NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

‘Big Bang Theory’ finale gets galactic ratings to win week

LOS ANGELES

In its last blast, “The Big Bang Theory” topped the TV ratings by a light-year.

The back-to-back, two-episode finale of the nerdy CBS comedy’s 12-season run drew 18.5 million live viewers Thursday night to easily win the week, the Nielsen company said Tuesday.

Sunday night’s much-ballyhooed finale of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was a distant second with 13.61 million live viewers.

“Game of Thrones,” however, had a comparable 18.4 million viewers when HBO’s same-night reruns and streaming services are included, making it the most-watched episode of any kind in the history of the cable channel.

Despite mixed fan reaction to the eighth and final “Thrones” season, it was a ratings winner throughout, competing with and usually beating shows that appear in three times more homes. The viewer numbers also grew as the season progressed, with the season premiere setting a record that was topped by three subsequent episodes.

“Big Bang” was a colossal ratings winner that helped keep CBS the top network for much of its record run of 279 episodes, the most for a multi- camera series.

For the week of May 13-19, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 18.5 million; “Game of Thrones,” HBO, 13.61 million; “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 13.6 million; “NCIS,” CBS, 11.7 million; “Unraveling the Mystery: A Big Bang Farewell,” CBS, 11.6 million; “American Idol” (Sunday), ABC, 8.7 million; “FBI,” CBS, 8.6 million; “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.4 million; “NBA Playoffs – Conference Finals, Portland at Golden State (Thursday), ESPN, 8 million; “Chicago Med,” NBC, 7.98 million.

Author: ‘Thrones’ finale was ending, also beginning

NEW YORK

What’s next for “Game of Thrones?”

The author, whose work was adapted into the HBO series that drew a record-setting number of viewers for Sunday’s finale, says it’s “been a wild ride.” George RR Martin wrote Monday that it “was an ending, but it was also a beginning.”

The 70-year-old says he’s working on the next installment, “The Winds of Winter.” He says he knows it’s late “but it will be done.” He’s just not saying when. He says “A Dream of Spring” will follow.

Martin says he hears people asking if it will have the same ending as the show.

Martin writes: “Well, yes. And no.” He says he’ll write it, people can read it and then everyone can “argue about it on the internet.”

Madonna perfects her off-key act online

JERUSALEM

The Queen of Pop has cleaned up her act.

After her much-panned performance in the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Madonna’s official YouTube channel released a noticeably touched-up version.

Music critics and others weighed in online, saying she auto-tuned her vocals to fix flaws in her live show. Fan-produced videos splicing her pitch-perfect version with the original have circulated widely.

Many had complained she sang off-key while performing her classic hit, “Like a Prayer,” and new single, “Future,” from her forthcoming album, “Madame X.”

Madonna’s representatives did not respond to requests to comment.

Associated Press