Nielsen: America loves ‘AGT’ and ‘GOT’

Nielsen: America loves ‘AGT’ and ‘GOT’

NEW YORK

Sports, talent derbies, news and voyeurism kept unscripted fare high on the Nielsen roster last week.

A big exception: premium cable HBO’s scripted sensation “Game of Thrones,” which continued its reign with a best-yet audience of 10.2 million in its 9 p.m. Sunday berth. For the week, “GOT” ranked behind only NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”

For the week of July 31-Aug. 6, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 13.33 million; “Game of Thrones,” HBO, 10.17 million; NFL Pre-Season Hall of Fame game: Arizona vs. Dallas, NBC, 8.25 million; NFL Pre-Season Pre-Kick, NBC, 7.06 million; “World of Dance,” NBC, 7 million; “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 6.58 million; “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.55 million; “Big Brother” (Sunday), CBS, 6.46 million; “Big Brother” (Thursday), CBS, 6.42 million; “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 6.19 million.

Letterman headed back to talk TV

NEW YORK

David Letterman, who said goodbye to his long-running talk show two years ago, will say hello to TV again with a new show for Netflix.

Netflix announced Tuesday the six-episode series has Letterman combining two primary interests: in-depth conversations and in-the-field segments sparked by his curiosity and humor. In each hourlong episode, Letterman will conduct a long-form conversation with a single guest and explore topics of his own outside the studio.

The series, not yet titled, is set to premiere in 2018.

In 33 years on late-night television, Letterman hosted 6,028 episodes of NBC’s “Late Night” and CBS’ “Late Show,” and is the longest-running late-night broadcaster in American history.

Sinead pleads for help, says she’s living in motel

Sinead O’Connor emotionally pleaded for help from her family and opened up about her mental illness in a Facebook video posted from a New Jersey motel she had been living in. The video is the latest public glimpse of the singer’s ongoing struggle with mental-health problems.

The 50-year-old Irish singer says in the 12-minute video posted last week she was staying alive for the sake of others, like her psychiatrist, and if it were up to her, she’d “be gone.”

O’Connor lamented what she described is a lack of support from loved ones, saying that “strangers on Facebook” are kinder to her than her own family. She asked her adult children and their fathers to make an effort to bring her home to Ireland.

O’Connor said she was living in a New Jersey Travelodge and later posted the address of a Travelodge in South Hackensack. South Hackensack Police Capt. Robert Kaiser said Tuesday she is no longer staying there and police don’t know where she is living.

Wopat seeks sobriety

NEW YORK

“The Dukes of Hazzard” star Tom Wopat says he’ll be taking time to address his ongoing struggle with substance abuse after his arrest in Massachusetts on indecent assault and battery charges.

Wopat pleaded not guilty Thursday to grabbing the buttocks of a female member of a production of “42nd Street” he was supposed to star in. Police found what they suspect to be cocaine in the actor’s possession.

Tuesday, Wopat expressed “his deepest regrets” for the “unfortunate events” but “firmly denies any wrongdoing.”

Associated Press