, while Lions ...

Why Do We Cry at Movies?
Why Do We
Cry at Movies?
Nov 5, 2007 4:30 AM CST

Why Do We Cry at Movies?

We could be purging toxins—or searching for meaning in our fleeting existence

(Newser) - Why do we cry at movies? Washington Post film critic Desson Thomson, recalling his own waterworks watching emotional films, checked out some research to find out. Audiences weep out of empathy, according to one expert. Women definitely cry more than men (four times as much) and weeping releases internal toxins....

Vampire Flick Takes $16M Bite Out of Box Office

30 Days of Night wins amid slow ticket sales

(Newser) - Vampire-seekers made 30 Days of Night number 1 this weekend amid pale box office numbers, Variety reports. Other new entrants couldn’t top Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?, The Game Plan, or Michael Clayton, which took second, third, and fourth, respectively. The AP reports that audiences want “...

New TV Season Disappoints
New TV Season Disappoints
Sep 20, 2007 4:56 PM CDT

New TV Season Disappoints

First set of debuts get lukewarm reception

(Newser) - The fall TV season isn't wowing audiences so far, Variety reports. Four fresh shows hit the small screen last night, but none made a big splash. Fox's "Back to You" was tops among 18- to 49-year-olds and attracted 9.4 million viewers overall. But it won by a slim...

Japanese TV Is Losing to Wii
Japanese TV Is Losing to Wii
Jul 11, 2007 5:29 AM CDT

Japanese TV Is Losing to Wii

Nintendo system steals prime-time audiences as families play together

(Newser) - Ratings are plummeting for Japanese prime-time TV shows as audiences increasingly turn to playing games on Nintendo's Wii system. Wii, which dominates the nation's $30B video games market, has stolen TV's "golden hour,"  thanks in part to parents who are choosing to share family time on Wii's...

Katie's Ratings Flatline
Katie's Ratings Flatline
May 14, 2007 8:19 AM CDT

Katie's Ratings Flatline

Some doubt if viewers are ready for a woman anchor.

(Newser) - Katie Couric, as always, is upbeat, but her ratings are undeniably dismal: “CBS Evening News” numbers have dropped lower than they've been since the Nielsens began measuring audiences with “people meters” 20 years ago, the New York Times  reports. The 8-month-old show is an even-more-distant third than its...

MPAA Snuffs Onscreen Smoking
MPAA Snuffs Onscreen Smoking
May 11, 2007 5:37 AM CDT

MPAA Snuffs Onscreen Smoking

Flicks with cancer sticks will draw tougher rating

(Newser) - Cigarette and cigar smoking will be considered alongside violence, profanity, nudity, and drug use in assigning ratings, the MPAA announced yesterday. Any film that glamorizes the habit or features lighting up outside of "an historic  or other mitigating context "could face a box-office-busting R. 

15 Stories
Most Read on Newser