Day / October 13, 2014

by Hoosier Econ

Walking Dead Season Premiere Explodes in Numbers

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Last night AMC’s show “The Walking Dead” made its season return and did not disappoint in tv viewership numbers along with social media. Via TV By the Numbers:

The season five premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” delivered the highest ratings in series history. The episode was watched by 17.3 million viewers and 11 million adults aged 18-49, increases of 7% and 6%, respectively, over the season four premiere, the previous record-holder. “The Walking Dead” continues to be the #1 show on television among adults 18-49. Last night’s episode outperformed everything else on television in this key demographic, including Sunday Night Football, by over 2.5 million adults 18-49. With time-shifted playback, the season five premiere should exceed 22 million viewers.

The season five premiere of “The Walking Dead” was the series’ most talked about episode ever, dominating social media activity for all of scripted television in 2014 as well as for the night. The premiere telecast garnered a total of 1,320,056 Tweets, making “The Walking Dead” the #1 new season drama premiere for 2014 in terms of Tweets and the #1 series premiere of 2014 in terms of Unique Authors. “The Walking Dead” is also one of the only shows in Twitter history to have had all 10 trending topics in the United States pertain to the show simultaneously. On Facebook, the day of premiere saw more than 7.7 million users driving more than 32.1 million interactions related to “The Walking Dead.” For the past four weeks, “The Walking Dead” has had the most engaged Facebook page of any television program, with 15 times the engagement of any other program on premiere day.

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by Hoosier Econ

Michael Jackson Still Owes Taxes

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The King of Pop may be gone but his estate is still being hounded by the IRS. According to Forbes, they are going for more blood:

In a previously unreported court filing, the government says that IRS auditors originally thought the King of Pop owned only 50% of certain master recordings at his death in June 2009, when he really owned 100% of them. That 100% interest was worth $91 million by the IRS’ figuring, compared to the $11 million reported on the Jackson estate tax return.

The change brings the IRS’ valuation of Jackson’s estate and lifetime taxable gifts up to $1.178 billion, compared to the $7 million the estate reported. The IRS now wants a total of $525.6 million in tax and $205.1 million in gross valuation misstatement and negligence penalties. (Any interest owed will be on top of that.) Of course both the IRS and the estate’s values are best regarded as opening bids in what could be a long negotiation. A trial, if there is one, is far off.