English Entertainment
‘CSI: Miami’ gains momentum in Europe
MUMBAI: The investigative drama show CSI: Miami which airs in India on action oriented AXN is getting good ratings across Europe.
CSI: Miami, which is the second variation of the CSI franchise, has done well in prime time on several European networks. CSI: Miami is the top-rated American show on RTL in Germany. It hit a market share of almost 40 per cent in prime time on France’s TF1. It is the third-highest rated US drama airing in the UK on Five; and on Telecinco in Spain, it is the second-highest rated US drama.
International Television Distribution executive MD Ted Riley says, “CSI: Miami has been consistently gaining momentum internationally, and is now available virtually everywhere in the world. The fact that CSI: Miami is pulling in such stellar ratings on primetime European schedules, against premium domestic content – is a huge testament to this magnetic series and the immense popularity of the CSI franchise.”
In Germany, CSI: Miami moved from Vox to RTL earlier this year and it has become the top-rated American show in Germany. Since the launch of the third season CSI: Miami has consistently pulled in over 26 per cent audience share in the coveted 14-49 demographic, peaking at over six million viewers on 20 September, 2005.
RTL CEO Anke Schäferkordt says, “CSI: Miami is first-rate crime entertainment. RTL viewers simply love the series. CSI: Miami is not only a big success on RTL Television, it is also the most successful US series on German television.”
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
