Monday, March 11, 2013
History's The Bible Slips in Week 2 But Still Smites the Competition
The second two-hour installment of History‘s miniseries The Bible
on Sunday drew 10.8 million total viewers, 3.2 adults 18-49 and 3.8
million adults 25-54. That was down 18% in total viewers from the mini’s
blockbuster opener the previous Sunday but still a massive turnout for a cable telecast. In fact, The Bible
was the top program in all of television from 8-10 PM on Sunday among
total viewers and 25-54, beating cable and broadcast competition.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Thousand Foot Krutch's Trevor McNevan's Back Injury
Thousand Foot Krutch frontman Trevor McNevan has been sharing details of his recent healing while on TFK's current "War Of Change" headline tour:
"A few weeks ago, after the Super Bowl, I was walking from my living room to my kitchen and out of no where, my back literally felt like it shattered. A few days later it was so bad I couldn't even move; it was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. I tried to make it down the stairs to head to the hospital and blacked out. My wife had to call 911 and ambulance me into the hospital. It was crazy! They ran a bunch of testing over the course of a few days, and the doctor said I had an irregular case of degenerative disc disease. He said my 2 options were to stay on heavy pain meds and muscle relaxers for the rest of my life or to have a back surgery that in most cases resulted in a wheel chair. My wife and I were like 'what?!!' We believe in a big God, so weren't going to accept that. So we started praying. The band, our friends and family started praying. People around the world were praying (I sent out a tweet) - it was amazing. The next day I went for a ride somewhere with my wife, just to get out of the house, I was going stir crazy! On the way back, at a random moment, I was instantly healed! I felt all of my strength and energy come back in an instant; it felt like I could run a marathon! I turned to my wife and said, 'I think I was just healed...' It was amazing, man. So thankful! God's so good."
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Word Entertainment to Release The Bible: Music Inspired by the Epic Mini-Series
Word Entertainment will release a musical companion to the History Channel's mini-series "The Bible" on March 12. The 12-track album highlighting themes from the mini-series features Christian artists including Francesca Battistelli, Jason Castro, for KING & COUNTRY, Chris August, Big Daddy Weave, Group 1 Crew, Dara Maclean, Point of Grace, and Sidewalk Prophets. Superstars Wynonna Judd and Kenny Rogers also come together on the compilation for a special rendition of "Mary Did You Know?" The mini-series, which airs every Sunday through March culminating on Easter, drew in 27 million viewers this past Sunday making it the No. 1 cable telecast of the year and the No. 1 show in all of TV for the night.
"Roma and I are delighted that Word Entertainment and their talented Christian roster partnered with us on this project," commented producer Mark Burnett. "When we heard Francesca Battistelli's rendition of 'In Your Eyes' we immediately loved it. All of the artists' music fits beautifully with our vision of 'The Bible.'"
"The Bible: Music Inspired By The Epic Mini-Series" Track listing:
1. "In Your Eyes" - Francesca Battistelli
2. "Live Like That" - Sidewalk Prophets
3. "This Side Of Heaven" - Chris August
4. "Starting Line" - Jason Castro
5. "Love Come To Life" - Big Daddy Weave
6. "Crave" - for KING & COUNTRY
7. "Fearless" - Group 1 Crew
8. "What Love Means" - Everfound
9. "Home" - Dara Maclean
10. "Wash Me Away" - Point Of Grace
11. "Not For A Moment (After All)" - Meredith Andrews
12. "Mary, Did You Know?" - Wynonna Judd and Kenny Rogers
"Roma and I are delighted that Word Entertainment and their talented Christian roster partnered with us on this project," commented producer Mark Burnett. "When we heard Francesca Battistelli's rendition of 'In Your Eyes' we immediately loved it. All of the artists' music fits beautifully with our vision of 'The Bible.'"
"The Bible: Music Inspired By The Epic Mini-Series" Track listing:
1. "In Your Eyes" - Francesca Battistelli
2. "Live Like That" - Sidewalk Prophets
3. "This Side Of Heaven" - Chris August
4. "Starting Line" - Jason Castro
5. "Love Come To Life" - Big Daddy Weave
6. "Crave" - for KING & COUNTRY
7. "Fearless" - Group 1 Crew
8. "What Love Means" - Everfound
9. "Home" - Dara Maclean
10. "Wash Me Away" - Point Of Grace
11. "Not For A Moment (After All)" - Meredith Andrews
12. "Mary, Did You Know?" - Wynonna Judd and Kenny Rogers
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Will TV Get Religion?
Up until now, the year’s big cable-ratings story has been the ever-growing success of zombie drama The Walking Dead on AMC. Sunday night, though, History channel had the highest-rated scripted drama on cable for the year.
The first two hours of History’s Mark Burnett miniseries adaptation of The Bible scored 13.1 million viewers, more than any fiction cable show of the year–and, as the New York Times notes, dwarfing anything on NBC for the past month. (The biblical epic numbers did not quite match The Walking Dead in viewers aged 18 to 49, the demographic that determines advertising rates, but it did get a healthy 5.6 million.)
Those are the kinds of numbers that get TV executives’ attention, and “attention” in the TV business means copying. Last year, History pulled meganumbers with Hatfields and McCoys; now NBC is developing a Hatfields and McCoys series. Does this mean we'll see more religious epics coming to TV? Stories aimed, like The Bible miniseries, at believers?
One of the best recent examples was Friday Night Lights. Faith mattered to people in Dillon, Texas: they went to church, prayed on problems, played Christian rock in their garages. It didn’t magically fix anything, nor did it make the people of Dillon better or worse than people anywhere else, but the show took it seriously, and matter-of-factly, as a major part of its characters’ worldviews.
On network TV, some of the more interesting recent storylines about faith have been happening at the margins of The Good Wife–one of the more “cable-like” broadcast shows to begin with. The protagonist, Alicia Florrick, is an open atheist–even more of a rarity than an avowed believer on TV–and this became an issue recently when she refused to hide her disbelief to help Peter’s gubernatorial campaign. At the same time, her teenage daughter has been drawn to Christianity, and the way the show has handled Alicia’s reaction–not preachily, but as a story about a parent working to accept her daughter’s separate identity–has been exemplary without being showy.
These are still exceptions, though. (There are a few more depictions of the faithful in reality TV, especially on cable–Sister Wives, the Duggars.) The reason TV series should have religious characters and take them seriously is because it makes for better stories. People who believe things are interesting. People wrestling with the big questions are interesting. And TV shows that depict actual lived life–with characters who are specific rather than generic–are interesting.
Of course, programmers often read “interesting” as “dangerous,” especially when it comes to religion.
The first two hours of History’s Mark Burnett miniseries adaptation of The Bible scored 13.1 million viewers, more than any fiction cable show of the year–and, as the New York Times notes, dwarfing anything on NBC for the past month. (The biblical epic numbers did not quite match The Walking Dead in viewers aged 18 to 49, the demographic that determines advertising rates, but it did get a healthy 5.6 million.)
Those are the kinds of numbers that get TV executives’ attention, and “attention” in the TV business means copying. Last year, History pulled meganumbers with Hatfields and McCoys; now NBC is developing a Hatfields and McCoys series. Does this mean we'll see more religious epics coming to TV? Stories aimed, like The Bible miniseries, at believers?
One of the best recent examples was Friday Night Lights. Faith mattered to people in Dillon, Texas: they went to church, prayed on problems, played Christian rock in their garages. It didn’t magically fix anything, nor did it make the people of Dillon better or worse than people anywhere else, but the show took it seriously, and matter-of-factly, as a major part of its characters’ worldviews.
On network TV, some of the more interesting recent storylines about faith have been happening at the margins of The Good Wife–one of the more “cable-like” broadcast shows to begin with. The protagonist, Alicia Florrick, is an open atheist–even more of a rarity than an avowed believer on TV–and this became an issue recently when she refused to hide her disbelief to help Peter’s gubernatorial campaign. At the same time, her teenage daughter has been drawn to Christianity, and the way the show has handled Alicia’s reaction–not preachily, but as a story about a parent working to accept her daughter’s separate identity–has been exemplary without being showy.
These are still exceptions, though. (There are a few more depictions of the faithful in reality TV, especially on cable–Sister Wives, the Duggars.) The reason TV series should have religious characters and take them seriously is because it makes for better stories. People who believe things are interesting. People wrestling with the big questions are interesting. And TV shows that depict actual lived life–with characters who are specific rather than generic–are interesting.
Of course, programmers often read “interesting” as “dangerous,” especially when it comes to religion.
Monday, March 4, 2013
The Bible: A Hit in Print And Now on TV
"The Bible," a 10-hour live-action miniseries that debuted Sunday night
on the History Channel, is posting some heavenly Nielsen ratings,
despite a poor response from the nation's TV critics.
13.1 million viewers watched the 8-10 p.m. premiere. This makes it the most-watched entertainment program on cable since the History Channel’s own “Hatfields & McCoys” wrapped its impressive three-night run in late May 2012 with 14.3 million for its initial airing.
No program on TV drew more viewers Sunday than “The Bible.” CBS’ “60 Minutes” drew the largest audience on the broadcast networks (11.9 million).
Four more episodes of the miniseries will be broadcast each Sunday night this month.
The series was produced by actress Roma Downey, of "Touched by an Angel" fame, and Mark Burnett, producer of reality TV shows like "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race."
"We've been working on this project for the past four years now, and are deeply honored to be given this once in a generation opportunity to breathe new visual life into the Bible's profound stories," the couple says in a statement.
13.1 million viewers watched the 8-10 p.m. premiere. This makes it the most-watched entertainment program on cable since the History Channel’s own “Hatfields & McCoys” wrapped its impressive three-night run in late May 2012 with 14.3 million for its initial airing.
No program on TV drew more viewers Sunday than “The Bible.” CBS’ “60 Minutes” drew the largest audience on the broadcast networks (11.9 million).
Four more episodes of the miniseries will be broadcast each Sunday night this month.
The series was produced by actress Roma Downey, of "Touched by an Angel" fame, and Mark Burnett, producer of reality TV shows like "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race."
"We've been working on this project for the past four years now, and are deeply honored to be given this once in a generation opportunity to breathe new visual life into the Bible's profound stories," the couple says in a statement.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)