Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/News
NewsTV

'The Voice' And 'Smash' Raise NBC To The Top in First Week

Posted byBy ABS Contributor | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

NBC’s “The Voice” and “Smash” earned big numbers in their Monday night debut, making the network the top dog of the night again after Super Bowl Sunday.

Season 2 Of “The Voice” is off to a very good start. Sunday’s post Super Bowl premier took full advantage of the strategic timeslot, earning a 16.3 rating and 36.7 million total viewers. These numbers  made the show the highest-rated entertainment broadcast in six years.

Although “The Voice”, as expected, managed to only capture less than half of its Sunday night performance, the singing competition show still was the top-rated and most-watched Monday night show.  With a 6.6 rating/16 and 17.7 million viewers tuning in. This bumped the usual favorite, CBS’s “Two and a Half Men”, out of the top spot.

“Smash” premiered the following hour with a solid rating of 3.8/10 and 11.5 million total viewers tuning in. Although this was below “The Voice” numbers, it was still rather impressive. “Smash” took fifth place in ratings and third in overall viewers on Monday.

Putting The Voice and Smash against CBS’s Monday night comedy block was a huge risk for NBC because the segment dominated Mondays all season. However, the gamble paid off in its first week, with three out of five CBS primetime shows hitting or tying season lows.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top